"oh you don't get me I'm the end of the union": lol brexit is how we're all gonna die

they say they're not a political party but a company established to support independent MPs, don't have to abide by rules on funding parties but will do so, but also that they only "may" name those making a donation of £7500 or more https://t.co/mnU9unC7q2

— Dan Howdon (@danielhowdon) February 18, 2019

sure, sounds like just the sort of breath of fresh air this corrupted political system needs alright

Well, that’s not dodgy at all, is it? The PFI Group.

their website appears to have keeled over, presumably from the weight of rubberneckers desperate to clown them online politically homeless people desperate to set the controls for the heart of the centrism

"Look,..."

forgive my ignorance but what is stopping these ppl joining the lib dems

Nope.

Also, she’s related to Manny Shinwell, who famously crossed the floor to smack a Tory in the face after said Tory heckled him to “go back to Poland”.

xp plausible deniability

They've actually called themselves "The Independent Group" ffs

That’s like a name you come up with and (usually) discard after a few minutes’ thinking.

But really, the thing about the west is awfully dog whistley no?

some political consultant pocketed six figures for coming up with that name, nice work if you can get it

Gapes: I did stay and I did fight. I've been fighting battles on Twitter and elsewhere... there comes a point where you have to recognise that this is not the Labour Party you were in, it's changed. And at all levels #LabourSplit

— Simple Politics (@easypoliticsUK) February 18, 2019

I don’t think people sending him pictures of milk counts as “fighting battles”.

xp

https://i.redd.it/zqbeg8w3bgzz.jpg

Zapp Brannigan OTM

But really, the thing about the west is awfully dog whistley no?

i read it as taking the (again strawmanny) stance that actually not everything bad that's happened in the world is the result of capitalism therefore every criticism from the left can be discounted entirely, more than a straight-up racist dogwhistle, but hey i suspect these guys wouldn't be averse to taking votes from those who are that way inclinced

IT'S A BEIGE ALERT

Chris Leslie says, to people who say “nothing ever changes”, “if you don’t try, you’ll never know”. Umunna adds: “You can’t change the status quo if you rejoin it... We are saying there needs to be a new offer and a new alternative.”

what does it feel like to be so utterly lacking in self-awareness, i wonder

“Left wing intellectuals” is it?

Fucking fruit juice drinkers

I like Luciana Berger and the anti-Semitism aspect of this makes me squirm tbh. The rest of them can gtf tho.

RIP Rick Parfitt

They have yet to name a substantial policy they support, and they haven’t ruled out voting with the Tories. This is a masterclass in the vacuous non-politics of the bureaucratic centre. https://t.co/QG17KdsrBc

— Eleanor Penny (@eleanorkpenny) February 18, 2019

forgive my ignorance but what is stopping these ppl joining the lib dems

Lib Dems also want to know!

The #LabourSplit is the clearest sign yet that Labour and also the Tories are broken. Lib Dems stand ready to work to address the issues both parties choose to ignore, starting with stopping the #BrexitChaos
Britain deserves better from this opposition and from this Government

— Tom Brake MP (@thomasbrake) February 18, 2019

Statement and 'statement of values':

Here is The Independent's Group's breakaway statement: pic.twitter.com/BjBXti962r

— Sebastian Payne (@SebastianEPayne) February 18, 2019

so

is this bad or good

Also obviously there's more 'Independent' MPs than Lib Dems

(also also they're not a party cool cool can Jared O'Mara get some consultancy, so?)

xp it is stupid, but it shows promising signs of being hilarious.

i've tried to read that statement of values a couple of times now and my eyes just keep slipping off the words

We believe that policies are a tool of the hard left and the hard right. we reject both of these ideologies.

— The Independent Group (@The_Indie_Group) February 18, 2019

(in response to Eleanor Penny)

twitter trolls have been playing a great game recently between the turning point uk disaster and this

is this bad or good

If there's anything I've learned from my time on ILX, it's that centrism is always bad, no matter the circumstances.

Ah don't be like that pom, there's loads of great centrist ideas like

I for one am happy that more people will know that Mike Gapes is a person and not a sentence.

aiui from the pre-announcement chatter, they've taken advice from a Washington firm to specifically avoid having any policies. It's absolutely intentional.

Angela Smith thing about the working class being let down by left wing intellectuals sounds like something Tommy Laxley-Rosbif might say - well, they are both Remainers who want a 2nd referendum, er...

They have no policies and no leader, it’s difficult to advocate for the centre when they are deliberately not setting out a stall (apart from standing up for “the west” and cultivating friendly relationships with business).

oh right, so it's like a terrorist cell but without the clear ideological focus of an isis or an al quaeda

*glances wearily at 'number of days since I knew what Tony Blair thought about something' counter*

Yes. I will always feel the party let her down over anti semitism. She also put a lot of work into things like mental health - apart from the water industry, can you name a single thing any of the rest stood or campaigned for apart from opposing Corbyn?

Also, she’s related to Manny Shinwell, who famously crossed the floor to smack a Tory in the face after said Tory heckled him to “go back to Poland”.

― gyac, Monday, 18 February 2019 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Agree she didn't get the support - although I would respect her more if she had stood down over this single issue on her own (or others who felt like this) instead of standing around with the likes of Mike Gapes.

is the independent group going to try and utilize the large number of anti-Corbyn/pro-FBPE celebs? It seems like the mk 1 SDP did quite a lot of this kind of thing:

https://flashbak.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Richard-Attenborough-SDP-support-1983-PA-4473484-1024x682.jpg

Shirley Williams with Simon Cadell, Robert Powell, Steve Race, Barry Cryer, Denis Quilley, Sir Richard Attenborough and Bamber Gascoigne

i am giving chuka umunna 8 days to hold free and fair elections in streatham or i will recognise the chair of the CLP as interim MP #Laboursplit

— Gordon Maloney (@gordonmaloney) February 18, 2019

I’m sure Rowling will weigh in at some point.

If all they ever achieve is to persuade Eddie Izzard to quit the Labour Party then they will have done a great thing. Fingers crossed.

'cho chang was trans! also i support chuka umunna in his fight against creeping stalinism in the labour party' xp

Berger is transparently there so that news can say "have left over concerns about Jeremy Corbyn and anti-semitism", but that's how things work, and the Labour Party have passed quite a few off-ramps on this road.

who is gordon maloney? CLP secretary ?

or is he some random doing a venezuela but

It is literally only 2 weeks since Streatham Labour narrowly voted in a particularly vicious fight, to change from a GC model to an AMM model for selecting our MP candidates. So this does seem a bit of a "you can't deselect me, I quit!" move on Chuka's part.

Chuka Umunna also defected from UK garage for "soulful house", when the MCs started to get involved, and that is all you need to know about him imho

— Dan Hancox (@danhancox) February 18, 2019

didn't Chuka once complain about vile w/c scum ruining some club he went to ?

Labour sources saying the seven should fight by-elections but softer words from Corbyn for @lucianaberger who has suffered horrific anti-Semitic abuse: “I'm saddened Luciana has resigned from the Party. I would like to thank her for her campaigning on mental health in particular”

— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) February 18, 2019