A group of MPs with the UK's Labour Party are expected to announce their resignation at a Westminster event later on Monday morning.

The speculation over the resignations comes amid recent criticism of handlings of Brexit and anti-Semitic sentiments within the party.

Labour MP Stephen Kinnock told BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour that he expected several MPs to leave.

"I say with great regret that yes, there probably will be some kind of splintering," he said.

In an early move, Labour MP Michael Dugher announced his party resignation over the weekend, saying it was due to the "party's repeated failure to tackle anti-Semitism."

Writing in The Sun on Sunday, Dugher added: "The Labour Party I joined was a proud anti-racist party. Not so today."

"Today, under [Corbyn's] leadership, anti-Semites in the Labour Party are repeatedly let off with a rap on the knuckles, rather than being booted out for good."

Should the Labour Party announce a mass exodus this morning, clarification will be needed on whether the group intends to create a new party, or sit as independent MPs.

The announcement is expected at 11.00am CET.</s>Seven Labour Party MPs have departed from under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership as of this morning, as accusations of anti-semitism continue unabated among the party’s ranks. The resigning members - Chuka Ummuna, Luciana Berger, Gavin Shuker, Mike Gapes, Chris Lesie, Angela Smith and Ann Coffey - have decided to form their own cluster of MPs named the Independent Group in Commons. Mrs Berger resigned from her post on the backbench saying she had “come to the sickening conclusion the Labour Party is institutionally antisemitic.” The resignations represent the biggest schism in the Labour party since four senior figures split from the party in 1981 to form the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Ann Coffey is a career politician, who acted within the Labour Party as an MP for Stockport since 1992. She began her career as a social worker with Walsall Social Services in the Midlands in 1971. Mrs Coffey first became involved with the Labour Party in 1978 as a party member. READ MORE: Will Tory Anna Soubury join the Independent Group?

She took her first role within the party as a Labour Group Leader for Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council in 1988, before her election as an MP in 1992. Mrs Coffey addressed her constituents in Stockport with a speech following her resignation, outlining the reasons behind her decision. She said: "I joined the Labour Party 41 years ago to elect governments that understood that real opportunity for families only comes when the right policies are in place. "I am proud of the achievements of the last Labour Government. "I thought I would be in the Labour Party for the rest of my life but political parties are not an end in themselves in a parliamentary democracy.”

“The Labour Party has lost sight of this. It is no longer a broad church. "Any criticism of the leadership is responded to with abuse and accusations of treachery. Coffey and the other Labour renegades have established their collective of MPs named the Independent Group in an attempt to disembark from current “broken” politics. READ MORE: Core beliefs of the Independent Party revealed</s>An eighth Labour MP has left the party to join the new Independent Group in the House of Commons.

Enfield North MP Joan Ryan, who has spent more than 40 years in the party, described the decision as "terribly difficult".

She tweeted: "After 4 decades, I have made the terribly difficult decision to resign from the Labour Party.

"It is the greatest honour of my life to represent the people of #EnfieldNorth.

"I will continue to represent and speak up for them as a member of the @TheIndGroup of MPs #ChangePolitics."

Gavin Shuker, who quit Labour on Monday, tweeted: "Such respect for Joan. I know how hard this is. But we're building something powerful together."

Yesterday, in a major blow for leader Jeremy Corbyn , seven other Labour MPs quit the party.

Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Shuker, Mike Gapes, Ann Coffey and Chuka Umunna announced their decisions at a press conference in London.

Berger initially introduced herself as "the Labour Party MP", before correcting herself and saying: "I am the Member of Parliament for Liverpool Wavertree".

She said: "This morning we have all now resigned from the Labour Party. This has been a very difficult, painful, but necessary decision.

"We represent different parts of the country, we are of different backgrounds, we were born of different generations, but we all share the same values.

"From today, we will all sit in Parliament as a new independent group of MPs."

Simmering tensions within Labour ranks over Corbyn's approach to leaving the European Union and the party leadership's handling of anti-Semitism allegations have prompted the schism.

