ONE of Bradford's newest MPs has urged the Labour Party to keep to the left, as the fallout from the party's general election defeat continues.

With the Labour Party under increasing pressure to move to the centre-ground to recapture lost voters, new Bradford East MP Imran Hussain has warned this would be a potentially "disastrous" move.

He has called for his party to completely reject austerity measures, signalling strongly for a return to 'old Labour' values.

Mr Hussain was one of the architects of an open letter, signed by ten new MPs and printed in a national newspaper, urging all potential party leaders not to "draw back to the New Labour creed of the past".

Speaking to the Telegraph & Argus about his decision to pen the letter, Mr Hussain said: "I would oppose any move that would take us back down the disastrous route of New Labour."

MORE TOP STORIES

Mr Hussain said in particular, he wanted to see the party oppose austerity measures in their entirety.

He said: "Austerity-lite, as an alternative to austerity, is something that I don't think the Labour Party should be saying.

"I think we should be saying that austerity hasn't worked and we need to make sure our funding of public services will be protected."

Mr Hussain said the party should stop trying to be "something we're not".

He said: "We are the Labour Party, we should be proud to be the Labour Party. We should be saying, 'An end to austerity'. That's how we are going to connect with our voters."

Mr Hussain said the group hoped to meet with the potential leadership candidates in the coming days, and some members had already met one of the front-runners, Andy Burnham.

He said: "I think the letter has got all these leadership candidates interested in speaking to us and as new MPs, we have made our position clear - we definitely do not want to see the return of New Labour."

Neither Judith Cummins, Labour's new MP for Bradford South, nor Naz Shah, its new MP for Bradford West, had signed the letter.

Mrs Cummins said it would be up to members to decide the new leader and therefore the direction the party would take.

She said: "I didn't sign the letter because it's an open contest and it is up to the members to decide. The members have the very best people to choose from."

Mrs Cummins said she would be meeting all four leadership candidates, saying this was "only fair", before she decided who to back.

She said: "We have also got a process to go through, which will involve a hustings."

Ms Shah could not be reached for comment yesterday.

l BRADFORD'S three newest MPs have all been officially sworn in for the first time in Parliament.

Labour MPs Naz Shah, for Bradford West, and Imran Hussain, for Bradford East, both took the oath, pledging allegiance to the Queen, yesterday.

Their Labour colleague, new Bradford South MP Judith Cummins, was sworn in on Tuesday.