BREXIT PARTY BIGWIGS URGE: VOTE BORIS!

Crushing day for Corbyn as Farage MEPs resign and back Tories... and 70 Labour whistleblowers expose shocking dossier of hateful anti-Semitism in party

FOUR of the Brexit Party’s most senior figures dramatically quit yesterday – and told backers of Nigel Farage to support Boris Johnson instead. In a stunning move, the rebels resigned the Brexit Party whip and told their leader to abandon his General election campaign.

John Longworth, annunziata rees-Mogg, Lance Forman and Lucy Harris – who were all elected to the european Parliament in May – said Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal was now the ‘only game in town’.

It came as the full extent of anti-Semitism in Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party was laid bare in a bombshell dossier to Britain’s equalities watchdog with testimony from 70 serving and ex-Labour officials.

at a press conference, the Brexit Party rebels warned that Mr Farage was putting ‘ Brexit itself at risk’ by splitting the

pro-Leave vote in the marginal seats the Tories needs to snatch from Labour to get a Commons majority. They urged him to ‘ swallow his pride’ and back down.

Mr Longworth, the former director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said it was ‘very sad and risible’ that the Brexit Party was ‘putting party before Brexit’ by refusing to back down.

Last night it was claimed that as many as four Brexit Party MEPs were considering quitting and joining the rebels. Mr Farage has withdrawn candidates from seats won by the Tories at the last election, but is still standing them in 275 constituencies, including targets Mr Johnson is hoping to win.

Miss Rees- Mogg, who defected from the Tories to the Brexit Party to much fanfare earlier this year, said she now believed the Conservatives are ‘the only option for Brexit supporters’.

She warned the Brexit Party was taking ‘approximately double the amount’ of support from traditional Tory supporters to would- be Labour voters, jeopardising the possibility of Mr Johnson getting a majority.

‘I find it absolutely unbelievably tragic that the Brexit Party with so many wonderful people dedicated to a cause are now the very party risking Brexit,’ she said.

Mr Farage tried to use a BBC interview with Andrew Neil last night to hit back, saying several of the rebels had Tory links. But the move by the four represents a significant blow and will pile pressure on Brexit Party candidates at next week’s election to effectively withdraw. On another dramatic day in the election campaign:

A dossier, from the Jewish Labour Movement to the equalities watchdog, detailed vile abuse faced by Jewish Labour party members and also accused Mr Corbyn’s office of interfering in antiSemitism cases. Mr Corbyn was personally accused of ‘engaging in’ anti-Semitism;

Mr Johnson accused Mr Corbyn of planning to ‘rig’ a second referendum on Brexit by giving votes to millions of EU citizens living in the UK;

The PM said he would ban all- out train strikes after a week of rail disruption.

Mr Farage has faced intense pressure to stand down candidates at next Thursday’s election. Polls have shown there are a string of votes where

Brexit Party candidates could potentially cost the Tories their chance of winning.

Mr Farage initially vowed to field candidates in every seat, but then pulled candidates from over 300 seats that were won by the Conservatives in 2017, saying he did not want to split the Eurosceptic vote and hand victory to Labour.

However, many in his party still feel he should withdraw from all but a handful of the remainder to minimise the threat to Mr Johnson.

Yesterday, Mr Longworth – who was stripped of the party whip on Wednesday ahead of the press conference – said the PM’s deal with Brussels was ‘not perfect’ but that it was ‘definitely Brexit’.

Miss Rees-Mogg rejected speculation her older brother, Tory Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, had influenced her decision, as ‘disturbingly old- fashioned’. All four denied they had been offered honours or any other sweeteners from Mr Johnson or his party as part of their decision to quit the party.

Mr Forman said after winning the Brexit referendum, Mr Farage should ‘celebrate his victory not put it at peril’. He added: ‘We cannot allow the vote to be split, allowing a Marxist and anti-Semitic party to enter 10 Downing Street. That is why at this stage, I must support the Conservative Party.’

‘We can’t allow the vote to be split’

PARENTS are being urged to get their children vaccinated against flu immediately following a surge in cases in the last week.

Health officials have told adults with two and three-year-olds to book GP appointments straight away amid fears only a quarter of the age group have been immunised.

Flu has arrived early this year, with figures yesterday revealing hospital admissions have doubled in the last week.

Public Health England data showed the rate is currently at 4.31 per 100,000, up from 2.85 the previous week and ten times higher than this time last year.

Yet just 25.4 per cent of two-year-olds and 24.5 per cent of three-year-olds have so far received the nasal spray vaccine, updated figures reveal, meaning more than a million are currently unprotected.

It follows delays in the delivery of the vaccine – but this uptake is significantly lower than the 35.7 per cent rate last year, causing alarm among health officials.

Young children are more at risk of developing serious complications of flu while also being ‘super spreaders’ of the virus.

Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal, head of flu at Public Health England, said: ‘Flu season has now started and so it’s really important that people get their flu vaccine as soon as possible to ensure they are protected against this potentially very serious illness.

‘Vaccination uptake in toddlers is lower than we would hope for at this point in the year due to previous delays in delivery of the vaccine, which are now resolved.

‘If you have children aged two to three go to your GP to get them vaccinated now.’ Professor Martin Marshall, who chairs the Royal College of GPs, said: ‘We urge all patients in at-risk groups to get vaccinated and for parents of young children to ensure they receive their vaccine as soon as possible.’

The Daily Mail launched a major campaign in October to improve the uptake of all childhood vaccines – especially the MMR jab – following a steady decline. A survey of 1,000 parents by ComRes last month revealed that 27 per cent had missed their children’s flu jab at least once, with many admitting they were worried about the side effects.

Dr Lopez Bernal praised the Mail’s campaign for ‘highlighting the value of vaccines’ and their potentially ‘life-saving role.’

Earlier this week England’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty wrote to GPs saying they could start prescribing antivirals for patients with flu symptoms.

The annual letter was sent out around two weeks earlier this winter than usual.

Some health officials are worried that the early arrival of flu means that cases will peak around Christmas and New Year, when GP surgeries are closed and hospitals are running a skeleton staff.

A source told the Mail there had already been flu outbreaks in schools and nursing homes in areas including north-west England.

Such outbreaks are not normally expected until January.

A PHE spokesman stressed it was ‘too early to say’ whether the virus’s early arrival would have any implication on the duration or intensity of the flu season.

Yesterday’s figures also showed 80 patients were admitted to intensive care wards with flu in the last week, compared to 18 in the same week last year.

Children are offered the nasal spray vaccine on the NHS from age two to 11. While primary school pupils are given the spray at school, parents of younger children must book appointments.

‘Potentially very serious illness’