The seven MPs who quit Labour in protest at the direction of the party have been branded "pathetic" by Derek Hatton, the firebrand former deputy leader of Liverpool City Council.
Speaking after it was reported he had formally been readmitted to the Labour Party 34 years after being expelled, Mr Hatton told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Of course it's good to be back, in fact in a way I've never left.
READ MORE: Who are the seven MPs who have resigned from Labour?
"For 34 years I've stayed absolutely solid with the Labour Party. Never joined any other party, never actually voted for another party. Never campaigned for another party.
"And, believe you me, during the times of the Blair era, the Iraq war, the ending of clause four, etc, it wasn't easy, and it was tempting to go.
"And that's why when you look at the seven who now have left you think, well, how pathetic is it, how really strong are you within the Labour movement to want to run away when there is something that you disagree with?"
One of the MPs who quit Labour, Chuka Umunna, told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "We are not the SDP. This is a different century."
Asked when the group of MPs could evolve into a new centre party with a name and more members, Mr Umunna said: "I would like to see us move as quickly as possible and certainly by the end of the year, but that's my personal view."
He added: "There needs to be an alternative, so that's perfectly possible. But I don't get to determine this."
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell told Sky News: "We need a mammoth, massive listening exercise and (to) address some of those criticisms that have been made."
But he played down suggestions that as many as 36 Labour MPs had been considering a split.
"I don't think there is that scale, but the key issue for us - and it was made clear at the Parliamentary Labour Party, Tom Watson said it and others - the Labour leadership, and I'm part of that, we need to keep listening, bring people in, talk to them," he said.
READ MORE: Who are The Independence Group? Former Labour MPs form breakaway party
Mr McDonnell said the "only disagreement we have had within the party is around how we handle Brexit and I think we are bringing people together on that."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn left his home in Islington, north London, at around 9.45am and got into a waiting car.
He declined to answer questions from reporters on whether more resignations are coming, if the Labour Party can survive the crisis, or if he might step down.
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