JOHN McDONNELL made a public appeal for calm within the Labour Party yesterday after Blairite MPs stirred up a damaging public spat over Syria.

The shadow chancellor called for colleagues to show cool heads as discussions over the party’s position on air strikes continue ahead of Monday’s shadow cabinet meeting.

He said: “On Syria, can everyone calm down. We’re all simply working through the issues and coming to final decision.”

He also dispelled suggestions the emotive issue could split the party or spark a leadership challenge, adding: “Don’t mistake democracy for division.”

Mr McDonnell made the statement on Twitter after two right-wing Labour MPs called for leader Jeremy Corbyn to resign yesterday because he does not back bombing.

Mr Corbyn set out his objections to air strikes in an email to all MPs on Thursday following David Cameron’s statement to the Commons.

Warley MP John Spellar claimed the missive amounted to the leader and “his small group of tiny Trots in the bunker” launching a “coup” against the shadow cabinet.

In a rant on BBC radio he even compared Mr Corbyn to Adolf Hitler, raging: “Sorry, we’re not a one-man, one-vote once [sic].

“You know, we elect the Fuhrer and he therefore decides everything.

“We have a shadow cabinet, we have collective responsibility, this is not the way to go about things.”

Progress-backed former minister Fiona McTaggart said Mr Corbyn should resign because “the division at the moment is causing real problems.”

Disagreement among Labour MPs over Syria is likely to lead to them being given a free vote on the issue.

But a Labour List survey of 2,453 supporters found that 63 per cent support the party leader’s opposition to air strikes in Syria.

And Labour NEC member and former London mayor Ken Livingstone said: “Those people that are thinking of voting to support Cameron’s policy on this know full well they do not have the backing of the rank and file of the party membership.

“So they might do what they believe to be right but I don’t think they’re going to go on and try to overthrow Jeremy Corbyn because he’ll just be re-elected if they want another election.”