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Tory split as 3 MPs resign savaging Theresa May on Brexit


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Heidi Allen, Sarah Wollaston and Anna Soubry have quit the Conservative Party and joined the Independent Group in a savage attack on Theresa May for "dragging the country into the abyss"

 

 

Theresa May has been hit with a bombshell Tory split after three of her most high-profile anti-Brexit MPs quit the party.

Heidi Allen, Sarah Wollaston and Anna Soubry dramatically crossed the floor of the House of Commons today and sat on the opposition benches as they joined the Independent Group.

In a devastating joint resignation letter to Theresa May, the trio said she is now "in the grip" of hard Brexit Tories and the "final straw has been this government's disastrous handling of Brexit".

And in a savage press conference, Ms Allen said Mrs May had been "bullied into submission" by hard Brexiteers "dragging the country kicking and screaming into the abyss".

She added bluntly: "I'm done". And Ms Soubry said: "I’m not leaving the Conservative Party - it’s left us."

It is a crushing blow to the Prime Minister just moments before Prime Minister's Questions - and hours before she returns to Brussels in a bid to get a deal 37 days before we leave.

Mrs May responded by saying she was "saddened" and thanking the MPs for their service.

 

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Heidi Allen, Anna Soubry and Sarah Wollaston dubbed themselves the Three Amigos (Image: REUTERS)

 

But at a press conference Sarah Wollaston said Theresa May "simply hasn’t delivered on the pledge she made on the steps of No10 to tackle burning injustices."

She said people who are "quite clearly UKIP members" are infiltrating constituency Tory parties to unseat Remainers.

The trio said they had no contact from 10 Downing Street or the Tory whips' office before quitting.

Slamming No10's lack of action Ms Wollaston said: "I don’t think any effort has ever been made to reach out to those of who are from the moderate centre ground of the party."

Anna Soubry said: "Millions of people feel abandoned and not represented."

Yet the former Business Minister DEFENDED brutal Tory cuts - saying the Coalition government did a "marvellous job".

Heidi Allen joked: "You’ve met the Magnificent Seven, you’ve probably heard last night about the lone ranger, so I guess that makes us the three amigos."

Ms Allen said she had no political interest until the 2011 riots, when "watching the news night after night it was as if Lord Kitchener was pointing his finger out of the screen to me. ‘Your country needs you’."

She thought David Cameron was the answer, she said, but "found myself going over the top fighting for benevolence in our welfare system."

Slamming Tory MPs who "sit idly by nodding through policy and voting like sheep", she said: "I am tired of feeling numb."

She added: "I feel excited. So excited in a way I haven;t felt since I was first elected - and a sense of liberation."

Yet she refused calls to resign and test her new mandate in a by-election - saying the big parties could use it as a chance to "crush the birth of democracy".

 

The MPs will join the 'gang of eight' who quit Labour earlier this week to form the new pro-EU grouping in Parliament.

Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Gavin Shuker, Angela Smith, Ann Coffey, Mike Gapes, Chris Leslie and Joan Ryan all quit with a broadside at Jeremy Corbyn for failing to oppose anti-Semitism and Brexit .

The so-called Independent Group now has 11 MPs - more than the hard-right DUP who prop Theresa May up in power - ramping up the chances of it becoming a full political party.

And it has slashed the Prime Minister's already fragile working majority in the House of Commons.

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From left, Heidi Allen, Anna Soubry (in blue) and Sarah Wollaston dramatically crossed the floor of the Commons today and sat on the opposition benches (Image: AFP/Getty Images)

 

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They're now sitting behind Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs - but they don't support him (Image: AFP/Getty Images)

 

 

In their joint resignation letter today, the Tory MPs said there has been a "dismal failure" to stand up to hard right Tories, "exacerbated by blatant entryism."

"Not only has this been tolerated, it has been actively welcomed in some quarters," they wrote.

"A purple momentum is subsuming the Conservative Party, much as the hard left has been allowed to consume and terminally undermine the Labour Party."

 

And they slammed the Tories' handling of Brexit, writing: "We ï¬nd it unconscionable that a Party once trusted on the economy, more than any other, is now recklessly marching the county to the cliff edge of no deal.

"No responsible government should knowingly and deliberately inflict the dire consequences of such a destructive exit on individuals, communities and businesses and put at risk the prospect of ending austerity."

They added: "The country deserves better. We believe there is a failure of politics in general, not just in the Conservative Party but in both main parties as they move to the fringes, leaving millions of people with no representation. Our politics needs urgent and radical reform and we are determined to play our part.â€

 
  

Meanwhile, Labour is now planning a law to oust MPs who quit their party by forcing them to face a by-election.

The party will consult on a new law that - if Mr Corbyn becomes Prime Minister - would extend the right to launch a "recall petition".

