BURY South MP Ivan Lewis has resigned from the Labour Party, launching a scathing attack on Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr Lewis, who was suspended from the party in November 2017, took to twitter this afternoon to announce "with great sadness" his resignation with immediate effect.

In his excoriating resignation letter Mr Lewis hit out at Jeremy Corbyn over his handling of the anti-Semitism crisis engulfing the party, as well as his position on Israel and Brexit.

Mr Lewis wrote: "All too often you have been unwilling to condemn those whose hatred of Israel becomes Jew hatred".

He also accused Mr Corbyn of having an "anti-Western world view" and of having longstanding preference for "Putin's Russia and the Islamist fundamentalism of Iran".

Further noting that he can "no longer reconcile my Jewish identity and current Labour politics".

However he said it was for others to determine if Mr Corbyn is anti-Semitic.

Commenting on Israel Mr Lewis said it is "absolutely clear" that Mr Corbyn and party aide Seumas Milne: "do not believe in the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their own state.

"This is different to your view on the right to self determination for every other minority community." 

He added: "It is no wonder that so many British people are uncomfortable at the prospect of you becoming Prime Minister of one of the world's most enduring western liberal democracies.

"On Brexit they sense your discomfort as a lifelong Eurosceptic seeking to conceal your true beliefs from your ardent supporters within the party who are overwhelmingly pro-European."

First elected to Bury Council in 1990 at the age of 23, Mr Lewis had been a member of the Labour Party for more than two decades.

He was subsequently elected to Parliament for Bury South in 1997 serving in successive Labour governments and in Ed Miliband's shadow cabinet.

In his letter Mr Lewis said that Mr Corbyn could not overturn his pride in being part of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's governments, during which time he served as Ministers of State for Care Services, International Development, and Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

He further wrote of his pride at representing his home constituency and vowed to continue fighting for his constituents.

He said: "My great sense of pride at representing the community where I [was] born and raised has never diminished.

"I'm humbled to have been elected on six successive occasions in a former Conservative seat.

"The support and loyalty shown to me by so many local people of all political persuasions especially during the last year has been truly moving.  

"As MP for Bury South I will continue to fight for local people on issues such as town centre regeneration, a new secondary school and improved mental health services." 

Mr Lewis was suspended from the Labour Party last year over claims of sexual harassment.

He has since stridently denied all allegations and slammed Labour's investigation as "flawed" and "subject to political manipulation". 

In his resignation letter he said: "I have made it clear that I strongly refute the charges which have been made and I am willing to cooperate with a truly independent process." 

Additionally he cited the impact his suspension was having on his mental health, describing the delay in the party's investigation as "unnecessary and politically motivated".

It is understood that Mr Lewis was to be given a date for a hearing at the National Constitutional Committee disciplinary body in the New Year, regarding the sexual harassment allegations.