BARROW and Furness MP John Woodcock has this morning handed in his resignation from the Labour Party, The Mail can reveal.

Mr Woodcock was suspended from the party in April after allegations of sexual harassment were made against him by a female aide. The claims are being investigated by the Labour Party.

Since then he has sat as an independent MP and vowed to continue fighting on behalf of Barrow telling his constituents: "Nothing will distract me from working flat out for our community. There is masses happening and I remain as proud as ever to serve as your MP and stand up for the town."

Yesterday it was revealed the Barrow and Furness Constituency Labour Party had made attempts to oust him from the parliamentary seat and today, at 9.30am, Mr Woodcock has sent a letter to party leader Jeremy Corbyn quitting from the party.

In the letter Mr Woodcock says: "Dear Jeremy, I am today resigning from the Labour Party following your refusal to appoint an independent investigator to rule on my disciplinary case and in the light of clear evidence that the process has been manipulated for factional purposes.

"First and foremost let me make clear that I was elected to put the people of Barrow and Furness first, no matter how difficult or controversial. 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.

Click here to read John Woodcock's letter to Jeremy Corbyn in full

"The party for which I have campaigned since I was a boy is no longer the broad church it has always historically been. 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. In these circumstances, I can no longer justify engaging in a rigged process to be re-admitted to it.

"As you know, Labour's new general secretary, who has previously said she wanted to 'ditch Blairites', overturned a previous ruling of a party disciplinary panel and suspended me after someone placed confidential details of my disciplinary case in two Sunday newspapers.

"This followed a newspaper report that the Labour leadership was looking for a reason to suspend me because of my opposition to your leadership. Emails that have since been released to me through data laws reveal that senior party figures have long been determined to prevent me re-standing as a Labour candidate because of my views on your leadership. It was noted in one such email that suspending me for a reason unrelated to those views would enable me to be barred from re-election without risking legal challenge.

"It is not credible to expect a fair hearing in these circumstances. I strongly deny the charge made against me but am committed to the complaint being thoroughly and fairly investigated. I will now seek to refer myself to an independent process so the case can be properly heard.

"I hope you will listen to the growing calls from the Labour Too campaign and others to do the same for all cases.

"I am proud of what our community has achieved since I was given the opportunity to serve them in parliament, despite damaging government austerity. We have secured the historic Trident vote that guarantees two decades of work in Barrow shipyard; we have saved our maternity unit; and we are coming together to demand promised new investment to lift the crippling deprivation that blights too many local lives.

"There is still so much to do and I will continue to give my all to the people of Barrow and Furness as an independent MP on the opposition benches. My loyalty to them always comes first so I will work with the government when it is trying to do the right thing, and will also work with the many good colleagues who are still trying to do their best in Labour."