These petitions force MPs to re-stand for office if at least 10% of local voters, around 7,000 people, demand it. Currently they are used mostly for crime or serious breaches of Commons rules.

Momentum's National Coordinator Laura Parker said: "It's clear that the new party is a Blairite-Tory coalition aimed at resurrecting a dead agenda of privatisation, deregulation and tax cuts for the super rich.

"This is not what their constituents voted for. Umunna, Leslie and Smith's constituents overwhelmingly voted Labour and have ended up with an MP in coalition with the Tories.

"This is unfair, undemocratic and dishonest. The only decent thing to do is to call a by-election and let their constituents decide."

 

Labour's remaining centrist MPs have threatened to join the splitters if Mr Corbyn - who said he "regrets" the saga - does not take a more conciliatory tone and act to resolve concerns.

One, Siobhain McDonagh said she is “not as yet†at the point of quitting but warned “it’s the job of Jeremy†to determine what happens next.

She told the Mirror: "It's my birthday today, I'm 59 today. I joined the Labour Party when I was 16.  I have been a member for 43 years.

"I don't want to leave Labour. I don't want to not be the MP for Mitcham and Morden. And I am desperate that that's where we are."

 

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Tory MPs' resignation letter to Theresa May in full

Dear Prime Minister,

It is with regret that we are writing to resign the Conservative whip and our membership of the Party.

We voted for you as Leader and Prime Minister because we believed you were committed to a moderate, open-hearted Conservative Party in the One Nation tradition. A party of economic competence, representing the best of British business, delivering good jobs, opportunity and prosperity for all, funding world class public service and tackling inequalities. We had hoped you would also continue to modernise our party so that it could reach out and broaden its appeal to younger voters and to embrace and reflect the diversity of the communities we seek to represent.

Sadly, the Conservative Party has increasingly abandoned these principles and values with a shift to the right of British Politics. We no longer feel we can remain in the Party of a Government whose policies and priorities are so ï¬rmly in the grip of the ERG and DUP.

Brexit has re—defined the Conservative Party — undoing all the efforts to modernise it. There has been a dismal failure to stand up to the hard line ERG which operates openly as a party within a party, with its own leader, whip and policy.

This shift to the right has been exacerbated by blatant entryism. Not only has this been tolerated, it has been actively welcomed in some quarters. A purple momentum is subsuming the Conservative Party, much as the hard left has been allowed to consume and terminally undermine the Labour Party.

We have tried consistently and for some time to keep the Party close to the centre ground of British Politics. You assured us when you ï¬rst sought the leadership that this was your intention. We haven’t changed, the Conservative Party has and it no longer reflects the values and beliefs we share with millions of people throughout the United Kingdom.

The ï¬nal straw for us has been this Government’s disastrous handling of Brexit.

Following the EU referendum of 2016, no genuine effort was made to build a cross party, let alone a national consensus to deliver Brexit. Instead of seeking to heal the divisions or to tackle the underlying causes of Brexit, the priority was to draw up “red linesâ€. The 48% were not only sidelined, they were alienated.

We ï¬nd it unconscionable that a Party once trusted on the economy, more than any other, is now recklessly marching the county to the cliff edge of no deal. No responsible government should knowingly and deliberately inflict the dire consequences of such a destructive exit on individuals, communities and businesses and put at risk the prospect of ending austerity.

We also reject the false binary choice that you have presented to Parliament between a bad deal and no deal. Running down the clock to March 29 amounts to a policy of no deal and we are not prepared to wait until our toes are at the edge of the cliff.

We can no longer act as bystanders.

We intend to sit as independents alongside The Independent Group of MPs in the centre ground of British politics. There will be times when we will support the Government, for example, on measures to strengthen our economy, security and improve our public services. But we now feel honour bound to put our constituents and country’s interests ï¬rst.

We would like to thank all those who have supported us and worked alongside us within our constituencies over many years. We genuinely wish our many friends and colleagues within the Party well, indeed we know many of them share our concerns.

We will continue to work constructively, locally and nationally, on behalf of our constituents.

However, the country deserves better. We believe there is a failure of politics in general, not just in the Conservative Party but in both main parties as they move to the fringes, leaving millions of people with no representation. Our politics needs urgent and radical reform and we are determined to play our part.

Yours sincerely,

Heidi Allen, MP Rt Hon Anna Soubry, MP Dr Sarah Wollaston, MP

Theresa May's response in full

“I am saddened by this decision – these are people who have given dedicated service to our party over many years, and I thank them for it.

“Of course, the UK’s membership of the EU has been a source of disagreement both in our party and our country for a long time. Ending that membership after four decades was never going to be easy.

“But by delivering on our manifesto commitment and implementing the decision of the British people we are doing the right thing for our country. And in doing so, we can move forward together towards a brighter future.

“I am determined that under my leadership the Conservative Party will always offer the decent, moderate and patriotic politics that the people of this country deserve.â€

 

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