JEREMY Corbyn's shambolic handling of the anti-Semitism crisis risks Labour falling into "irrelevance, Lord Blunkett has warned.

The former Home Secretary added that Frank Field's decision to resign the Labour whip was a sign the “bullying and thuggery” of the Militant left had returned.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he blasted: “Frank Field’s decision, and his concerns over both anti-Semitism and the behaviour of party members, indicate a deeper malaise.

"His actions need to be seen as a catalyst for seismic change and a rethink of the so-called ‘Corbyn project’.

“The commitment to Labour as a ‘broad church’, which motivated some of those who nominated Jeremy, has been thrown back in their faces and demonstrated that the so-called ‘new style of politics’ is anything but. “

"Quite simply, Labour has to put its own house in order as decisively and speedily as possible.

The broadside comes after Birkenhead MP Mr Field insisted he still wanted to stay a Labour member - which he has been for 60 years.

And he told The Sun was confident of mounting a “successful” legal challenge to his expulsion.

The latest dramatic turn in the party’s summer long antisemitism row came as a second rebel Labour MP declared he will also resign the party whip next week if Jeremy Corbyn fails to adopt a strong new rules about Jewish people.

Mr Field told The Sun: “I believe I can make a successful legal challenge to this.

“They are not applying the rules correctly. There are three peers in the House of Lords who are all crossbenchers but still Labour Party members, so why is it one rule for then and one rule for me?”

A legal victory for Mr Field would be potentially explosive for the spiralling rebellion of moderate MPs against Mr Corbyn.

It would mean dozens of others would also be free to resign the whip and ignore Mr Corbyn’s daily voting orders without fear of getting the boot from the wider party.

Mr Field also said he is considering triggering an embarrassing by-election, in which he would run against an official Labour candidate.

Labour denied Mr Field had been ejected from the party, insisting instead that he had in effect expelled himself.

A senior Labour source said: “The Chief Whip has met with Frank Field this afternoon.

“They had an amicable discussion.

“It was conveyed to him that the Labour Party rules state that resigning the Labour Whip means you automatically opt to resign from the Labour Party.

The row’s dramatic escalation came as a second rebel Labour MP declared he will also resign the party whip next week if Jeremy Corbyn fails to adopt a strong new antisemitism rules.

Longstanding MP for Ilford South Mike Gapes’s ultimatum to follow Frank Field out comes ahead of a crucial showdown meeting of the party’s ruling National Executive Committee on Tuesday.

The 69 year-old veteran Socialist boss is under massive pressure to adopt the full international Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition without any caveats.

The hard left Labour leader is still insisting on having a free speech defence that allows hard left members to criticise Israel’s right to exist.

If Mr Corbyn doesn’t climb down, Mr Gapes said he will “consider his position”.

Saying he was “tainted and sickened” by the avalanche of racism charges against Labour, he added: “I am agonising every day about the situation and the state of the Labour”.

Another Labour MP John Mann called on Mr Corbyn to “show leadership” by announcing every Jewish MP will be automatically reselected as a candidate for the next election.

Mr Mann added: “That’s leadership Jeremy, so get leading”.