Graham reports back from Friends of Scholes Park meeting
Demand more Learn more
by Lib Dem team on 18 February, 2019
Speaking today, after the formation of a new Independent grouping of former Labour MPs announced this morning, Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Stockport Council and former Cheadle MP (2005-2015), said:
“The Labour Party has been hijacked by the extreme left, many of their members have been subject to vitriolic attacks and this split has been a long time coming. The recent handling of Brexit and antisemitism by the Labour leadership has clearly made the status quo impossible. I was delighted to see that the “magnificent seven” includes Ann Coffey, MP for Stockport.
“From my time in parliament I know that Ann is a person of great integrity and I commend her bravery on taking what must have been a very difficult decision. This is an important step for all seven MPs to leave Labour and set up a separate, breakaway Independent Group. I hope that we may be able to work together again in the future on the issues where we agree.
“Ann will face a challenging next few days, weeks and months. I offer her whatever support I can as she moves through this difficult period and I hope that the new group will recognise that their interests and those of the Liberal Democrats are very closely aligned. The party nationally has already announced that it will be engaging in talks with all other groups and individuals to progress giving people a final say on Brexit and the wider political agenda.”
7 Comments
Something of a tradition with Stockport’s Labour MPs.
I’m long enough in the tooth to recall Tom McNally, the town’s then MP, defecting from Labour to the newly formed Social Democrats in 1981. He lost his seat in 1983.
Chris Leslie has already ruled out any deal with the Lib Dems because ” they do have this issue of trust hanging over their history.
We’ll see how things play out, Bruce – there’s a long way to go. I’ve noticed how completely trustworthy people see the Tories and Labour being at the moment.
They should all resign and fight a bye election. People voted for either Labour or Tory and they should have the strength (and morals) of their convictions. But no, we’ll take the £77k thanks
Curiously, Labour has *never* suggested councillors or MPs resign when they defect *to* Labour.
Amazing how the trio of defecting Tories have turned the Labour protest into a Brexit protest issue.
John H (*)
I’m not sure why you’d be amazed at the stance of the three Tories. All three are well known Remainers, as are the Labour defectors who have formed the group (one defector isnt). In fact, both Soubry and Umunna are both leading lights of the Peoples Vote campaign. They’ve been working together for many months.
I suspect that, by this time next week, the Independent Group may well be bigger than it is now.
(*) No, I’m not talking to myself