LEADING Barrow Labour figures have spoken of the potential for “disaster” should Jeremy Corbyn win leadership of their party.

The veteran left-wing Islington North MP has split opinion and sparked wide-spread controversy since opting to compete for the role and becoming a surprise frontrunner.

Arguments have broken out between staunch supporters of Mr Corbyn and fellow Labour party members who favour his three contenders, the latter having been widely accused of being “Tory-lite” by backers of the anti-austerity campaigner.

It is a term Dave Pidduck, leader of Barrow’s Labour group and a stalwart party member, describes as “incredulous”.

He said: “A party has to be progressive. I don’t say you abandon principles, because you don’t, but the world changes and if you don’t change with it then you‘re doomed.

“As much as I appreciate what Jeremy Corbyn’s saying, I don’t want to die under a Tory government. I want to die under a Labour government, and it just wouldn’t happen under Jeremy Corbyn.”

Mr Pidduck also spoke of the main concern facing Barrow’s left-wing voters - Mr Corbyn’s open opposition to nuclear weapons.

Speaking to Scottish journalists about the future of 19,000 jobs dependent on the Faslane submarine base, Mr Corbyn recently claimed his government would retrain workers to contribute to other industries.

But, Mr Pidduck said: “That would be a major, mammoth reorganisation. 

“Yes, people have transferable skills. However, to simply transfer people into other areas of work is easier said than done.

“By the time of the next election, hopefully, the successor programme will have been passed and we’ll know we’re building four submarines. However, if he became prime minister and decided to cut the number of submarines, that would be a disaster.”

Barrow’s Labour group has opted to support Andy Burnham. On a personal level, Mr Pidduck said, it was choice between Mr Burnham and Yvette Cooper, the other runner considered to fill the middle ground of the leadership contest.

Barrow and Furness MP, John Woodcock, is backing Liz Kendall, widely viewed as the most right-wing of the four candidates.

He said: “Jeremy Corbyn is sincere in his beliefs but he is totally wrong on Trident. Those ideas have been around for decades; they were wrong in the early 1980s and they are wrong now. 

“Nothing will affect my approach to the successor submarine programme because not only does it provide many thousands of jobs here and form the foundation of our local economy, but also it is the best choice for our national security over the next 50 years in a very uncertain world.

 “That will always be my approach no matter who is elected leader of the Labour party or which party is in government.”