Frank Field suggests he could trigger by-election after quitting Labour whip
3 min read
Frank Field has suggested he could trigger a by-election after he dramatically resigned the party whip with a blast at Jeremy Corbyn.
The Birkenhead MP announced on Thursday that he would now sit as an independent MP, and accused the Labour leader of allowing the party to become "a force for anti-Semitism" in British politics.
Some allies of the Labour leader have said Mr Field - who suffered a vote of no confidence by his local party for voting with the Government on Brexit - should quit his seat altogether.
Mr Field told Sky News that those calling for a by-election had also slammed him for destabilising the party - but he refused to rule out going it alone.
"The same people, they're not many but one or two who are calling for... a by-election, have also been saying how wicked and destructive this is, and time-consuming for Labour not being able to concentrate on getting our message against the Government.
"Now if I cause a by-election, the same old people will say, 'there he is again, being destructive'."
However, the veteran MP did not close the door on standing as an independent candidate, telling BBC Breakfast he would spend "the next few days" making a decision on whether or not to trigger a by-election.
He said: "I will obviously make a decision about whether I should actually have a by-election or not.
"I will be in Birkenhead, people will be talking to me, coming up to me in the street to see whether they want me to have a by-election or not".
JOHN MANN: INTIMIDATION MUST STOP
Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon has urged Mr Field - who faced a local no-confidence motion against him in July after he backed the Government on a crunch Brexit vote - to put himself in front of voters as an independent MP.
"Politicians who are elected as Labour MPs by their constituents and who then leave the Labour party should do the right and respectful thing and call a by-election straight away," the frontbencher said.
"They should ask for their constituents’ consent to continue to represent them on a different basis."
But Bassetlaw MP John Mann today insisted that Mr Field should not be asked to stand for re-election unless the same rule applied to Sheffield Hallam MP Jared O'Mara, who quit Labour earlier this month following a disciplinary probe into offensive social media posts.
Mr O'Mara was the Corbynite Labour candidate in Sheffield Hallam, and Mr Mann - a frequent critic of Mr Corbyn - said: "There are others who might have to do it first because of course we have other Labour MPs who have resigned the whip.
"The first was Jared O’Mara in Sheffield, so that should be the first by-election and that will be very interesting test."
Mr Mann also warned that an atmosphere of "bullying, intimidation [and] racism" in Labour meant it was now "a possibility" that more MPs could join Mr Field in quitting the party.
"I hope not but I think it's a distinct possibility that others will go unless the racism, the bullying the intimidation and the extremists is stopped - which of course means leadership from the top," he said.
"One thing the Labour leader could do today is he could announce that all the Jewish MPs are re-standing automatically as Labour candidates at the next election.
"That would shut up some of the extremists who are targeting them in the same way they have targeted Frank Field."
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