3 lawmakers quit Conservative Party to join breakaway group

Three lawmakers from the UK's ruling Conservative Party have resigned to join an independent group founded by former Labour MPs, according to a statement made public on Wednesday.

Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston wrote a joint letter to Prime Minister Theresa May confirming their departure and wrote that they tried to keep the party close to the centre ground of politics but it had instead drifted to the right, the BBC reported.

The lawmakers wrote that the government's handling of Brexit had been "disastrous" as no genuine effort had been made to build consensus. They said the Conservative Party stopped reflecting the values and beliefs that they and millions throughout the UK shared.

The pro-Remain trio will join the new Independent Group - made up of eight Labour MPs who resigned from the opposition party over its handling of Brexit and anti-Semitism - saying it represented "the centre ground of British politics".

"There has been a dismal failure to stand up to the hard line ERG (pro-Brexit European Research Group) which operates openly as a party within a party, publicly and privately funded, with its own leader, whip and policy," said the letter, which was published by Soubry.

May said she was "saddened" but her party would "always offer... decent, moderate and patriotic politics".

A tweet from the Independent Group welcomed the new members: "Both our parties are broken. We are going to #ChangePolitics for the better."

As the final date for Brexit approaches, disquiet has broken out both in the government and in the Labour Party.

As Prime Minister's Question Time was about to begin in the House of Commons on Wednesday, the three lawmakers did not take their places on the government benches, but joined the opposition side of the lower chamber of Parliament.

Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said it was a "great shame to have lost the commitment and undeniable talent" of the three MPs.

Remain-backing Tory MP Nicky Morgan said party "should regret losing three such talented women from the Conservative Party".

On Monday, a group of seven Labour lawmakers also quit as a protest to its policy on Brexit, allegations of anti-semitism and its general shift to the left under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.

Lawmakers Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes, Gavin Shuker and Ann Coffey said they had left the party but would continue to represent their constituents as independent members of Parliament.

Since then, another Labour MP, Joan Ryan, has quit the party to join those who have left.

Corbyn lamented the split in his party and called for his lawmakers to stay focused on its principal aims to represent the underprivileged.

--IANS

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