Scotland left without an MP in the shadow cabinet as Ian Murray quits in revolt against Jeremy Corbyn

At the time The National went to press, ten members of the shadow cabinet had resigned.

Murray said he did not think Corbyn was able to become Prime Minister, in a walkout that means there are now no MPs from Scotland in the shadow cabinet.

The rash of resignations have prompted speculation hostile Labour MPs have launched a full-blown coup to oust Corbyn in the wake of the UK vote for Brexit.

Murray, the Edinburgh South MP, said: “He’s a decent human being, a lovely man who I get on incredibly well with. But he just can’t lead the Labour Party and I don’t think the public think he can be Prime Minister.”

In a sign of the scale of the revolt against the leadership, Lucy Powell resigned as shadow education secretary, saying Corbyn’s position was “untenable” because he could not command the support of Labour MPs or the country as a whole.

Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Seema Malhotra, shadow transport secretary Lilian Greenwood and shadow environment secretary Kerry McCarthy were also among those quitting. They joined Murray, shadow health secretary Heidi Alexander and shadow minister for young people Gloria De Piero in a string of resignation annoucements that Corbyn supporters will see as being choreographed to ramp up the pressure on him to quit.

Following them out the door were shadow Northern Ireland secretary Vernon Coaker, shadow justice secretary Lord Falconer and Shadow attorney general Karl Turner. Late last night, shadow Commons leader Chris Bryant shared his resignation letter on Twitter.

However, shadow home secretary Andy Burnham has said he will not be taking part in a “coup” against Corbyn, adding that: “At an uncertain time like this for our country, I cannot see how it makes sense for the opposition to plunge itself into a civil war.”

The walkouts were triggered by the sacking of shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn amid reports that he was working to co-ordinate a coup against Corbyn, who is facing a motion of no confidence from rebel Labour MPs this week.

Benn said there was concern about Corbyn’s “leadership and his ability to win an election” and stated that he had phoned the Labour leader to tell him he had lost confidence in his ability to lead the party, adding: "He dismissed me”.

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Benn said Corbyn “is a good and decent man but he is not a leader”. Murray, echoing Benn’s concerns, said: “The Labour party needs to stop talking to itself. I don’t think at this moment in time [Corbyn] can be prime minister.”

Speaking live on the BBC’s Sunday Politics Scotland programme, Murray confirmed he had just written to Corbyn, and said that matters had been brought to a head by the result of the EU referendum.

Murray said it was important for Labour to be a strong opposition and ready to get back into government, as he claimed Benn’s sacking was the “final straw” for many shadow ministers in the aftermath of the UK vote to leave the EU.

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However, Murray suggested the Labour leader was on course to preside over what would be a third successive General Election defeat, as he said: “I don’t think Jeremy Corbyn is able to be PM .”

Murray added: “His change seems to have been to sack Hilary Benn. I think that’s the wrong way to go, and I think this is the final straw for many people in the shadow cabinet who served for unity in the party and also in the country, but we do need change now because the Labour Party cannot win a General Election in its current state.”

Corbyn – who has been a long-standing critic of the EU and who is regarded as the most Eurosceptic Labour leader in years – was accused by some MPs in his party of not making the case for Remain forcefully enough. A motion of no confidence against Corbyn has been submitted by Labour MPs Dame Margaret Hodge and Ann Coffey – and it is expected to be considered at the next meet of the Parliamentary Labour Party today. A secret ballot of MPs could be held as early as tomorrow.

Labour MPs resigning from the shadow cabinet said their decision to quit also centred on concerns that Corbyn was on course to lose the election.

Powell’s letter resigning as shadow education secretary read: “It is increasingly clear that your position is untenable and that you are unable to command the support of the shadow cabinet, the Parliamentary Labour Party and, most importantly, the country.”

Alexander, who was the first member of Corbyn’s top team to quit after Benn was sacked from the shadow cabinet, said: “As much as I respect you as a man of principle, I do not believe you have the capacity to shape the answers our country is demanding and I believe that if we are to form the next Government, a change of leadership is essential.”

However, shadow chancellor John McDonnell insisted Corbyn was “not going anywhere” as he moved to quash speculation that he could potentially succeed the serving Labour leader.

McDonnell, a close ally of Corbyn, insisted that grassroots party members would re-elect him even if MPs force a contest.

“Jeremy’s not going anywhere,” the shadow chancellor told the BBC’s Sunday Politics when asked about the prospect of Corbyn being ousted just nine months after he was overwhelmingly elected as party leader.

McDonnell said: “He was elected nine months ago, the biggest mandate of any political leader in our country, and he is not going anywhere.

“The people who are sovereign in our party are the members. It’s the members who elected Jeremy and he will remain.

“If Jeremy has to stand for another leadership election, I will chair his campaign and I think the Labour Party members will elect him again.”

But in a boost for Corbyn, shadow defence secretary Emily Thornberry said she would not resign and urged colleagues to “take a responsible view” and “think of the country first”.

Thornberry, who is seen as a centrist MP, speaking on On BBC1’s Sunday Politics, said: “Jeremy was only elected less than a year ago on the back of 6 per cent of the membership voting in his favour.

“Now is not the time for us to go for a leadership challenge. I do think this is a nonsense.”

Who could replace Ian Murray?

THE resignation of Ian Murray as shadow Scottish secretary leaves Jeremy Corbyn with the problem of being unable to replace him with another MP representing a constituency in Scotland.

Murray was the only Labour MP to be elected in Scotland in last year’s General Election, when the SNP took 56 of the 59 Westminster constituencies north of the Border. However, Labour has senior Scottish politicians in the House of Lords, including former Chancellor Alistair Darling and former First Minister Jack McConnell.

Former Labour MP Tommy McAvoy speaks for Labour in the Lords on Scottish affairs.

Theoretically a Scottish peer could be handed a post in the shadow cabinet, but such a move would leave the party open to attack and ridicule from the SNP, which is now the third biggest party in the Commons.

But whatever happens, Corbyn will have to appoint an MP to speak for Labour during Scottish question time in the Commons, when the party faces the Secretary of State for Scotland.

Murray’s role was to shadow the Secretary of State and sit in the shadow cabinet. The lack of any other Labour MPs representing Scottish constituencies already means the shadow minister of state position, the junior frontbench role, has had to be filled by Welsh Labour MP Wayne David, who also speaks on Cabinet Office and justice issues in the Commons.

However, David or another Welsh Labour MP could potentially effectively double up as a spokesman with a brief that covers Scotland and Wales.

Although far from ideal, Corbyn may be tempted to take such an approach when he come to replacing Murray.

Having a "devolution spokesperson" would allow Corbyn to attempt to deflect at lest some of the ridicule surrounding the lack of a Scottish replacement for Murray.

It would also be more palatable and workable than the House of Lords option.

Another possible solution could be to pick a Labour MP for an English constituency, preferably in the north or north-east, who was born in Scotland or has Scottish heritage.

But such a move could leave Labour open to the criticism the Tories faced in the Commons between 1997 and 2001, when English MPs spoke for the party on Scottish affairs at Westminster after it lost all its MPs north of the Border.