Labour leader Corbyn said: "I am disappointed that these MPs have felt unable to continue to work together for the Labour policies that inspired millions at the last election."</s>Britain’s main left-wing political force, the Labour Party, has suffered a split, with members of a splinter group identifying Brexit and rising anti-Semitism in the party as key reasons for rejecting the old-left politics of leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The Labour Party has faced a steady torrent of anti-Semitism scandals in recent years, with critics pointing to a new atmosphere of hate within the party since veteran campaigner Jeremy Corbyn took the leadership in 2015.

Speaking about her decision to leave Labour at a press conference Monday morning, Jewish MP Luciana Berger said she was “embarrassed and ashamed” of the party. She has frequently spoken out about the abuse she has received from fellow Labour members in recent years, challenged Corbyn on his alleged anti-Semitism problem, and even had a bodyguard at last year’s Labour conference.

Following the schism, Dr Moshe Kantor, the President of the European Jewish Congress, spoke out to further highlight Labour’s anti-Semitism problem, calling on Corbyn himself to act to stamp out the hate within his party.

In a statement seen by Breitbart London, Dr Kantor said:

The time is now long overdue for Jeremy Corbyn to act once and for all to stamp out the scourge of antisemitism from his party. We call on him to put his words into action and show that there is no place for antisemitism in modern Britain. Political leaders have an essential role to fulfil in fighting antisemitism and hatred. Much more needs to be done by the Party leadership to rebuild Labour’s credibility as an anti-racist party and to reassure British Jews that the Party makes no exceptions for antisemitism in any form. The necessary first step will be for Mr Corbyn to apologise for his past comments and affiliations with Jew-haters and to expedite urgently the disciplinary process against all Labour Party members accused of antisemitism. It’s regrettable that Labour’s leadership has not taken a stronger line on antisemitism, which has undoubtedly led to many Jews thinking that they may not have a future in Britain. However, it is also true that the British government is hugely supportive of our community and Britain remains a safe and welcoming place to be Jewish.

Breitbart London reported in December at the end of a bruising year of anti-Semitism scandals for Labour that Jeremy Corbyn had made the Simon Wiesenthal Center list of ‘top-10’ worst anti-Semitism incidents worldwide for 2018. The centre’s report stated that the prospect for a Corbyn-led British government was an “existential threat to Jews” and that the rising tide of anti-Semitic incidents in Labour was “injecting the world’s oldest hatred into the mainstream of society.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organisation that researches the Holocaust and contemporary anti-Semitism, said of the rise of such incidents within Labour: “Party leader Jeremy Corbyn stands directly responsible.”

Oliver JJ Lane is the editor of Breitbart London — Follow him on Twitter and Facebook</s>LONDON
• Seven Labour lawmakers have quit Britain's main opposition party over its leader Jeremy Corbyn's approach to Brexit and a row over anti-Semitism, saying Labour had been "hijacked by the machine politics of the hard left".

Their departure yesterday underlines the mounting frustration with Mr Corbyn's reluctance to change his Brexit strategy and start campaigning for a second referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.

With slightly more than a month until Britain is set to leave the EU on March 29, divisions over Brexit have fragmented politics, breaking down traditional party lines and creating new coalitions across the country's left-right divide.

"The Labour Party that we joined, that we campaigned for and believed in is no longer today's Labour Party. We did everything we could to save it, but it has now been hijacked by the machine politics of the hard left," lawmaker Chris Leslie told a news conference.

Besides Mr Leslie, the other lawmakers are Ms Luciana Berger, Ms Angela Smith, Mr Gavin Shuker, Mr Chuka Umunna, Mr Mike Gapes and Ms Ann Coffey. They will continue to sit as lawmakers in Parliament under the banner "The Independent Group".

Mr Corbyn said in a statement: "I am disappointed these MPs have felt unable to continue to work together for the Labour policies that inspired millions at the last election."

He has been accused by some lawmakers of failing to tackle anti-Semitism in the party, an allegation that has dogged the pro-Palestinian politician since he became the party's leader in 2015.

