Frank Field says he wants to stand as a Labour MP under Jeremy Corbyn at next election
Veteran MP says he will speak to Birkenhead constituents before deciding whether to trigger by-election
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Your support makes all the difference.Frank Field has said he still wants to stand as a Labour MP under Jeremy Corbyn at the next election, despite resigning the whip and issuing a fierce attack on the party leader.
The veteran MP said he would consider triggering a by-election in his Birkenhead constituency, but would rather carry on inside the Labour Party if possible.
Mr Field quit the party whip on Thursday and accused Labour of becoming “a force for antisemitism in British politics” under Corbyn. But he insisted the move was not part of a plot to bring down the Labour leader.
“I believe he has the right to take us into the next election because he has won two leadership contests,” Mr Field told BBC News. “The idea this is part of a plot or anything else is simply crazy.”
Mr Field has faced calls from Mr Corbyn’s supporters to stand down immediately and fight a by-election as an independent candidate.
Labour’s shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon said Mr Field “should do the right and respectful thing and call a by-election straight away”.
“Over the next few days it is clearly a question I will have to think about,” Mr Field responded.
“It’s a big enough step to resign the whip. As things settle down from that, I will obviously make a decision on whether I should actually have a by-election or not, or whether it’s proper for me.
“I will be in Birkenhead,” Mr Field added. “People will be taking to me, coming up to me in the street to see whether they want me to have a by-election or not.”
Mr Field said he spoke briefly to chief whip Nick Brown yesterday, and told him he wanted to remain in Parliament as an independent MP and remain a member of the Labour Party.
The Birkenhead MP said he would speak to Mr Brown at a face-to-face meeting later today to try to “clarify” the matter.
Mr Field also denied claims that he was jumping before he was pushed, having lost a no-confidence vote within his constituency Labour Party after backing Brexit.
He said: “I have been through all this before when I have been deselected and I am still the Labour Party candidate.
“I wish to be the Labour Party candidate at the next election and, if I am not, I shall stand as an independent Labour candidate.”
A Labour party spokesperson has said it was not possible for Mr Field to resign the whip and remain a Labour Party member.
In his letter to Labour’s chief whip, Mr Field said the leadership was doing “nothing substantive” to address antisemitism. “It saddens me to say that we are increasingly seen as a racist party,” he wrote.
He also cited a “culture of intolerance, nastiness and intimidation” in Labour.
Two other Labour MPs, John Woodcock and Jared O’Mara, have resigned the whip in recent weeks and have said they will sit as independent MPs in Parliament until the next election.
About a dozen more Labour MPs are believed to be considering following suit, but the creation of a breakaway group could depend on whether Mr Field is pushed into standing in a by-election.
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