London: Three MPs quit Britain’s governing Conservative Party on Wednesday in protest at its “disastrous” hard line on Brexit, joining a rebellion in parliament that is redrawing the country’s political landscape just weeks before it leaves the EU.
The resignations by the pro-European trio posed a fresh and embarrassing headache for Prime Minister Theresa May as she headed to Brussels for talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston said they planned to sit in parliament alongside eight former Labour MPs who, also citing their Opposition to Brexit, resigned from the main opposition party this week to form the new Independent Group.
“I’m not leaving the Conservative Party; it’s left us,” Ms Soubry said at a press conference flan-ked by her colleagues following the announcement of their decision, arguing its “anti-EU wing” was now setting the agenda.
Also on Wednesday, An eighth Labour MP quit the party in protest against leader Jeremy Corbyn, joining a mounting rebellion sparked by rows over anti-Semitism and Brexit.
