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A Labour MP who was suspended over a sexual harassment allegation has quit the party and launched a scathing attack on Jeremy Corbyn.
In his resignation letter, Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock said there was “clear evidence” the investigation into the claim, which he denies, had been “manipulated for factional purposes”.
Mr Woodcock has been accused of sending inappropriate texts and emails to a former female staff member between 2014 and 2016.
He is a long-standing critic of Mr Corbyn’s leadership, clashing with his now former boss on issues like nuclear weapons and anti-Semitism.
A party spokesman said: ‘Jeremy thanks John for his service to the Labour Party’
Mr Woodcock once again went on the attack in his resignation letter.
He claimed the party had changed for the worse and said the Labour leader would be a “clear risk to UK national security as prime minister”.
“The party for which I have campaigned since I was a boy is no longer the broad church it has always historically been,” Mr Woodcock said.
“Anti-Semitism is being tolerated and Labour has been taken over at nearly every level by the hard left, far beyond the dominance they achieved at the height of 1980s militancy.
“There is little chance of returning the Labour party to the inclusive, mainstream electoral force my constituents desperately need.”
Mr Woodcock has been sitting as an independent since having the whip withdrawn in April
Attacking Mr Corbyn, Mr Woodcock said: “I have promised to fight for local jobs, promote a credible alternative government, protect the shipyard and ensure the safety of my constituents through strong defence and national security.
“I now believe more strongly than ever that you have made the Labour Party unfit to deliver those promises and would pose a clear risk to UK national security as prime minister.”
He also accused Mr Corbyn of personally refusing to appoint an independent investigator in his case.
Mr Woodcock, 39, has been sitting as an independent since having the whip withdrawn in April pending an investigation into the allegation against him.
He was an aide to Gordon Brown during his time in Downing Street and served as shadow transport minister under Ed Miliband.
A party spokesman said: “Jeremy thanks John for his service to the Labour Party.”
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