FOURTEEN members of Great Yarmouth Constituency Labour Party (CLP) have announced that they are leaving the party after Labour HQ “silenced” members over support for Jeremy Corbyn and Palestine.

The “proud socialists and committed anti-racists” wrote to their CLP secretary to say that “with a heavy heart” they will be terminating their memberships.

The members said that suspending former Labour leader Mr Corbyn over his response to an external report into the party’s handling of anti-semitism complaints and his successor Sir Keir Starmer’s subsequent decision to withdraw the whip from him “demonstrates overt political interference into party investigations.”

They added that they are “angry, frustrated and quite frankly embarrassed“ that the Labour leadership “uses false allegations of anti-semitism, which cannot be upheld, for factional political gains.”

A directive to CLPs by Labour general secretary David Evans stating that discussion or motions in relation to Mr Corbyn’s suspension or withdrawal of the whip would be ruled “out of order” undermines democracy and political debate, they wrote.

The directive has also led to bans on motions in support of rights of Palestinians.

The letter says: “It is essential that members are provided with free speech in relation to the Israeli government’s occupation and its systemic human-rights abuses of Palestinians. “