JACK STRAW said yesterday that it was “very unlikely” Labour MPs would defect to the Liberal Democrats in protest at Jeremy Corbyn’s left-wing leadership of the party.

The former foreign secretary was responding to claims by Lib Dem leader Tim Farron that he had received “unsolicited texts” from well-known figures “distressed” about Labour’s new direction.

Praising Mr Corbyn’s performance at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Mr Straw played down the prospect of MPs defecting to other parties, suggesting the experience of the SDP in the 1980s made that “very unlikely.”

However, he warned the new leadership could have a “Lazarus effect” on the Lib Dems.

Mr Farron, whose party was reduced to a rump of just eight MPs at the general election, told the Evening Standard: “I’ve had various unsolicited texts, some of them over the weekend, where I felt like I was being an agony aunt.

“People who have been members of the party for as long as I’ve been a member of mine feel that they don’t recognise their party any more and feel deeply distressed.”