Joan Ryan: Labour MP resigns from party to join Independent Group, accusing Jeremy Corbyn of 'playing games with Brexit'

An eighth Labour MP has quit the party to join the Independent Group in the House of Commons, accusing Jeremy Corbyn of “presiding over a culture of antisemitism and hatred of Israel”.

Joan Ryan, the MP for Enfield North, described the decision to quit Labour after four decades as "terribly difficult" - but promised to continue to represent and "speak up" for her constituents as a member of the new indepdendent grouping in parliament.

In a statement outlining the reasons behind her resignation, Ms Ryan said she had become "horrified, appalled and angered" by the party's failure to tackle antisemitism, adding that "no previous Labour leader would have allowed this huge shame to befall the party".

She said Mr Corbyn and the "Stalinist clique that surrounds him" have failed to offer adequate opposition to the government's Brexit plan, and have instead been "purging their perceived ideological enemies within and obsessing over issues that are of little interest to the British people".

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