is so vital when we when that innate is so vital when we are at our lowest and when we need it most. —— net is so vital. those that rely on the net are people, not numbers. i should that rely on the net are people, not numbers. ishould not that rely on the net are people, not numbers. i should not have to feel that the only option left open to me is to take a camera crew around the country to send a devastating spotlight on poverty for stoppage should not be this hard. i believed i was part of a party who worked collaboratively, welcomed knowledge and had the empathy to feel. but i have slowly but surely realised that iam have slowly but surely realised that i am not. i have slowly but surely realised that iam not. i can have slowly but surely realised that i am not. i can no longer represented government and party who cannot open their eyes to the suffering endured by the most vulnerable in society. suffering which we have deepened whilst having the power to fix. the conservatives we re the power to fix. the conservatives were always recognised as the party of economic competence, but when we allowed a cabinet minister to say f

business, and have a prime minister bullied by the er g, and is now dragging the country and parliament kicking and screaming into a no deal at this, i am done. i want to be pa rt at this, i am done. i want to be part of something better, a party that people vote for because they wa nt that people vote for because they want to, not because they feel they have to. this afternoon, i feel a mix of emotions. apprehension, some sadness, i do worry about my relationship with good friends i have made in the conservative party. they know who they are. what i also feel, ladies and gentlemen, is excited. so excited. anyway that i have not felt since i was first elected, and a sense of liberation. the united kingdom deserves better. idid not the united kingdom deserves better. i did not leave my business to lower my professional standards and accept second best. i demand more from my party, and more for my country. more competence, more collaboration, more

expert analysis, more transparency, more care and more fairness. it needs to push and shove and drive, not carat from its own shadow. it should attract the best minds, the biggest hearts and the most effective communicators. i come away, are prepared to dare to dream that this could be possible. —— icon we. it is not going to happen if we sit idly by, nodding through policy and voting like sheep. if brexit was and voting like sheep. if brexit was a clarion call for change, we hear it. our parties have been unable to grasp the managers of the challenge and have no plans to respond, nor heal the divisions across our cities, villages and dining tables. we need to start again with a clean sheet. as true centre ground mps, showing the same values as millions of our citizens, we have a responsibility to act. this week is the beginning. once there were

seven, and now there are 11. at the last count, about 120,000 followers! yes, we are putting our heads above the parapet and we might fail. but as the prize not worth fighting for? i since the country wants us to fight for it as well. i for one and prepared to give it everything i have got. now, ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to hand over to my very good friend, doctor sarah wollaston. well, follow that! i am not going to talk for long. i think it is with great sadness that i am living the conservative party today, and i think there are three questions. why? why now? what next? would i have joined the party into thousand nine and sat to be the first ever

candidate selected by a phil open. primary in my constituency —— through, open postal primary if the party looked then as it is today and the answer is no. i ask myself, if i would not stand to be a conservative mp, if i would not encourage others to vote conservative in a general election, how can i possibly continue with the conservative whip? this is about more than brexit. i joined the party after spending 24 years as a front line doctor in the nhs, wanting to make a difference. joining a tolerant, moderate, open—hearted joining a tolerant, moderate, open— hearted conservative joining a tolerant, moderate, open—hearted conservative party, which i think has now disappeared. i am afraid the pro minister simply has not delivered on the pledge she made on the steps of downing street to tackle the burning injustices in our society. ——

to tackle the burning injustices in our society. — — the to tackle the burning injustices in our society. —— the prime minister simply has not delivered. what we i'iow simply has not delivered. what we now see is that the party which was once the most trusted on the economy and business is now taking us towards the cliff edge of a no—deal brexit. i have been saying for weeks that if it became mean party policy to deliver no deal, then i would have to leave. i am afraid there comes a point when running down the clock is in effect the same thing. none of us are prepared to wait until our toes are at the cliff edge before we take a stand. before we are prepared to say, if necessary putting our careers on the line, to say please change your mind, prime minister. this is not a binary choice. choice between no deal and a poor deal. there is a third way, and that third way is to hand that decision back to the british people, to allow them to look at the evidence, to weigh up the prospect, the pros and cons of the actual

