Several Labour Lawmakers Resign From Party, Will Form Independent Group - Ex-Member

Several Labour Lawmakers Resign From Party, Will Form Independent Group - Ex-Member

Seven Labour lawmakers have resigned from the party over values disagreement and will sit in the parliament as an independent group, Luciana Berger, the member of parliament for Liverpool Wavertree, said Monday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th February, 2019) Seven Labour lawmakers have resigned from the party over values disagreement and will sit in the parliament as an independent group, Luciana Berger, the member of parliament for Liverpool Wavertree, said Monday.

"This morning, we have all now resigned from the Labour party ... From today, we will all seat in parliament as a new independent group of MPs. For my part, I have become embarrassed and ashamed to remain in the Labour Party," Berger told a press conference.

Berger said that her values, including equality and opportunity for all, social justice and anti-racism, which prompted her to join the Labour party as a student, almost two decades ago, had not changed.

"Yet these values have been consistently and constantly violated, undermined and attacked as the Labour party today refuses to put my constituents and our country before party interest. I cannot remain part of party that I have today come to the sickening conclusion is institutionally anti-Semitic ... I am leaving behind a culture of bullying, bigotry and intimidation," Berger said.

Chris Leslie, another lawmaker who resigned as well, cited Labour's changed policy on Brexit as one of the reasons he could no longer support the party. The member of parliament for Nottingham East added, however, that his differences with the party went "far deeper" than their stance on the withdrawal from the European Union.

These resignations come several weeks before the United Kingdom has to leave the European Union. However, the withdrawal deal agreed by the UK government and Brussels was voted down in January by Labour, other opposition parties and some of the ruling Conservative Party lawmakers as well.

Earlier in February, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn sent Prime Minister Theresa May a list of five key conditions, under which his party might back the withdrawal agreement. Corbyn demanded a permanent UK-wide customs union with the bloc, close alignment with the EU single market, "dynamic alignment" on rights, a commitment on UK participation in EU agencies and grant programs as well as clear agreements on future security cooperation.

Labour previously asked the UK government to ensure that the country has the "exact same benefits" in the future as a customs union and single market member. However, this was not part of new demands.