BREXIT BREAKUP: RIFTS & DRIFTS ARE SELLING BRITAIN SHORT

If ever there was a time for solidarity and co-working it’s now.

So it was more than disappointing that three Conservative MPs walked away from the party to join the new Independent Group, pointing the finger at Brexit as the trigger for their defection.

Anna Soubry, Sarah Wollaston and Heidi Allen are now members of the new party founded by former Labour MPs.

If what everyone wants is certainty, a Brexit that we understand and can plan around — and some stability — then this is not the route to delivery.

The people voted. They voted leave. I’m a Remainer, a businessman and hold a doctorate in law. I am a practical man and a respecter of balance and choice.

My view? Playing politics may have a time and a place: This isn’t it.

Pulling together a party of representatives holding polarized political views and sharing just one common position — that they are unhappy with Mrs May’s handling of the Brexit negotiations — doesn’t bode well for any kind of future for Independent Group. It is also deeply unsettling for the British people who expect more of their elected representatives.

Mrs May said she was disappointed by the decision of the three to quit the party and offered thanks for their dedicated service. It’s the response of a seasoned and intelligent statesperson.

I agree with Mrs May. I believe she will still offer “decent, moderate and patriotic politics that the people of this country deserve.”

I have seen very little to convince me that there’s any credible alternative, and certainly not a protest-vote political party.