brexit deal, as opposed to the fa nta sy brexit deal, as opposed to the fantasy promises that were made during the referendum campaign, to allow the public to weigh up the pros and cons and give their valid consent to this deal. 50, that is why today we are taking a stand and why today we are taking a stand and why we are doing it now, and we are proud that we are going to be part of the new independent group of mps, sitting together and hoping to fix our broken politics. thank you very much. good afternoon, everyone. the conservative party has been very good to me. i have been elected three times to represent the people asa three times to represent the people as a member of parliament and broxtowe a nd as a member of parliament and broxtowe and i am very grateful for the support and hard work of a small tea m the support and hard work of a small team of activists, mostly members of broxtowe conservatives, they know who they are, friends and family who

enabled me to win. i served in to government as a minister of health, the first woman mp defence minister, and, in 2015, i was promoted to attend cabinet as business minister. i rejoined the party into thousand and two to a welcome that warmed as the desperately needed modernisation of the conservatives took shape. i was the single mother of two children. i had worked in television asa children. i had worked in television as a reporter and presenter and spent 16 years as a criminal barrister in my home city of nottingham. you do not leave a political party that you have called home for many years without a great deal of thought and a considerable amount of heartache, and it is with amount of heartache, and it is with a heavy heart that i have today resigned my membership of the conservative party. last night, an old friend, who i first met back in the 1970s, old friend, who i first met back in the 19705, i old friend, who i first met back in the 1970s, i cannot tell you what year because it is so long ago i

have forgotten! in any event, we we re have forgotten! in any event, we were both student members of birmingham university conservatives, and he sent me a text, don't leave, he said. stay and fight them, it is those of us from the ken clerk wing of the tory party. them of which he spoke are the right, the anti—wing of the conservative party. yesterday, sirjohn major spoke about describing the more extreme of their number as zealots. —— v and te wing. he has called them far worse but correctly identified the hollowing out of traditional tories in the membership of the conservative party. well, as my friend, and he is my friend, tew carmona said on monday, you do not joina carmona said on monday, you do not join a political party to fight it. —— chuka umunna said on monday for you do not stay in it and skirmish in the margin when the truth is the battle is over and the other side

has won. the right—wing, the hardline, anti—eu awkward squad that have destroyed every leader the last 40 yea rs have destroyed every leader the last 40 years are now running the conservative party from top to toe. they are the conservative party. dear friends, they are the conservative party. dearfriends, and they are the conservative party. dear friends, and the they are the conservative party. dearfriends, and the rd are friends, now former colleagues, who share those one nation values and principles, will of course today deny it, but i believe in their heads and in their hearts they know it is over. the reason they know it is over is because we lost the referendum, and brexit now defines and shapes the conservative party. i ama and shapes the conservative party. i am a former criminal barrister, so i am a former criminal barrister, so i am pretty much predisposed to evidence. it is on the evidence that ict conservative party is on the state is in, and i suggest the evidence is overwhelming. after the prime minister lost her withdrawal agreement, she said she would reach out to build a consensus. of course,

she should have done that at the beginning of all of this, in the beginning of all of this, in the beginning of all of this, in the beginning of her premiership, not an 11th hour. in that spirit, the first people that she invited into number ten where the drg, the very people who just weeks beforehand ten where the drg, the very people whojust weeks beforehand had called a vote of no confidence in her leadership and delighted in calling out her feelings to any passing microphone on college green. —— into number ten where the er g. mainstream conservatives with a fine record of loyalty, who had served at the highest level of government, and i hope she will forgive me for using her name, but people likejustine greening, who had rejected the deal for perfectly sensible reasons, are still waiting for a call. at a local level, and i do not include my association in this, though we have had our problems with infiltration, but overwhelmingly the majority of associations are being infiltrated

bya associations are being infiltrated by a nationally orchestrated entry is complacently designed to remove rebel mps who they labelled traitors. conservatives with the stature, service and loyalty of sir oliver letwin, the former party chair dean caroline spelman, have been hounded and pilloried. my friend nick bowles faces deselection, as do others. some face motions of no confidence. their only offence has been to support the prime minister's withdrawal agreement. even though the party chairman is on the traitors list, he has failed to provide the firm political leadership that is demanded. the result of this bluekip, as sarah has called it, the proper momentum, is that too many of herformer proper momentum, is that too many of her former colleagues fear their associations more than their

