BIRKENHEAD MP Frank Field has been sent death threats amid a torrent of online abuse over his decision to quit Labour’s parliamentary party and sit as an independent.

Mr Field sensationally resigned the whip last week to serve as an independent Labour MP as he blamed Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour Party being governed by “a culture of intolerance, nastiness and intimidation” as the row over anti-semitism escalated.

Labour has said Mr Field’s wish to serve as an Independent while remaining a member of the party is “not possible.”

This has triggered a major legal battle between Mr Field and the party hierarchy with the MP already seeking advice.

But he revealed this week he will not be calling a by-election.

Under Parliamentary Labour Party standing orders anyone who takes such action will usually get a letter asking them to retake the party whip within 14 days or face expulsion.

Mr Field told the Globe his decision to resign the whip has not been without its problems: “You think these things through beforehand of course, but when you actually make the move you cannot envisage the world you will then be in.

"It is a very big thing.

“I was trying to bring about change, as I always do, but things will never be the same.”

Mr Field said he has been under fire from internet trolls calling for his blood: “It is hard to imagine the forces of law and order are not capable of tracing some of these people and doing what should be done.

“There is an echo in their venom that reminds me a great deal of facing down Militant Tendency in the late-1980s.”

Mr Field refused to call a by-election and says he will fight Labour in the courts if the party tries to expel him as a member.