Three MPs quit Britain's governing Conserv-ative Party on Wednesday in protest at its "disastrous" hard line on Brexit, joining a rebellion in parliament that is redrawing the country's political landscape just weeks before it leaves the EU. The resignations by the pro-European trio posed a fresh and embarrassing headache for Prime Minister Theresa May as she headed to Brussels for talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston said they planned to sit in parliament alongside eight former Labour MPs who, also citing their opposition to Brexit, resigned from the main opposition party this week to form the new Independent Group.
"I'm not leaving the Conservative Party; it's left us," Soubry said at a press conference flanked by her colleagues following the announcement of their decision, arguing its "anti-EU wing" was now setting the agenda. Their move has reinforced the view that Britain was plunging further into political turmoil, without an EU divorce deal just 37 days before it is due to leave the bloc on March 29.