Ms Berger said the party had become "institutionally anti-Semitic", adding: "I am leaving behind a culture of bullying, bigotry and intimidation."</s>Labour and Conservative parliamentarians are anxious that the new breakaway group formed by Luciana Berger and Chuka Umunna has increased the chances of Theresa May calling an early election.

On the Labour side, MPs and peers were worried that the prime minister would be tempted to exploit a split in the opposition if more of their number defected to the new political group.

Stewart Wood, a Labour peer and political academic at the University of Oxford, said he believed the defections had “significantly raised the chances of a snap election being called”.

The former adviser to Ed Miliband said the prospect would be intensified if “20, 30 and even 50 Labour MPs think they can’t face the thought of standing on a manifesto for Jeremy Corbyn again”.

At the same time, some Conservatives are increasingly concerned May could be forced into calling a snap poll if her slim majority is narrowed or wiped out by Tories resigning to join the Independent Group. Several Tory MPs told the Guardian they thought the chances of an election had increased in the last week.

The Conservatives insist they are planning for an election in 2022. But two Tory sources said their suspicions had been raised by invitations to dinners held by Adam Memon, director of research at the Conservative party, where they were asked what should be put in a general election manifesto.

The dinners, held at a central London restaurant away from Westminster, were attended by special advisers, No 10 policy officials and representatives of thinktanks, where attendees were invited to contribute their policy ideas.

Another source said a senior Conservative former minister had been charged with the drawing up of a manifesto in secret just in case there was a need to move quickly.

Asked whether a manifesto was being written, a Conservative spokesman said: “The next general election is in 2022. CCHQ’s role is to campaign to keep Conservatives in local and national government. Unsurprisingly, part of that involves planning and policy development – which continue as usual.”

Polling by Sky data gave the first indication of what the public could think about a new independent grouping, even though it has no leader, manifesto or funding and is yet to form an actual political party. The research found support of 32% for the Conservatives, 26% for Labour, 10% for the independent grouping, 9% for the Liberal Democrats, 6% for Ukip and 4% for the Greens. However, this would still suggest May falling short of a majority.

Others believe May would be unwise to call an election given that the Conservatives could lose as many votes to a new centrist party as Labour.

Prof Rob Ford, an academic and Labour expert at the University of Manchester, said people should remember that the Social Democratic party, formed by MPs leaving Labour in the 1980s, took support from the Conservatives as well.

“If Tories are saying ‘ha ha’ to Labour about the Independent Group, then it doesn’t strike me that they’ve thought very deeply about the possible consequences,” he said.</s>One of the MPs to resign from the Labour Party tells LBC his former party is "institutionally racist" for failing to deal with anti-Semitism.

Mike Gapes described the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as "rhetorically" anti-racism and that there has been an "organisational failure" to deal with anti-Semitism within the party.

Speaking to LBC's Matthew Thompson, the now-former Labour MP said: "There are senior figures in the party who have been readmitted into membership over recent months, having been suspended because of things they said which were anti-Semitic," he said.

"There's been an organisational failure to get rid off, to expel people, and frankly for me anti-Semitism is something awful and horrible.

"I joined the Labour Party because of my commitment to fight racism and anti-Semitism is racism, and the Labour Party is failing to deal with these issues so it is institutionally anti-Semitism, and therefore racist."

Asked about "The Independent Group", Mr Gapes said that there were "a lot of steps" they need to go through, including a meeting to decide roles between them.

"We hope that other members of Parliament will come and join us so that the seven today will grow over the next few days," he said.

"I think we have all taken a decision based on our own conscience and we know there are other MPs who share our analysis but not yet come to the decision we've come to today."

Seven Labour MPs resigned from the Party and will instead sit as Independent MPs in Parliament.

Luciana Berger, Chuka Umunna, Gavin Shuker, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes and Ann Coffey all resigned from Jeremy Corbyn's party.

They will sit under the title "The Independent Group".

In making the announcement, Ms Berger described the party as "institutionally anti-Semitic" and said she is "embarrassed and ashamed" by the party.

She said: "This morning we have all now resigned from the Labour Party. This has been a very difficult, painful, but necessary decision.

