Why seven MPs are quitting Labour
The Independent Group will sit together and vote as a separate block in Commons

Seven Labour MPs have left the party over Jeremy Corbyn’s handling of the anti-Semitism row and Brexit policy.
Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes, Gavin Shuker and Ann Coffey today announced the launch of the Independent Group, in which they sit together and vote as a block in the House of Commons.
In a joint statement, the seven MPs said: “Our primary duty as Members of Parliament is to put the best interests of our constituents and our country first. Yet like so many others, we believe that none of today's political parties are fit to provide the leadership and direction needed by our country.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Berger, who is Jewish, said that Labour had become institutionally anti-Semitic and that she had become “embarrassed and ashamed” to be in the party.
Asked whether the rebel MPs would be prepared to fight by-elections, Leslie said “general elections, by-elections are absolutely not what is needed now”, and argued that voters had elected them as individuals.
Meanwhile, Corbyn said he was “disappointed that these MPs have felt unable to continue to work together for the Labour policies that inspired millions at the last election”.
Their departure “is the biggest split in Labour since the ‘gang of four’ senior figures left the party in 1981 to form the Social Democratic party (SDP)”, says The Guardian.
The Independent Group is not an official political party, although its members say it could develop into one over time. They will have their first formal meeting within the next few days to assign roles and responsibilities.
Scottish Labour MP Ian Murray - who is believed to have considered joining the breakaway group - has warned Corbyn that he faces a deeper split and further Labour backbench resignations unless he shifts ground on Europe and anti-Semitism.
“The challenge now is for Jeremy Corbyn to listen and learn, and decide if he wants to keep the Labour Party together or if he will continue to foster a culture of bullying and intolerance where his own MPs feel unwelcome and are being forced out,” he said.
But Laura Parker, national coordinator of grass-roots Labour campaign Momentum, told the BBC that the seven MPs wanted to “take us back to the politics of the past” and the “Blair years programme of privatisation, tax cuts for the rich and deregulation of the banks”.
“They offer no concrete solutions, no new ideas and have no support amongst the public,” she said.
‘Not a simple centrists vs. left split’
Defections to the Independent Group “are likely to increase - but it will need to attract some of those beyond Labour to become a proper ‘centre party’”, says the BBC’s Iain Watson.
“This is not a simple centrists vs. left, or indeed, ultra-left split,” Watson adds.
Another important issue is the new group’s policy platform. Although there is “a relative degree of ideological kinship here, they don’t all sing from the same hymn book”, says the New Statesman’s Stephen Bush.
Indeed, it is wholly possible “that this grouping will struggle to decide if it is offering ‘Labour minus anti-Semitism’ or ‘the Liberal Democrats plus political viability’”, he adds.
What we also don’t know “is what the Labour Party will do”, Bush says. The dilemma facing Corbyn and his leadership allies is that “if they are to be an effective government, they need to remake the parliamentary Labour Party. But if they remake the parliamentary Labour Party, they may give swell this new grouping’s size well beyond seven,” Bush notes.
The mystery “is why today, rather than in a fortnight or six weeks, when perhaps the UK’s EU destiny will be a bit clearer”, says The Spectator’s Robert Peston.
He points out that “those running the People’s Vote campaign for a referendum have been desperately trying to persuade Umunna and Leslie to delay their split - because they think if they were to leave the party now, that would entrench the reluctance of Corbyn and those close to him to back a referendum”.
“So the big question for Umunna and the Labour refuseniks on Monday is whether in leaving Labour because they want a referendum they are not in practice undermining the prospect of a referendum,” Peston concludes.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - March 29, 2025
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - my way or Norway, running orders, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 tactically sound cartoons about the leaked Signal chat
Cartoons Artists take on the clown signal, baby steps, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Roast lamb shoulder with ginger and fresh turmeric recipe
The Week Recommends Succulent and tender and falls off the bone with ease
By The Week UK Published
-
The tribes battling it out in Keir Starmer's Labour Party
The Explainer From the soft left to his unruly new MPs, Keir Starmer is already facing challenges from some sections of the Labour Party
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Are we on the brink of a recession?
Today's Big Question Britain's shrinking economy is likely to upend Rachel Reeves' Spring Statement spending plans
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Has Starmer put Britain back on the world stage?
Talking Point UK takes leading role in Europe on Ukraine and Starmer praised as credible 'bridge' with the US under Trump
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Left on read: Labour's WhatsApp dilemma
Talking Point Andrew Gwynne has been sacked as health minister over messages posted in a Labour WhatsApp group
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Peter Mandelson: can he make special relationship great again?
In the Spotlight New Labour architect, picked for his 'guile, expertise in world affairs and trade issues, and networking skills', on a mission to woo Donald Trump
By The Week UK Published
-
Will Keir Starmer have to choose between the EU and the US?
Today's Big Question Starmer's 'reset' with the EU will focus on 'defence for trade' but an 'EU-hating' president in the White House could cause the PM trouble
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Why has Tulip Siddiq resigned?
In Depth Economic secretary to the Treasury named in anti-corruption investigations in Bangladesh
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
What's Elon Musk's agenda with Europe's far-right politics?
Today's Big Question From broadsides against the UK government to boosting Germany's ultra-nationalist AFD party, the world's richest man is making waves across the Atlantic
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published