TWO senior Plymouth Labour politicians have quit in an extraordinary row that has left the party split and weakened.

Cllr Andy Kerswell accused Labour MPs who abused their expenses of being "a bunch of pigs with their snouts in the trough".

And he made an unprecedented attack on his local party leadership for what he called their "lack of trust".

Mr Kerswell's colleague Mark King, the city councillor for St Peter and the Waterfront, also resigned from the party, saying: "These MPs are supposed to be Socialists and helping people, and all they do is to milk the system."

Mr Kerswell, the Efford and Lipson councillor, said: "I've been a Labour member for nearly 20 years and I'm seriously gutted to be leaving the party, but one has got to have some conscience.

"When I see a bunch of pigs with their snouts in the trough that's not the party I joined."

Mr Kerswell, who was also chairman of the Plymouth Sutton constituency Labour Party until he quit yesterday, accused Sutton MP Linda Gilroy and his former Labour colleagues of letting down Dockyard workers.

The Dockyard faces an uncertain future in the wake of the Naval Base Review.

Labour group leader Tudor Evans said: "Andy is making out that this is a matter of principle, but the truth is that he jumped before he was pushed. This will bring the group closer together."

Mr Kerswell and Mr King will remain on the council as Independent councillors.

Their resignations came at about the time of an emergency meeting at 5pm on Tuesday, called by the Labour group to take disciplinary action against Mr Kerswell.

Mark King, who has been a city councillor since May 1997, said: "As a Socialist I find it hard to continue being part of the Labour group. Linda Gilroy has tried to justify earning £63,000 a year plus expenses. It's terribly embarrassing. I say, 'Never defend the indefensible'.

"Our local MPs haven't given us nearly enough information. They have to come clean. Or do we have to wait to read all about it in The Telegraph?

"Even Gary Streeter, the Tory MP for South West Devon, has given us more information about his expenses than our two Labour MPs.

"Nationally, some MPs should be charged. If they have broken the law they should be treated the same as everyone else."

Mr King said the Labour group was not doing enough to protect Dockyard jobs because they had to "toe the party line".

"If we had a Tory Government we'd be up in arms, fighting what this Labour Government is doing to the Dockyard.

"We have a Labour MP, Linda Gilroy, who sits on the Defence Select Committee and she knows nothing about what is going on. She keeps saying it will be OK, but it won't be. I think they'll close the Dockyard after the next General Election."

Mr Kerswell told The Herald that his row with the Labour group was over emails he had sent.

"They don't like the tone of my emails because I tell the truth. I was group treasurer and someone made an allegation which was later proved to be 100 per cent incorrect. He was calling my integrity into question over the group accounts.

"They threatened to withdraw the party whip from me because I won't sign a document allowing them to scrutinise my emails before they go out. That shows a lack of trust."

Eddie Rennie, the Labour group's chief whip, said: "Mr Kerswell declined to attend the meeting on Tuesday. The group decided to withdraw the whip from him for up to six months, with the proviso that he would sign a code of conduct agreement not to repeat his behaviour.

"We were made aware late on Tuesday night that there was a resignation in the pipeline.

"When I phoned the city solicitor in the morning he confirmed that Mr Kerswell had resigned from the group," Mr Rennie, the councillor for Sutton and Mount Gould, said.

Mr Kerswell said the MPs' expenses scandal had damaged democracy.

"I am unhappy with Linda Gilroy more than anybody. As chair of the constituency Labour Party I requested a meeting with her the week before last to ask about her expenses. I only got a call from her last Saturday. I believe she knew there were discrepancies."

Mr Kerswell also accused his former Labour colleagues of letting down Dockyard workers.

"What is the Labour group doing about the Dockyard? Nothing – because it's a Labour Government."

Mr Kerswell added that he had been "booted off the Scrutiny Commission, which was a bit of a shock"."

Mr Kerswell attacked both main parties for their lack of leadership. "Labour and the Conservatives have not been true to their colours," he said. "All politicians are in it together.

"From what I'm hearing on the streets people are going to punish them for this. Everywhere I go people are stopping me to talk about expenses."

Mr King added: "I was elected to represent the people and not the party."

He said they were "looking at our options" and might try to revive the old Plymouth Party.

"We must not be ruled from Westminster and have to toe the party line," he said.