'Bullying and thuggery of militant left' has returned to Labour party, warns Lord Blunkett

Former home secretary speaks out after resignation of Frank Field – and says 'Corbyn project' must be rethought

The resignation of Labour’s longest-serving MP over concerns about anti-Semitism must lead to a "rethink of the Corbyn project” or the party risks “decline and irrelevance”, Lord David Blunkett has warned.

The former home secretary spoke two days after Frank Field withdrew from the party whip.

He said the "bullying and thuggery" of the militant left – which he said made the party unelectable during the Eighties – had now returned and posed a “dangerous" threat to both the Labour movement and democracy.

And he labelled the ongoing anti-Semitism scandal a “shambles".

"Quite simply, Labour has to put its own house in order as decisively and speedily as possible,” he wrote in an article for The Daily Telegraph.

The intervention came as three more MPs were reported to be considering leaving Labour over Jeremy Corbyn's links to extremists and comments which have been condemned as anti-Semitic by Jewish leaders.

Lord Blunkett said: "Frank Field’s decision, and his concerns over both anti-Semitism and the behaviour of party members indicate a deeper malaise. His actions need to be seen as a catalyst for seismic change and a rethink of the so-called ‘Corbyn project’.

"The commitment to Labour as a 'broad church', which motivated some of those who nominated Jeremy, has been thrown back in their faces and demonstrated that the so-called ‘new style of politics’ is anything but.

"Quite simply, Labour has to put its own house in order as decisively and speedily as possible.

"What matters for the health of our democracy and the continuity of the existence of the Labour party, of which I have been a member for 55 years, are the actions taken and the quality of leadership from Jeremy Corbyn and his colleagues over the next seven days.

"Either Jeremy Corbyn can lead a party into gradual decline and irrelevance, or demonstrate that he can lead a party fit for government. The choice is his."

In his letter resigning the whip on Thursday, Mr Field – MP for Birkenhead for 39 years – said that he would be prepared to rejoin the party if its leader showed he was willing to tackle the rise of "thuggery".

In a move that sent shockwaves around Westminster, the one-time minister for welfare reform – who was famously told to think the impossible by Tony Blair – said a “culture of intolerance, nastiness and intimidation” had grown in the party.

He said his decision had caused him “considerable sadness” but the party was not doing enough to root out anti-Semitism under Mr Corbyn, who himself has been repeatedly accused of anti-Semitism over a number of remarks and online posts made before he became leader.

Labour responded, according to Mr Field, by saying that if was resigning from the whip he may be kicked out of the party.

“I will dispute it until the end. I’m not being kicked out the Labour Party like that,” he said, adding: “I feel a huge hold on me made by Labour members who sought no fame, no favours, who built up the Labour Party so we could win the 1945 general election, and changed the nature of British society by electing a Labour government.

“The idea that one can’t remain in that tradition is a huge affront.”

He later said he remained hopeful his actions could effect change.