The National:

THE fault lines are emerging in Scottish Labour, with Ian Murray now embroiled in a civil war with a website set up to support party leader Richard Leonard.

It came after Murray expressed his support for the breakway group of centrist MPs made up of former Labour MPs  – though since joined by several Tories.

The pro-Leonard Red Robin site claimed to have been given a statement by party members in Edinburgh South calling on Murray to make clear whether he would join the group.

Following the break-up, he had said: "The current Labour leadership is breaking the broad church that this party once built its electoral success upon – a broad church which delivered Labour governments that lifted millions and millions of people out of poverty."

Red Robin then cited members as accusing Murray of being "disingenuous" in blaming Corbyn.

They said: "Our MP may be waiting to see which way the political wind blows, but members will expect him to come to our next CLP with clarity or we will start the business of finding our new candidate to fight for Labour.

"Make no mistake that the MPs who have resigned today do so out of purely opportunistic reasons, and don't have a shred of principle between them.

"They have never stood for rank-and-file party democracy before and by leaving they are showing utter contempt for it now, by abrogating any accountability to their CLPs.

"Ian Murray is disingenuous to blame Corbyn, who has shown far too much willingness to compromise and reconcile with the Labour right."

The Labour MP responded angrily to the Corbynites, and said the website was spreading "total rubbish".

He wrote: "You've spent the last 24 hours attacking me for recognising why my former colleagues & friends left the Labour Party. We should be addressing why rather than making up stories with unattributed 'member' quotes & total rubbish about my politics & constituency.

"And for the record, I didn't see your email with the short deadline attached for comment as I'm in Parliament today addressing constituency issues, like raising the case of constituents who are concerned about their medical supplies post-Brexit. But thanks for the ultimatum."

Duncan Hothersall tweeted in support of Murray, demanding that Leonard act against the criticism.

He said: "The leadership endorsed Scottish Corbynite left openly goading a @scottishlabour MP to quit, so that they can call him a traitor. @LabourRichard either you denounce this bullshit off the bat or you are seen to implicitly endorse it. Which is it to be?"

The latest Scottish Labour civil war has well and truly kicked off.