THE Labour Party has long revelled in its reputation for being a broad church.

Its congregation still includes proud Blairites as well as Bevanites and Bennites but there is definite sign that the party is narrowing.

At the weekend some insiders criticised Jeremy Corbyn's decision to sack Owen Smith, with Labour peer Peter Hain describing the dismissal as a "Stalinist purge".

Mr Smith said he "stood by his principles" in calling for another EU referendum - a move which resulted in his removal from Labour's shadow cabinet.

Mr Smith's comments on Brexit policy were seemingly a move too far for the party leadership, who'd welcomed him back into the fold after his leadership challenge in 2016. Dismay about his departure among some MPs, including Redcar’s Anna Turley, has again laid bare lingering opposition to Mr Corbyn’s leadership.

Nevertheless his grip on the party has never been stronger. Will their next phases of internal reform make it even more difficult for moderates to feel that Labour is still their party?

It’s almost a mirror image of the New Labour reinvention under Tony Blair which created a simmering resentment among some on the left of the party who felt emasculated by a strategy of winning and retaining power by sticking to the centre and right-of centre .

The left-right divide within the party has existed throughout Labour's history, from Bevan and Gaitskell in the 1950s to Benn and Healey in the 1980s. But by the time the party was looking for a successor for Ed Miliband the internal reforms which had broken the stranglehold of left-wing cliques in local constituency parties had left Labour looking bland and comfortable.

Enter Mr Corbyn and a radical reshaping of the party in Westminster and local offices.

Labour still means different things to different people but by stamping out debate on the biggest issues of the day there is a danger that the broad church is becoming a narrow cult.