TORY MINISTER ‘SET TO JOIN LABOUR SPLITTERS’
CHUKA Umunna vowed the ‘gang of seven’ will turn their new Independent Group into a full-blown political party within months.
And Conservatives’ joy at the disintegration of Labour began to fade yesterday as it emerged that four Tory MPs and even a MINISTER were set to join the rebellion.
The loss of any MPs would be a disaster for Theresa May, who can only command a Commons majority with the help of the Ulster Unionists.
Streatham MP Mr Ummuna has pleaded with frustrated politicians from across Parliament to defect and help overhaul British politics.
He appealed directly to “demoralised’” Tories frustrated at the “Ukipisation” of their party.
If the Independent Group can swell to 36 members it could take the SNP’s place as the third biggest party and get to question the Prime Minister every week.
Message
Tory rebel Sarah Wollaston said former Ukip members were “taking over the Tory Party”, allied to MPs in the European Research Group of Brexiteers. Her message was retweeted by fellow rebel Anna Soubry, who appears to have deleted a Tory slogan from her profile.
Dr Wollaston’s intervention will raise expectations she and other Tory MPs could join the centrists who walked out of Labour on Monday.
Ex-Conservative minister Nick Boles has refused to deny he could go. Another MP, Heidi Allen, is also the subject of intense speculation and is said to be on “resignation watch”.
The Telegraph reported a minister was also considering defecting.
Jeremy Corbyn has been warned as many as 50 Labour MPs could follow the move.
His own deputy Tom Watson said the decision was only “premature”, while Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell called for a “mammoth listening exercise’ as Labour’s leadership scrambled to deal with the crisis.
But Mr Corbyn warned the group they had been elected on Labour’s manifesto – and even jibed those who felt he did not listen were “not taking up the opportunities that are available”.
The stubborn response will anger Labour MPs considering whether to follow their former colleagues over the top.
Mr Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Gavin Shuker, Ann Coffey and Mike Gapes’ splitsignals the biggest split in British politics since the SDP walked out of Labour in 1981.