'It's a poor time to put party politics into further meltdown': Northampton Labour candidates share views on 'Independent Group' debacle

This week, eight former Labour members defected from the party to form the 'Independent Group'.

They cited leader Jeremy Corbyn's handling of the ongoing row of alleged anti-Semitism in the ranks, as well as the party's Brexit stance, as their main reasons for splitting away.

And yesterday (February 20), the eight were joined by three Conservative MPs who claimed they could not stand by their party's 'shift to the right' over Brexit negotiations.

Critics say the divisions are acts of grandstanding party politics at a time of national importance, while supporters have applauded the move and say it demonstrates dissatisfaction with how both parties are being run.

The Chronicle and Echo asked former Northampton North MP Sally Keeble and Northampton South hopeful Gareth Eales - both Labour - for their thoughts on the issues splintering their party.

Mrs Keeble said: "I think it's a mistake on those eight MPs' part. Everyone seems to be joining for personal reasons rather than a single ideological move. But it's now absolutely clear there are tensions in both sides and I think for some time now politics has become detached from the public.

"The fact that the Tories have split as well makes it a much more significant move. But I don't think it was a sensible move on anyone's part given the national crisis. It is a poor time to put party politics into further meltdown. I'm very sad indeed that they left.

"I think it's clear there are still issues with anti-Semitism in the party and they have not been resolved."

In recent months, Labour has been accused of having intolerance towards Jewish people in the ranks and critics claim Jeremy Corbyn has not handled the issue thoroughly.

Conversely, Gareth Eales said: "When you've got 450,000 members there's going to be an element of bad apples. But I refuse that the Labour party is institutionally racist or anti-Semitic because if it was I would not be part of it.

"I think it's obviously sad that [the eight MPs] have opted to do this. They were not elected for their winning personalities. They were elected on a Labour ticket to deliver the party's manifesto.

"They should call a by-election in those areas. It's a gross betrayal."

The Independent Group is yet to be registered as a political party.