MP Dame Louise Ellman has quit Labour, blaming leader Jeremy Corbyn for allowing antisemitism to become "mainstream" in the party.

In a statement issued on Wednesday evening the Jewish MP said that Mr Corbyn is "not fit to serve as our Prime Minister."

Describing the decision to quit the party she joined 55 years ago as "truly agonising", the 73-year-old wrote: "Jewish members have been bullied, abused and driven out."

She added: "A party that permits anti-Jewish racism to flourish cannot be called anti-racist."

The MP for Liverpool Riverside said the party was "no longer a safe place for Jews" and the Mr Corbyn "must bare the responsibility for this."

Dame Louise - who has represented her seat since 1997 and was previously the leader of Lancashire Council - said her "traditional Labour values" had remained the same.

She added "this issue is no longer just about the Labour Party - it is about the threat a Jeremy Corbyn premiership could pose to the country."

Last week the JC revealed how far-left activists in her constituency had targeted Dame Ellman with the threat of no confidence motions - including one that was scheduled to be debated on Yom Kippur.

In her resignation letter, Dame Louise said she could not join another party and said she hoped to return to Labour "under different leadership".

"With a General Election looming and the possibility of [Corbyn] becoming prime minister, I feel I have to take a stand," she wrote.

"I cannot advocate a government led by Jeremy Corbyn.

"Under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, antisemitism has become mainstream in the Labour Party.

"Jewish members have been bullied, abused and driven out. Antisemites have felt comfortable and vile conspiracy theories have been propogated.

"A party that permits anti-Jewish racism to flourish cannot be called an anti-racist party."

Dame Louise follows her fellow Liverpool MP Luciana Berger, who quit Labour over antisemitic bullying in February and is now the the Liberal Democrat candidate for Finchley and Golders Green at the next election.

Speaking to the Times, Dame Louise said of Mr Corbyn: “I see no indication at all that he as leader recognises his responsibility for what’s happening, or indeed wants to do anything about it...  I see no contrition, no recognition of his role in this terrible situation.”

In a statement, LFI Director Jennifer Gerber said Dame Louise had "taken a characteristically brave and principled decision".

She added: "It highlights once again the instiutional antisemitism which continues to shame the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn's responsibility for it."

Jewish Labour Movement chair Mike Katz called it "heartbreaking" and said: "She's the second female Jewish MP to be hounded out of the Labour Party. 

"What clearer signal can there be, as Dame Louise says, the Labour Party is not a safe space for Jews."