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| Who are the three Tory defectors? | Who are the three Tory defectors? |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Anna Soubry | Anna Soubry |
| The former barrister and television presenter was a senior figure in David Cameron’s government, in which she sat in the cabinet as a business minister. Representing Broxtowe in Nottinghamshire, she has long expressed concern that Theresa May was pursuing a hard Brexit and taking the party too far to the right. | |
| Soubry is known for being extremely outspoken, once telling television viewers that Nigel Farage looks “like somebody has put their finger up his bottom and he really rather likes it”. | Soubry is known for being extremely outspoken, once telling television viewers that Nigel Farage looks “like somebody has put their finger up his bottom and he really rather likes it”. |
| In a letter to her local party, she said: | In a letter to her local party, she said: |
| My decision to leave the Conservative party, which I first joined over 40 years ago, has not been easy but I believe it is the right decision. On Monday a group of MPs resigned from the Labour party and they are now sitting as members of the Independent Group and I will be sitting with them in parliament. | |
| My decision will come as not much of a surprise to regular readers of this email newsletter. I have written of my belief that the Conservative party is drifting to the right wing of British politics. I have also recognised that many constituents feel their views are not represented by either of the two main parties. Nottingham East MP Chris Leslie said on Monday in his resignation speech, “enough is enough”. I agree with him; in the last few years I have come to the firm view that I have more in common with his values and principles than many people in the Conservative party. It is time to realign British politics and get back to the centre moderate ground. | |
| Sarah Wollaston | Sarah Wollaston |
| Wollaston is a former GP known for her centrist views within the Conservative party, after she became the first candidate in the party to win nomination via an open primary in Totnes, Devon. | Wollaston is a former GP known for her centrist views within the Conservative party, after she became the first candidate in the party to win nomination via an open primary in Totnes, Devon. |
| Three Tory MPs defect to fledgling Independent Group | |
| She has repeatedly accused the prime minister of turning the Tories into “Blukip” and also delivered numerous warnings over NHS funding. As an independent-minded MP, she was elected to the role of the chair of the Commons liaison committee, in charge of scrutinising the work of the prime minister. Wollaston initially said she would back leaving the EU but changed her mind during the campaign and has now become an anti-Brexit campaigner. She told her constituents: | She has repeatedly accused the prime minister of turning the Tories into “Blukip” and also delivered numerous warnings over NHS funding. As an independent-minded MP, she was elected to the role of the chair of the Commons liaison committee, in charge of scrutinising the work of the prime minister. Wollaston initially said she would back leaving the EU but changed her mind during the campaign and has now become an anti-Brexit campaigner. She told her constituents: |
| At a national level the Conservative party appears to have abandoned attempts to modernise or to broaden its appeal and has instead become less tolerant and more inward-looking. I can no longer remain a member of a party whose leadership has become so driven by the demands of the European Research Group and the Democratic Unionist party. I do not share their rightwing values or those of the Ukip supporters who have been urged to join the Conservative party via aggressive and well-funded social media campaigns in order to deselect moderate MPs. | |
| Heidi Allen | Heidi Allen |
| The MP for South Cambridgeshire has marked herself out as a moderate within the Tory party since she was elected in 2015. She took a stand against proposed welfare cuts and recently embarked on an anti-poverty tour of Britain with the former Labour MP Frank Field. She has not released a separate statement, but in her joint letter of resignation with Soubry and Wollaston, she said: | The MP for South Cambridgeshire has marked herself out as a moderate within the Tory party since she was elected in 2015. She took a stand against proposed welfare cuts and recently embarked on an anti-poverty tour of Britain with the former Labour MP Frank Field. She has not released a separate statement, but in her joint letter of resignation with Soubry and Wollaston, she said: |
| Brexit has redefined the Conservative party – undoing all the efforts to modernise it. There has been a dismal failure to stand up to the hardline ERG which operates openly as a party within a party, with its own leader, whip and policy. The final straw for us has been this government’s disastrous handling of Brexit. | |
| Following the EU referendum of 2016, no genuine effort was made to build a cross-party, let alone a national consensus to deliver Brexit. Instead of seeking to heal the divisions or to tackle the underlying causes of Brexit, the priority was to draw up ‘red lines’. The 48% were not only sidelined, they were alienated. | |
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