7 Labour MPs quit over Corbyn’s Brexit policy, anti-semitism
Political reverberations unleashed by the 2016 EU referendum took another toll on Monday when seven Labour MPs resigned from the party, opposing leader Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit policy and approach on issues such as racism, bullying and anti-semitism.
Political reverberations unleashed by the 2016 EU referendum took another toll on Monday when seven Labour MPs resigned from the party, opposing leader Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit policy and approach on issues such as racism, bullying and anti-semitism.
The possibility of a split in Labour was speculated in Westminster in recent days and weeks, but the resignation by the seven MPs raised the prospect of a re-alignment in British politics prompted by deep Leave and Remain divisions on the Brexit issue. They were among 262 Labour MPs elected in the 2017 mid-term election.
The seven MPs include Chuka Umunna, who was a candidate for party leadership after Labour’s 2015 election defeat; others – some of them lifelong members of the party – are Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes, Gavin Shuker and Ann Coffey.
They will sit in the House of Commons as a group of independent MPs and will not resign as MPs that would force by-elections. They called themselves ‘The Independent Group’, with the tagline: ‘Politics is broken. Let’s change it’, hoping to attract more MPs from Labour and other parties.
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Berger said: “In all conscience, we can no longer knock on doors and support a government led by Jeremy Corbyn or the team around him. The evidence of Labour’s betrayal on Europe is now visible for all to see”
“Choosing to stand by while our constituents’ lives and future opportunities are hurt by Brexit is a fundamental violation of Labour’s traditional values”.
Umunna added: “If you are sick and tired of politics as usual, guess what? So are we. That’s why we have done what we have done today and why we commit to do things differently…If you want an alternative, please help us build it. The bottom line is this – politics is broken, it doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s change it”.
Responding to the resignations, Corbyn said he was “disappointed that these MPs have felt unable to continue to work together for the Labour policies that inspired millions at the last election and saw us increase our vote by the largest share since 1945”.
“The Conservative government is bungling Brexit, while Labour has set out a unifying and credible alternative plan”.
Reflecting the feeling of many in the party, senior Labour MP Virendra Sharma said: “I absolutely understand the frustration of these former colleagues, some of whom I consider friends, I too want to see a clearer Labour commitment to the EU and to a People’s Vote as is Labour policy”.
“However, I totally believe that Labour should remain united and together and that splitting in this way undermines our chances of securing the best relationship with the EU and the best government for Britain.”
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