Corbyn ally tells critics to quit and stand as independent

A CLOSE ally of Jeremy Corbyn has said Labour MPS who are critical of the party leader’s handling of anti-semitism should quit the party and stand as independent candidates.

Chris Williamson, a Left-wing Labour MP, told moderate Chris Leslie that he was a “malcontent” who should consider his position in a heated on-air debate. Mr Leslie responded by saying that he would not be “intimidated or threatened” by Mr Williamson.

He said: “Chris... You can raise that spectre of deselection as many times as you like. It will just make me more determined to stand up for the values of the Labour Party that I have always known.”

It comes after Len Mccluskey, the leader of the Unite union, Labour’s largest financial backer, warned Labour MPS who had challenged Jeremy Corbyn on anti-semitism that they would be “held to account”.

In an article in the New Statesman, Mr Mccluskey singled out five “Corbyn hater” MPS – including Mr Leslie – and accused them of whipping up a row to “smear” their leader.

His intervention threatened to erupt into a civil war between competing factions of MPS, as Mr Leslie and Mr Williamson clashed live on air on the BBC’S Daily Politics. Echoing Mr Mccluskey’s comments, Mr Williamson described colleagues who had raised the issue of anti-semitism as a “handful of malcontents” and accused them of being “completely out of step with party members”.

“I think hundreds of thousands of party members, millions of Labour supporters are exasperated and angry about the shenanigans of a handful of Labour MPS,” he said.