AND THEN THERE WERE NINE
Brexiteer Labour MP Ian Austin quits because he’s ‘ashamed’ of Corbyn – but won’t join Remain-backing Independent Group
The Dudley North MP is the ninth Labour representative to quit this week
ANOTHER Labour MP today quit the party in protest against Jeremy Corbyn.
Brexit-backing Ian Austin resigned from Labour after 14 years as MP for Dudley North - but he won't join the new Independent Group which is pushing for a second referendum.
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He said: "I have become ashamed of the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn."
In a furious blast, Mr Austin claimed party bosses were tougher on the people who expose anti-Semitism than on the racists themselves.
The 53-year-old, a close ally of Gordon Brown, has long been one of Mr Corbyn's fiercest critics.
He is the ninth Labour MP to leave the party this week, but said he's not planning to join the anti-Brexit Independent Group founded by Chuka Umunna.
Mr Austin represents a pro-Leave seat, and is backing Theresa May's Brexit deal.
I am appalled at the offence and distress Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party have caused to Jewish people
Ian Austin
He announced his resignation .
The MP blasted: "The Labour party has been my life, so this has been the hardest decision I have ever had to take, but I have to be honest and the truth is that I have become ashamed of the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn.
"I am appalled at the offence and distress Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party have caused to Jewish people.
"The hard truth is that the party is tougher on the people complaining about anti-Semitism than it is on the anti-Semites."
Speaking to the BBC, he added: "The reason I joined the Labour party is the same reason that I am leaving it today.
"The main reason I joined the Labour party as a teenager was to fight racism and I would never have believed that I would be leaving the Labour party because of racism today."
BY-ELECTION CALL
Labour today called for him to quit his Commons seat and trigger a by-election - a spokesman said: "We regret that Ian Austin has left the Labour party.
"He was elected as a Labour MP and so the democratic thing to do is to resign his seat and let the people of Dudley decide who should represent them."
But a number of the party's MP paid tribute to Mr Austin, including deputy leader Tom Watson who said: "I didn't want him to go, not just because he is a friend but because Labour needs people of his experience, calibre and passion if we are to win.
"There is no point in denying that his departure is a serious blow to my party."
Mr Austin worked for Gordon Brown when the Labour heavyweight was Chancellor, before becoming an MP in 2005.
He was on the front benches under both Mr Brown and Ed Miliband, but when Mr Corbyn became leader he was cast into the wilderness.
Last year party chiefs launched a formal probe into Mr Austin after he called Labour's anti-Semitism rules a "disgrace".
Mr Corbyn has been rocked by the resignation of a string of centrist MPs who oppose his hard-left economic agenda and failure to stamp out racism in Labour.
Eight former Labour MPs have formed the Independent Group along with three rebel Tories - and more are threatening to join if the party boss doesn't listen to their concerns.
MOST READ IN POLITICS
John McDonnell today admitted Labour hadn't done enough to crack down on anti-Semitism and protect Jewish MP Luciana Berger from racist bullying.
He told the Evening Standard: "We could have supported her through that more effectively. We’re going to have to learn a lesson from that.
"If people behave in a way that is construed as anti-Semitic by common standards, they will be dealt with. Full stop. They are not welcome."
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THE SUN SAYS
IAN Austin is a dedicated, principled MP with zero tolerance for racism. Naturally he had no place in Corbyn’s Labour.
His resignation is even more significant than that of the others, except the Jewish MP Luciana Berger, in that he did not scuttle off to join a second referendum pressure group.
He was a Remainer too but, unlike them, intends to keep his election promises to see the result through.
Austin is a veteran Labour man, now “ashamed” of Corbyn and his Marxist mates. A man raised by Jewish parents to battle anti-Semites, only to watch the party he loved for 35 years become a safe space for them.
There was no regretful farewell from Corbyn’s malevolent mob. Only the sniping insults of Chris Williamson, a fan of Venezuela’s vicious tyranny and probably Parliament’s most odious MP.
What a state the Opposition is now in.
But the “moderates” who remain are in denial if they think it can be saved.
Labour peer Lord Bragg tells The Sun he hopes for a new leader — and to “change it from within”. That is even less likely than “reforming” the EU.
Corbyn and his cronies have won. Ed Miliband and others gifted the party to them. And replacing Corbyn would change nothing . . . without the entire shadow cabinet, Corbynite officials and hard-left membership being ousted too.
It won’t happen. Fantasising about it is self-indulgent and delusional.
Anna Soubry's furious constituent tells her locals are 'disgusted' she quit over Brexit and joined a Remainer group
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