Labour split: Quitting MPs prepared for questions on 'stodgy and mushy centrism', leaked sheet suggests

After what feels like years of rumours and false-starts, seven Labour MPs have officially resigned from the party.

In a landmark day for British politics, MPs Luciana Berger, Chuka Umunna, Mike Gapes, Ann Coffey, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker and Angela Smith resigned from the party, saying that they can no longer work with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, citing his failure to deal with antisemitism and Brexit.

During a launch event, each MP spoke of their reasons for leaving the party, mentioning and atmosphere of bullying and intimidation. They also answered questions from the press on a range of issues.

Though a leaked sheet, which was tweeted by talkRADIO’s political editor Ross Kempsell, appears to show that the breakaway group planned to answer more questions.

It is unclear where the sheet came from, or how it got into Kempsell’s hands, but it suggests that Chris Leslie had prepared answers to potential questions over whether Harry Potter author JK Rowling was behind the group. Rowling, who has been critical of Corbyn in the past, has not suggested she is in any way involved in the group or commented on it publicly.

Leslie also prepared questions on “stodgy and mushy” centrism, party mergers and potential policies.

If we were to offer any advice, we'd avoid putting the words "stodgy and mushy" out of the new group's political broadcasts in future. Just a thought.

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