Why Ian Austin has become ninth MP to quit ‘broken’ Labour
Dudley MP blasts ‘culture of extremism, anti-Semitism and intolerance’ under Jeremy Corbyn
Ian Austin has become the ninth Labour MP this week to quit the party, saying he is “ashamed” of its actions under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.
The Dudley North MP broke the news in an interview with the Express and Star, telling the local newspaper that leaving the party after 35 years was “the hardest decision I have ever had to take”.
Austin said he was “appalled” by the party’s response to accusations of anti-Semitism in its ranks.
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.
“The hard truth is that the party is tougher on the people complaining about anti-Semitism than it is on the anti-Semites,” he added.
Austin was placed under investigation by Labour leaders last year over alleged abusive behaviour, “after expressing anger about the party’s handling of the anti-Semitism row”, The Guardian reports.
In today’s newspaper interview, he says that Labour is “broken” and that “good MPs and decent people” have been pushed away by “a culture of extremism, anti-Semitism and intolerance”.
A Labour spokesperson expressed the party’s regret about Austin’s decision, but called on him to step down and contest his seat in a by-election. “The democratic thing is to resign his seat and let the people of Dudley decide who should represent them,” the spokesperson said.
The 53-year-old MP will now sit as an independent in the House of Commons. However, he said that he currently has no plans to join the Independent Group (TIG), formed earlier this week by seven breakaway Labour MPs.
Nonetheless, the group’s Chuka Umunna is among those who have applauded Austin’s decision.
The addition of Austin would bring to 12 the total strength of the splinter group - jokingly dubbed the Tiggers - with nine former Labour MPs and three rebel Tories.
His reluctance to team up with them is “pretty telling”, says The Spectator’s Stephen Daisley.
The West Midlands “voted 59.3% for Brexit, the highest level of any region in England”, and the fact that Austin hasn’t signed up to the breakaway group “underscores the perception that it is Continuity Remain in all but name”, Daisley argues.
“If the Tiggers are to survive in even the medium term, they need to have a vision for post-Brexit Britain,” he 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
-
John Prescott: was he Labour's last link to the working class?
Today's Big Quesiton 'A total one-off': tributes have poured in for the former deputy PM and trade unionist
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Labour risking the 'special relationship'?
Today's Big Question Keir Starmer forced to deny Donald Trump's formal complaint that Labour staffers are 'interfering' to help Harris campaign
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is Lammy hoping to achieve in China?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary heads to Beijing as Labour seeks cooperation on global challenges and courts opportunities for trade and investment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Men in Gray suits: why the plots against Starmer's top adviser?
Today's Big Question Increasingly damaging leaks about Sue Gray reflect 'bitter acrimony' over her role and power struggle in new government
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Britain about to 'boil over'?
Today's Big Question A message shared across far-right groups listed more than 30 potential targets for violence in the UK today
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published