electorate, the people they have been voted to represent. —— the purple momentum. it is a form of tyranny and it is ironic that conservatives observe and condemn it in the labour party but it is happening in their own party. and in the words of my other dear friend, and my near neighbour, chris leslie, enough is enough. the shift to the right began shortly after theresa may became leader, and notwithstanding her fine words on the steps of downing street, which as sarah says, we, all three of us, cheered, within if you months, the modernising reforms that had taken yea rs modernising reforms that had taken years to achieve were destroyed. citizens of the world were cast out as citizens of nowhere. remain voters marginalised and insulted as members of the liberal, metropolitan elite. that didn't go down very well in places like broxtowe, amongst my remain voters. i've course, the

electorate gave their verdict in june 2017, when we lost over 30 conservative mp colleagues in a truly disastrous general election campaign. where are we now? well, eu citizens who have lived and contributed to this country for decades, being labelled as queue jumpers. one nation conservatives are pursuing a brexit policy they do not believe in. they know it will harm the economic prospects of this remarkable country and their own constituents. others, like sirjohn major, bravely battled on, making the point that 63% of people in this country did not vote for brexit, and even more did not fold for the no—deal brexit that unfortunately mrs may appears willing to deliver. the decision to leave the conservatives, as heidi and sarah

have identified, is not all about brexit. it is about facing the reality of british politics as it stands today, and is set to continue, unless we you are duty as elected representatives for attachment do our duty for you when in politics when you are with a team, and in that team with shared values and principles. i believe minor no longer welcome in the conservative party. i am not leaving the conservative party, it has left us. on monday, chuka umunna held up the bat onto people like us, and today, we seize it. in turn, we hold it out to fellow one nation conservatives and like—minded lib dems that i certainly had the pleasure to work within the coalition government. please, come andjoin coalition government. please, come and join us. to the millions of people who feel abandoned and not represented by either of our two broken main parties, and indeed all our parties, we share your values, your dreams and aspirations. we

three have never been called your so—called typical tory. like everyone, we are tired of labels. we are tired of tribalism and tired of british politics being dominated from its extremes. it is time for change and we are a team, with your support, that will deliver that change. thank you. thanks, team. my job change. thank you. thanks, team. myjob is to take the question is, in the sense that i will mc them. heidi and sarah will take... and is going to answer them all! i am not great at these press conferences but try my best. carolyn. you mention some names, ken clerk, nick bowles, who share your

frustration. have you got any commitments or a suggestion from any of them...? commitments or a suggestion from any of them. . . ? from the way i look at it, yes, everybody here knows what westminster is like and its conversations in corridors and people scuttle around. because our two parties, but i would say all of them, you are suppressed stop having them, you are suppressed stop having the courage to do what you know is right is hard. but are there in a numberof right is hard. but are there in a number of colleagues in all parties who are keen to join number of colleagues in all parties who are keen tojoin is? absolutely. but everybody has to get there in our own but everybody has to get there in ourown time. we but everybody has to get there in our own time. we had no idea that chuka umunna and the team were going to pick up the battle on monday, but it felt right for us to pick it up on wednesday. everybody will get there in theirown on wednesday. everybody will get there in their own time but we do believe there are a significant numberof believe there are a significant number of colleagues. it is for those colleagues to speak for themselves rather than for us to name them but there are a number of our colleagues who are deeply unhappy, particularly deeply unhappy about no—deal brexit. what i would

hopeis about no—deal brexit. what i would hope is that ministers will have the courage of their convictions to actually step down from their posts. lam not actually step down from their posts. i am not necessarily expecting them tojoin us here, but we do expect people to relate stand up for what they know is right for this country and not allow no deal to go ahead. and nobody knew until seven o'clock last night that joe and nobody knew until seven o'clock last night thatjoe was going to come and join as, so we thank you for that, joe. there is a microphone you have got it! very naughty. anna soubry, if you months ago, you said to me that theresa may should sling the brexiteers out of the conservative party, but today the three of you have slung yourself out. do you and those remaining one nation tories and the conservative party, have you comprehensively lost that battle? in aligning yourself with this new group, are you appealing to all voters, however they voted in the brexit referendum, orare they voted in the brexit referendum, or are you only appealing to those voters who believe that referendum