- Labour Split: Chuka Umunna Among Seven MPs To Quit Party</s>Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption MPs resign from Labour over Brexit and anti-Semitism

Seven MPs have resigned from the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's approach to Brexit and anti-Semitism.

They are: Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes, Gavin Shuker and Ann Coffey.

Ms Berger said Labour had become institutionally anti-Semitic and she was "embarrassed and ashamed" to stay.

Mr Corbyn said he was "disappointed" the MPs had felt unable to continue working for the policies that "inspired millions" at the 2017 election.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said the "honourable thing for them to do" would be to stand down as MPs and seek to return to Parliament in by-elections.

Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson, in a video message on Facebook, urged the "hard left" to stop celebrating the departure of the seven MPs, saying it was "a moment for regret and reflection not for a mood of anger or a tone of triumph".

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption John McDonnell: Resigning MPs have 'responsibility' to call by-elections

"Betrayal narratives and shouting insults at the departed might make some feel better briefly but it does nothing to address the reasons that good colleagues might want to leave," said Mr Watson.

He said Luciana Berger's decision to quit was a "wake-up call for the Labour Party" over anti-Semitism, saying: "We were slow to acknowledge we had a problem and even slower to deal with it."

Labour had to "broaden out" and become more tolerant, he said, adding: "I love this party. But sometimes I no longer recognise it, that is why I do not regard those who have resigned today as traitors."

What is the new group trying to do?

The seven MPs, who all back a further EU referendum, are not launching a new political party - they will sit in Parliament as the Independent Group.

But Chuka Umunna said they had "taken the first step" and urged other Labour MPs - and members of other parties - to join them in "building a new politics".

"It is time we dumped this country's old-fashioned politics and created an alternative that does justice to who we are today and gives this country a politics fit for the here and now - the 21st Century," he said at a launch event in central London.

He said there would be "no merger" with the Liberal Democrats, who have 11 MPs, and the group wanted to "build a new alternative".

The group rejected comparisons with the Social Democratic Party - which broke away from the Labour Party in the early 1980s but eventually merged with the Liberal Party - saying it was a different era and they would not be contesting by-elections.

In a founding statement on its website, the group sets out its approach to the economy, public services and security, as well as Brexit.

One of the seven MPs, Angela Smith, has, meanwhile, had to apologise after being criticised for a comment about skin colour on BBC Two's Politics Live programme.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Angela Smith criticised over skin colour comment

In a discussion about race, the MP appeared to say: "It's not just about being black or a funny tinge."

She has since posted a video on Twitter apologising for the comment, adding: "I am very upset that I misspoke so badly."

Could more MPs defect to new group?

Image copyright PA

By BBC Political Correspondent Iain Watson

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".

Two more MPs were undecided about whether to be at the launch, one of them was 90% but clearly not 100% there.

And more still may be persuaded to go unless they see a more robust response to anti-Semitism.

But strong supporters of the Blair/Brown governments such as Peter Kyle and Ben Bradshaw are staying to fight their corner on Brexit and it's likely in the short term the numbers who do go will be small.

This is no simple centrists v left, or indeed, ultra left split.

However, the reaction of left-wing activists to today's drama could be crucial.

If they feel fired up to de-select those who share the politics of the defectors but who have no intention of leaving Labour, the splinter could yet become a more sizeable split.

What did the defecting MPs say?

Each of the seven took turns to explain their personal reasons for quitting the party.

Ms Berger said: "I am leaving behind a culture of bullying, bigotry and intimidation."

Chris Leslie said Labour under Mr Corbyn had been "hijacked by the machine politics of the hard left".

Mike Gapes said he was "sickened that Labour is now perceived by many as a racist, anti-Semitic party" and "furious that the Labour leadership is complicit in facilitating Brexit".

How did it go down with other Labour MPs?

Senior Labour figures, including former leader Ed Miliband and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, expressed their dismay at the split, with Mr Khan saying on Facebook that the seven MPs were friends of his but he would not be joining their new group and it was a "desperately sad day".

