Ian Murray sticks with Labour but leaves open exit door

EDINBURGH South Labour MP Ian Murray has signalled he is not about to leave the party to join seven colleagues who quit yesterday to sit as a new independent group in the Commons - but he has left the door open to resignation in the future.

Scottish Labour MP Ian Murray, who has insisted he will not sign a "loyalty pledge" to the party's leader. Pic: Nick Ansell/ PA

The MPs who quit, including Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger and Chris Leslie, claimed Labour had “changed beyond recognition” and said they had “no confidence in the party’s collective leadership, competence or culture”.

The group, which also includes Angela Smith, Ann Coffey, Mike Gapes and Gavin Shuker, stopped short of declaring themselves a new political party. But Mr Umunna said: “We’ve taken the first step in leaving the old tribal politics behind and we invite others who share our political values to do so too.”

Mr Murray, who has been an outspoken critic of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, issued a statement voicing his sadness at the loss of the seven MPs and accusing the current leadership of breaking Labour’s broad church - but he added the party remained “the only vehicle” for change.

Later he told the Evening News: “I’m solely focused on Brexit at the moment but we will see what happens after that. The Labour leadership need to respond to the challenges the seven MPs have given him. If he doesn’t we will all have to examine our consciences about what we do next.

“Labour is the only vehicle for social change in this country, but you have to be a broad church to deliver it and you can’t retreat into a 1970s or 80s-style Militant Labour Party and expect the public to give you the keys to Downing Street.

“The Labour leadership have to change the culture of the party away from this bullying, intimidatory ‘Go and join the Tories’ attitude to everything to being an open and inclusive party where we can all have discussions and debates.

“They have set this dreadful atmosphere in the party where if you step out of line they set the hounds on you. That’s got to stop. They have got to find some way of bringing people back together instead of it just being a Corbyn cult.”

At the press conference held by the seven MPs to announce their resignations, Ms Berger said she was “embarrassed and ashamed” to be in the Labour party because of its failure to tackle anti-semitism.

And Mr Leslie, a former shadow chancellor, said Labour had been “hijacked by the machine politics of the hard left”.

In a statement, Mr Corbyn said: “I am disappointed these MPs have felt unable to continue to work together for the Labour policies that inspired millions at the last election and saw us increase our vote by the largest share since 1945.

“When millions are facing the misery of Universal Credit, rising crime, homelessness and poverty, now more than ever is the time to bring people together to build a better future for us all.”