TRISTRAM Hunt has become the latest Labour frontbencher to raise the idea of a split between the Scottish and UK party as he called for it to be easier to dump underperforming leaders.

The shadow education secretary made the comments as he announced his withdrawal from the race to succeed Ed Miliband.

The TV historian also said that the SNP's call for 'devo max' should be "up for debate" in the contest for the future direction of his party.

Earlier Labour Home Secretary Charles Clarke said that in his personal view Scottish Labour should become a separate entity.

Confirming that he would not stand, Mr Hunt urged his supporters to instead back Liz Kendall, the Leicester MP also viewed as part of a crop of young Blairites within the party.

Mr Hunt also warned against the potentially "disproportionate" influence of trade unions, which he said could rob members of a wide choice in the upcoming contest.

"We need less dictation by individuals and individual factions that still seek to wield an influence that is both disproportionate to what they deserve and contrary to the egalitarian principle of one member, one vote," he said.

He called for the adoption of a "100 per cent strategy" to gain supporters across the country, including Scotland, rather the so-called "35 per cent strategy" aimed at winning just enough voters to get back into power.

He also called for an "escape" route that could more easily allow the next party leader to be ditched.

He said: "You need to judge it carefully because you do not want these things happening all the time and undermining the leadership, but you could get to a position where, if there is a lack of confidence among a certain number of MPs, then you have a trigger process."

In a speech on the way forward for Labour, Mr Hunt admitted that he had concluded in recent days that he would be unable to get the 35 names necessary to mount a leadership challenge.

Most of his colleagues appeared already committed to "a couple of candidates", he said.

With two ex-Cabinet ministers, Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper, thought to be sure of passing the threshold, he said he did not want to split the nominations.

Mr Clarke hit out at the length of the last Labour leadership contest in 2010, saying that it had allowed the Conservative-led coalition to persuade many voters that Labour had ruined the economy.

To bounce back he said his party had to perform well in next year's Scottish Parliament elections.

That will require its own policy platform, he said, and "my view is that an entirely independent Scottish Labour party should be created, constitutionally controlled entirely from Scotland".