In a statement, Jeremy Corbyn said: "I am disappointed that these MPs have felt unable to continue to work together for the Labour policies that inspired millions at the last election and saw us increase our vote by the largest share since 1945."

What about the unions and Momentum?

GMB leader Tim Roache described the MPs' actions as "unforgiveable", adding that they were "hardly the Magnificent Seven".

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, a close ally of Mr Corbyn, said there was a "strong whiff of hypocrisy" about the resigning MPs because they had stood on a manifesto at the 2017 general election that "promised to respect the 2016 referendum taking us out of Europe".

Jon Lansman, the founder of the pro-Corbyn Momentum campaign group, said he had "personal sympathy" for Ms Berger because of the "hate and abuse" she had suffered.

But he said the other six MPs were malcontents opposed to Mr Corbyn's leadership, telling BBC Radio 4's World at One: "These are people who are not heavyweights and do not have clear policies."

How have other parties reacted?

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said the split was "not unexpected, or unwelcome" and his party was open to "working with like-minded groups and individuals in order to give the people the final say on Brexit, with the option to remain in the EU".

Conservative Party Chairman Brandon Lewis said the resignations had confirmed that Labour "has become the Jeremy Corbyn Party - failing to take action on everything from tackling anti-Jewish racism to keeping our country safe".

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, whose new Brexit Party launched earlier this year, tweeted: "This moment may not look very exciting but it is the beginning of something bigger in British politics - realignment."

How many MPs are independent?

The resignation of seven Labour MPs leaves Jeremy Corbyn with 248 MPs under his leadership. For now, the new group will sit as independents, but could soon form a new political party.

Five other MPs are already sitting as independents after leaving the Labour Party for various reasons, but they are not part of an organised group.

Separately, Peterborough MP Fiona Onasanya was kicked out of the party when she was jailed in January.

There are two other independent MPs - former Lib Dem Stephen Lloyd, who quit his party because he disagrees with them on Brexit, and North Down MP Lady Sylvia Hermon - a former Ulster Unionist.

Don't the new Independent Group have to form a party?

Not necessarily.

Parties are membership organisations that are registered with the Electoral Commission and stand candidates in elections. They also have a leader.

One major advantage of forming a party - rather than just a Parliamentary group - is that you qualify for government money to help with research, which may be a factor in the new group taking the next step.

Under the rules of Parliament, none of the MPs who have resigned from Labour today have to put themselves forward for re-election in their constituencies.</s>An eighth Labour MP has quit the party to join the breakaway Independent Group in protest at Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

Former minister Joan Ryan, who chaired Labour Friends of Israel, said that Mr Corbyn was not fit to be prime minister and the party had become “infected with the scourge of anti-Semitism” under his leadership.

Her announcement came as Labour launched a consultation on changes to allow voters to force MPs to seek re-election if they swap parties.

The proposed new right to recall comes after the launch on Monday of the Independent Group by seven ex-Labour MPs including former shadow ministers Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger and Chris Leslie.

Members of the new group have indicated they will resist demands from Labour bigwigs, including John McDonnell, to step down and seek a fresh mandate from voters in a by-election.

Ms Ryan, who has represented Enfield North since 1997 with a break from 2010-15 and served as a minister in Tony Blair’s government, made clear she is hoping for further defections.

In a letter to constituents, she said she hoped her actions would act as a “wake-up call” and “others will join us”.

Ms Ryan said that under Mr Corbyn, Labour had developed a “cult around the leader”, driven by an ” all-consuming narrative founded on rage, betrayal and the hunt for heretics”.

On the issue of anti-Semitism, she said: “I have been appalled and angered by the Labour leadership’s dereliction of duty in the face of this evil.”

And she added: “Jeremy Corbyn has enabled and allowed a toxic culture to develop in too many parts of the Labour Party.

“And I can’t be a part of it any longer. Which is why, with a heavy heart, I have left it.”

With a poll taken on the day after the Independent Group’s launch putting the breakaway MPs on 10% support to Labour’s 26% nationally, Mr Corbyn’s party would be hopeful of seizing back most if not all of the seats in by-election contests.