result was a big mistake?” voters who believe that referendum result was a big mistake? i think we are absolutely appealing to everybody. there is no debate about that at all. at some stage, when this nightmare, and it is a nightmare brexit, in whateverform it ends up in, this country has a hugejob to do. it ends up in, this country has a huge job to do. that is to heal these enormous divides. one of the frustrations that we have is that none of that work has been done by this government in the overturned have years since the referendum. absolutely nothing has been done, not just to absolutely nothing has been done, notjust to heal the divide but actually to look at the causes of brexit as well. you talk about the fight, nick, and i was involved in the fight when i was a student politician and it is a bit like groundhog day, i must admit. we won it back and, under cameron, we saw this great modernisation that brought people like sarah in and heidi. but it has open thrown away.

the simple truth of it is, as i thought i outlined, the party now is in the grip of the erg and it has shifted to the right and continues to carry on. we cite only the other week with the move to interfere with foreign aid. overseas aid development work. in commitment to .0%. it has begun and will keep on going, because the prime minister is hooked to them. you are all call -- your old colleagues in itv. don't say that, you will get terrible hit meal. i said it colleagues, not friends and allies. and so it begins. having left the conservative party, don't you know make it more likely that theresa may will tack to the right, try to was those ——

widows brexit supporting mps in their party and to live at the hard brexit people fear? secondly, anna soubry, you have said in the past jeremy corbyn is a greater danger to britain than brexit. ayu willing to vote with him only case by pace basis as independence, potentially strengthening his hand by attacking the conservatives? on the point about will it make the play minister tack further to the right, and all of these things we did with great consideration because this is a big thing to do, huge, and you need to be very careful. this is not about us, it is about what we think is the best outcome for the country. what we are best outcome for the country. what we are hoping, we had run out of ammunition. there was no other conversation, and whether persuasion, amendment, there was nothing else we had left in our pockets. this is in part designed to bea pockets. this is in part designed to be a wake—up call, because her majority is no less than it was, she knows the party is full of people that feel the way that we do, so she will have to finally, once and for

all, we believe, see the erg of, because otherwise this is a test of more to come. all i would say is instead of constantly reaching out to the dup and erg, we are nowa bigger grouping than the dup and if she wants to get her deal through, she wants to get her deal through, she can get it through by making it conditional on a second referendum to confirm it, and so we will be supporting the amendment and i hope that the prime minister will see that the prime minister will see that that is the best way to get her deal through, to make it conditional on the consent of the british people. to answer your question, this does not change any of the votes in parliament on brexit. those put remain absolutely the same. it does not change the arithmetic in parliament on that respect, because we will continue, well, we will not be rebelling anymore, we will be with our new friends and we will be... rather disappointing not to be rebels any more. hang on a moment,

you know as well as anybody else, of course there are times when we come together and vote together. nothing has changed in that respect. john. why do you believe that such a small handful, and the moment, could really tra nsform handful, and the moment, could really transform politics in the way that you say? if i may, as a new party pa rt that you say? if i may, as a new party part of your plans and if it is, do you accept that the odds in the political system are heavily against your success? in whatever order, yes, yes, and yes. they are against us but we have got to try. we have got to try. it is so easy in thisjob to note, go we have got to try. it is so easy in this job to note, go through the lobby, read your briefing, do as you're told. that is not living. that is not representing people. that is not representing people. that is not having this most importantjob, that is not having this most important job, to take responsibility very seriously. if we do not try, we are surrounding —— surrendering our country and do not deserve the job that we have. if we are the ones to go over the top,

