UK: Seven MPs leave Labour Party days before crucial Brexit vote

Seven MPs from Britain’s opposition Labour Party have resigned in protest of the party leadership, just days before crucial parliamentary votes on Brexit. Speaking at a hastily arranged news conference in London, the seven MPs, Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes, Gavin Shuker and Ann Coffey, accused party chief Jeremy Corbyn […]

Seven MPs from Britain’s opposition Labour Party have resigned in protest of the party leadership, just days before crucial parliamentary votes on Brexit.

Speaking at a hastily arranged news conference in London, the seven MPs, Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes, Gavin Shuker and Ann Coffey, accused party chief Jeremy Corbyn of leading the party to the far left, and criticised the party’s handling of alleged anti-Semitism.

“If you want an alternative please help us build it,” said Umunna who has led a cross-party campaign for a second referendum on Brexit and was once seen as a potential Labour leader. “Politics is broken. It doesn’t have to be this way.”

In a statement posted online, the MPs announced the formation of a new group called the Independent Group who attacked Corbyn saying the Labour Party was pursuing policies which would “weaken our national security”.