Labour split: seven MPs resign from the party – Politics live

MPs will sit as independent group after resigning in protest at Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, the party’s Brexit stance, and its handling of antisemitism 1.47pm GMT Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, has been speaking to BBC news. He said the seven breakaway MPs should call byelections. “If they regard themselves as democrats, I wonder if they are going to stand down and create byelections,” he said. “A lot of them talked about how proud they are to represent their constituents. Well, if they’re so proud of that why don’t they give their constituents the opportunity to see if they want them elected.”I regret that seven MPs have decided they no longer wish to represent their constituencies in parliament as Labour MPs, especially as that was how they were elected. On a Labour ticket at a general election that inspired millions to vote Labour and saw the party increase its vote by the largest share since 1945.Their decision to walk out into the political wilderness – remember the fate of the SDP? – is sad, but not unexpected. The Labour party’s membership has grown enormously under Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party’s genuinely socialist manifesto was incredibly popular at the last election.The #LabourSplit is terrible news. Labour’s overriding concern must be to look long and hard at the reasons why the MPs feel they are no longer able to stay in the party. And it must get its act together over Brexit and ensure the country is spared the calamity of a no deal. 1.23pm GMT Today’s launch of “the Independent Group” – a group of seven former Labour MPs who will now sit as a separate entity in parliament – has run up against some technical difficulties. The group’s website doesn’t seem to have been working since this morning and now people are pointing out that Chuka Umunna’s website is down too.What an overwhelming show of support already. Thank you. Challenging our website though – please bear with us while we bring it back up. Continue reading…
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