Frank Field has refused to rule out triggering a by-election after resigning the Labour whip, saying Jeremy Corbyn has failed to address the reasons for his decision. 
The veteran Birkenhead MP, who was due to hold talks yesterday with Labour’s chief whip Nick Brown, told the Guardian he had yet to decide on his next step after announcing that he had resigned the whip because of antisemitism and a culture of bullying in the party. 
“I am very clear in the letter to Nick that I wish to remain a member of the Labour party as I have been for 60 years. But I wish to sit as an independent Labour party member,” Field said. 
Asked whether he would stand down if requested to do so by Labour, Field said: “These are early days and I certainly want to fight the seat at the next election as a Labour candidate. If I don’t, I will fight as an independent Labour candidate. The voters will decide. They are the sovereign body.” 
He declined to rule out resigning his seat, which would trigger a by-election. “These are early days, I have only just resigned,” Field said. 
The MP, who recently faced a vote of no confidence from his local party over his support for Brexit, said Corbyn’s reaction to his decision – a statement thanking him for his service to the party – had been inadequate. 
“He seems to be under the impression that I have left a whist club rather than 60 years in the Labour party. I have actually been in the party longer than he has,” Field said. 
He added that the vitriolic reaction on social media to his decision had reinforced his impression that there is a culture of bullying within the party. “It illustrates what I am trying to talk about. There is a culture in the Labour party that needs to be addressed and it is not being addressed,” Field said. 
In a letter to Brown on Thursday, Field said he was resigning the whip “with considerable sadness”, but had chosen to do so because of a lack of action to combat antisemitism in Labour, and what he said were the bullying attitudes of some members. 
Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, said his decision was a “serious loss” that “reflects both the deep divisions in the party and the sense of drift engulfing us. It is a major wake-up call. We cannot afford to lose people of such weight and stature.” 
With a number of MPs privately frustrated and increasing rumours that several could resign to sit as independents, or even form a breakaway party, the Ilford North MP, Wes Streeting, said that if the leadership failed to get a grip on the issue, Labour could face an existential crisis. 
Field told BBC Breakfast it was “simply crazy” to characterise the decision as an attempt to see Corbyn ousted. – Guardian News and Media