May and Corbyn united by struggle to halt an exodus

ANALYSIS

JEREMY Corbyn and Theresa May finally found common cause yesterday – as leaders of parties which have suffered defections.

The eight Labour MPs and three Tories all left with bitter parting shots for their former parties.

Tories Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston were withering about how their party had been hijacked by the Tory right, the reckless approach to Brexit and May’s failure to live up to her promise to tackle burning injustices.

Politics is now reeling from the consequence of Brexit and the drift by both parties towards their political extremes. There is no doubt other Labour and Tory MPs share the disillusionment of the defectors and could join their number.

Many will see how Brexit pans out before deciding whether to leap, and growing numbers of voters regard themselves as politically homeless.

But the odds remain stacked against a new party breaking through. The Independent Group has none of the apparatus needed for electoral success: grassroots infrastructure, money and a clear agenda. That is before you get to trying to win seats under our first-past-the-post system.

If the 11 MPs stand on an anti-Brexit platform they risk alienating those who voted Leave.

There is, they may have noticed, already a centrist anti-Brexit party called the Lib Dems who COMMONS CAUSE Defectors in House yesterday won just 12 seats at the last election. And will the new group be a centre-right or a centre-left party?

Which takes precedence, the economic dogma of the Tories or the social compassion of Labour?

Where do they stand on free schools, privatisation, tax rates and union rights? Soubry yesterday defended the austerity policies and welfare cuts of George Osborne.

Many Labour MPs who were flirting with joining the new group will think twice before forming an alliance with MPs who voted for the bedroom tax and are apologists for the Coalition government.

But the group’s creation poses an immediate challenge to their former parties.

May has to decide whether to stand up to the hardline Brexiteers or risk further departures.

Corbyn has to decide whether Labour’s path to success relies on having a broad church or a congregation composed of only true believers.

Both know that if they get the judgment wrong there is now a home for disaffected MPs and voters to turn to.