Don’t let the Independent Group get bounced into by-elections

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 18: (L-R) Labour MP's Anne Coffey, Angela Smith, Chris Leslie, Chuka Umunna, Mike Gapes, Luciana Berger and Gavin Shuker announce their resignation from the Labour Party at a press conference on February 18, 2019 in London, England. Chuka Umunna MP along with Chris Leslie, Luciana Berger, Gavin Shuker, Angela Smith, Anne Coffey and Mike Gapes have announced they have resigned from the Labour Party and will sit in the House of Commons as The Independent Group of Members of Parliament. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images) - Credit: Getty Images

‘If TIG should call by-elections so should the MPs in the ERG or linked to Momentum’

Labour and Tory representatives say MPs in the Independent Group (TIG) should call by-elections in their seats as they were originally elected on another party’s manifesto.

If this is the case, why is it that MPs such as those in the ERG or linked to Momentum seem free to operate as separate ‘parties within parties’ with total equanimity? They are completely free apparently to drag their host parties to the extremes of politics.

If TIG should call by-elections so should the MPs in the ERG or linked to Momentum who are currently behaving like parasites, concealed from public scrutiny by the party labels they hide behind.

Kenneth Brown, Stroud

Our MPs are elected to make considered decisions on our behalf and not purely at the tribal behest of party managers.

If we want honesty and principled behaviour in our politicians, we should not condemn them or ask them to call by-elections when they act according their principles.

John Bates, Morecambe

Listening to Anna Soubry’s speech as she left the Tories made me feel dizzy. As a former Labour supporter and councillor, who would never ever vote for the party that has been trashing the UK since 1979, my admiration for Soubry felt a little like suddenly looking down from the top balcony of a skyscraper.

Obviously everything is relative. She was, after all, just displaying the kind of common sense, intelligence and ability to string a coherent sentence and cogent arguments together that we used to take for granted in those who achieved high office.

It has been so long, however, since we witnessed anyone of her calibre taking the limelight for any significant amount of time, it was a little like encountering a unicorn.

Amanda Baker, Edinburgh

• What do you think? Send your letters for publication to letters@theneweuropean.co.uk and read all of our letters by picking up a copy of our newspaper every Thursday.