Former
Labour MP Chuka Umunna was once seen as a potential party leader (AFP
Photo/Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS)
London
(AFP) - Seven MPs quit Britain's main opposition Labour Party on Monday, citing
the leadership's support for Brexit and a growing culture of racism,
intimidation and abuse.
The
departure of the seven moderates was the biggest split in UK politics in nearly
four decades, illustrating the divisions that Brexit has stretched to breaking
point.
The group
include Chuka Umunna, who has led a campaign for a second Brexit referendum as
a path to stop Britain's departure from the European Union.
Umunna
called for a centrist alternative in British politics as the rebel MPs detailed
how a far-left internal coup at all levels of the Labour Party had taken place
under the watch of veteran socialist Jeremy Corbyn.
"The
bottom line is this: politics is broken, it doesn't have to be this way, let's
change it," Umunna said at a packed, hastily-arranged press conference in
London's County Hall.
The seven
MPs will form a breakaway independent group in parliament and expect others to
join them, not only from Labour but from other parties too.
It is the
most serious split in British politics since the so-called "Gang of
Four" heavyweight Labour moderates quit to form the Social Democratic
Party in 1981, with 28 Labour MPs eventually joining.
 |
Labour
Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has come under fire from europhiles for
failing to
push for a second referendum (AFP Photo)
|
'Marxism
masquerading as Labour'
The rebel
MPs recounted their difficult journey towards leaving Labour, saying the party
had changed since Corbyn became leader in 2015 and there was no longer space
for their centre-left views.
Chris
Leslie, one of the seven, said the party had been "hijacked" by the
"hard left".
"Marxism
is now masquerading as the Labour Party. It has the Labour brand but it is a
machine that has taken over," he said.
Corbyn has
been criticised for months for his handling of anti-Semitism within the Labour
movement and his own past associations with Palestinian militants.
Another of
the seven MPs, Luciana Berger, a victim of online anti-Jewish abuse for years,
said: "This has been a very difficult, painful but necessary
decision."
Berger said
Labour had become "institutionally anti-Semitic".
"I
have become embarrassed and ashamed to represent the Labour Party," she
said.
"I am
leaving behind a culture of bullying, bigotry and intimidation."
 |
Former
Labour Party MPs (from left) Ann Coffey, Angela Smith, Chris Leslie,
Chuka
Umunna, Mike Gapes, Luciana Berger and Gavin Shuker pose for
a photograph. (AFP
Photo/Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS)
|
The MPs
said they would not resign their seats and fight by-elections because it would
be a distraction from Brexit.
Britain's
departure from the EU -- the terms of which are still up in the air -- is set
for March 29.
Besides
being "sickened that the Labour Party is now a racist, anti-Semitic
party", Mike Gapes said he was "furious that the Labour leadership is
complicit in facilitating Brexit".
His
colleague Chris Leslie said he too was leaving because of "Labour's
betrayal on Europe".
Agonising
decision
Many
traditional Labour voters, particularly in northern England, chose to leave the
European Union in the 2016 referendum -- but a majority of Labour MPs and
members supported staying in.
 |
Former
Labour MP Luciana Berger. (AFP Photo/Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS)
|
Corbyn has
come under fire from europhiles for failing to push for a second referendum. He
has instead called on Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May to negotiate a
customs union with the EU to ease trade ties after Brexit.
Corbyn said
he was "disappointed" by the MPs' defection.
"Now
more than ever is the time to bring people together to build a better future
for us all," he said, pointing to Labour's surge in support at the last
general election in 2017.
The new
grouping is the sixth-biggest out of eight represented in the House of Commons
but is yet to crystallise into a formal political party.
The group
is meeting in the next few days to divide up their portfolios and build upon
their statement of values issued Monday.
Gapes told
AFP it had been an agonising decision to leave Labour, saying he had reached
breaking point and could no longer fight to save the party.
 |
Former
Labour Party MP Mike Gapes speaks during a press conference in
London. (AFP
Photo/Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS)
|
"I
will not rejoin. Apart from my mother, this is the longest relationship I've had
in my life," he said.
"All
of us are committed to pressing and campaigning for a people's vote. We believe
Brexit will be an economic and political disaster," he added, calling for
a second referendum.
"We
expect and hope that there will be other MPs who will join us."
#UPDATE Three MPs quit Britain's governing Conservatives over Brexit, saying the issue had "re-defined" the party and was "undoing all the efforts to modernise it" https://t.co/XH172nrPbS— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 20, 2019
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