Seven Labour MPs have quit the party in a major blow for leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Gavin Shuker, Mike Gapes, Ann Coffey and Chuka Umunna announced their decisions at a press conference in London on Monday.

Ms Berger initially introduced herself as "the Labour Party MP", before correcting herself and saying: "I am the Member of Parliament for Liverpool Wavertree".

She said: "This morning we have all now resigned from the Labour Party. This has been a very difficult, painful, but necessary decision.

"We represent different parts of the country, we are of different backgrounds, we were born of different generations, but we all share the same values.

"From today, we will all sit in Parliament as a new independent group of MPs."

Simmering tensions within Labour ranks over Mr Corbyn's approach to leaving the European Union and the party leadership's handling of anti-Semitism allegations have prompted the schism.