Although the Independent MPs may benefit from some personal support, all of their constituencies – with the exception of Angela Smith’s Penistone and Stocksbridge and Ms Ryan’s Enfield North – are rock-solid Labour seats which would need a substantial swing to change hands.

In an indication that Labour expects to hold on to much of its support in any by-election, party sources said that one of the key reasons for allowing recall when an MP crosses the floor is because people cast their vote primarily for the party and its platform rather than the candidate.

At present, recall petitions can only be launched in a handful of circumstances, such as a serious breach of parliamentary rules or a criminal conviction. A by-election is forced if the petition is signed by 10% of constituents – usually around 7,000 people – within six weeks.

Labour will consult on extending the principle to cover MPs who switch political allegiance.

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Trickett said: “Power comes from the people but for too long the overwhelming majority have been shut out. That’s why trust in politics and in elites is rightly falling.

“Communities should not have to wait for up to five years to act if they feel their MP is not properly representing their interests, especially with the restrictions of the Fixed Term Parliament Act.

“This proposed reform has the dramatic potential to empower citizens and will be one of many measures the Labour Party is planning to consult on and announce that will change the way politics in this country is done.”

The developments are likely to reignite internal disagreements over the best response to the departure of MPs from the party’s centrist wing with a long record of dissent over Mr Corbyn’s stance on Brexit and his handling of anti-Semitism allegations.

Deputy leader Tom Watson has called for a shadow cabinet reshuffle to better reflect the breadth of opinion in the party and ensure that “all the members of our broad church feel welcome in our congregation”.

At a stormy meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party on Monday, the leadership was repeatedly criticised for failing to deal with the issue of anti-Semitism within the party.

And Mr McDonnell accepted the need for the leadership to carry out a “mammoth, massive listening exercise” to address concerns.

Speaking at a conference of manufacturers in London on Tuesday, Mr Corbyn said he was “disappointed” the seven had decided to leave the party.

“I hope they recognise that they were elected to Parliament on a manifesto that was based around investment in the future, was based around a more equal and fairer society and based around social justice,” he said.

“They were elected to carry out those policies, they decided to go somewhere else and I regret that because I want our party to be strong, I want our party to be united around the policies that we have put forward.”

A Sky Data online poll of 1,034 voters on February 19 put the Independent Group in third place across Britain on 10%, ahead of Liberal Democrats on 9%, Ukip on 6% and the Greens on 4%. Conservatives were leading on 32% to Labour’s 26%.

The poll suggested that the new group could eat into the support of both main parties, with 37% of those who said they would back the IG in an election having voted Labour and 27% Conservative in 2017, while another 24% said they did not vote.

However, translating that level of support into actual votes at the ballot box would require the Group to stand candidates across the country, despite currently having no national structures.</s>Two former shadow cabinet ministers Chuka Umunna and Chris Leslie are among the Labour walkouts announced today. The other MPs who quit their positions this morning are Luciana Berger, Gavin Shuker, Ann Coffey, Mike Gapes, and Angela Smith. The resignations are the most significant split to hit the Labour Party since the breakaway of the Social Democrat Party in the early 1980s. The MPs were unequivocally damning of Labour and the party’s leader Jeremy Corbyn. Here are the most shocking statements made by the MPs who resigned.

Labour party SPLIT: What do we know about the new Independent Group?

Luciana Berger, who led the resignations, said she had come to the “sickening” conclusion that Labour was now “institutionally anti-Semitic”.

The MP for Liverpool Wavertree said the resignations had been a “very difficult, painful, but necessary decision”.

But she added Labour was now “institutionally antisemitic” with “a culture of bullying, bigotry and intimidation”.

Chris Leslie, who spoke with tears in his eyes, said: “I've been a Labour Party member for more than three decades but the Labour Party I joined is no longer today's Labour Party.

“I did everything I could to save it but it has now been hijacked by the machine politics of the hard left.”
Seven Labour Party MPs (Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Angela Smith, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker, Ann Coffey and Mike Gapes) resign from the party, forming a new independent group, in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, and "institutional anti-Semitism" within the party.