that so be it, but this is about the right thing, not numbers. this is early days. we are not a political party we came together recognising that we share values and over the coming weeks and months we will be having conversations and reaching out to the country to see what they would like from a new, moderate, sent a would like from a new, moderate, senta grand would like from a new, moderate, sent a grand party. those are conversations that need to take place. it is very early days, but as heidi has said and you have said, we know the author stacked against us but are determined to try.|j know the author stacked against us but are determined to try. i am very struck that all of you have criticised the prime minister in quite visceral terms personally. how fardo quite visceral terms personally. how far do you think she is responsible for the wrongs in the conservative party at the moment? if she behaved differently, make you still be in the party? if the government is as bad as you say it is, new status entrenched poverty in this country making poverty worse, why did you vote for it weeks ago in the no—confidence motion?” vote for it weeks ago in the

no-confidence motion? i will say to things first, the prime minister had the opportunity, which she should have grasped as a sinner she became leader, to reunite our country and go for that soft, sensible brexit, do the right thing by the petitioner economy and the right thing on the border between the republic of and and northern ireland. she had that opportunity and did not do it. she should have reached outcome over the heads of the labour front bench, and build a consensus in parliament. she positively chose not to do it. she had a second opportunity after the general election and again did not use that opportunity to rub out the red lines, build a consensus. those have been two very serious failings on her part and we have ended up now in this terrible mess, where we have just... how many hours was it? 900 hours. at 11 o'clock this morning, it was 900 hours to brexit. look at the mess we are in. if there was

another no—confidence motion, would you vote for the governing the reason we supported and voted in favour of this government continuing is because the last thing that this country is because the last thing that this cou ntry wa nts is because the last thing that this country wants or needs is a general election. the thing that this country does need is a people's vote on brexit. it is the only way through the mess. to take it back to the british people. that is the only thing that we need. i do not know if their appointment are you all right? i think it is a great pity that the only redline but that was not put a time of the red line over the cliff and we feel very strongly that no responsible government could or should inflict the kind of pain and harm that they know would be inflated by that option. we are deeply disappointed that there has been red lines everywhere, except where it should have been. can i just ask each of you, did anybody within the party try to persuade you to stay within the party? the

chairman or the prime minister? could you foresee circumstances where you might reapply to join the conservative party? no and no. i had one cabinet minister drop me a text la st one cabinet minister drop me a text last night because you guys are putting it out there ibbotson, to be honest. the rumours were rife. they tried to convince me not to but nothing from the prime minister, the chief whip, my own whip and no, i would not rejoin the tory party. although it says i have many wonderful friends in the conservative party and many of them have sent me very supportive messages, asking as not to leave. but i have had no contact from the perimeter's office and none from the web's office either. i do not think any effort has ever been made to richard to those of us who are in the moderate centre ground of the party first —— made to reach out. five minutes. would the honourable

thing not been out to resign, fight by—elections, all of you, and, after all, if you think the country is crying out for this, would be a victory not be the most extraordinary validation of what you have open doing? i suppose from my point of view, and has already touched on this partly in terms of the last thing the country needs is a general election or any kind of by—election. i agree with that. but i think the other two points, you know, as anna eloquently put, we have not changed. what we stood on, our values, our own leaflets, have not changed. what we stood on, ourvalues, our own leaflets, our own campaigning when we stood in 2017, none of that has changed. there are big chunks of the manifesto that have not been delivered, but everything we've promised has not changed. people need to remember, this is what the big parties do. they want to crush the birth of democracy for so they wa nt the birth of democracy for so they want to crush people like us trying to change things for this country. this is the game, of course, that they will play for we are better than that and think constituents in the country deserves better than

that. gary at the breakfast going down this line. each of you talked a bit about things you thought were wrong with the tory party and suggested it had gone bad very recently. there will be a lot of people, labour mp is included, who are thinking ofjoining this group you actually think that what you party did a lot of bad things for a lot of years. —— that the tory party did a lot of bad things they would including that welfare changes, austerity. do you regret a lot of that or is that what you define as competence? i believe that we did the right thing in the coalition government in particular. i think the coalition government, which i served in, did a marvellousjob. one of the reasons it did that is because it was two parties working together. one of the mistakes that david cameron made, and he made many, but he had the opportunity in that time, between 2010 and 2015, to

see off this right wing, these anti—eu group of people who bedevilled the party, as i say, for decades, and reach out to those members of the lib dems who clearly where, if you like, or in but shared, again, this year, same principles, same values. that was a mistake. we should have used that opportunity and would not have found ourselves in the position whereby we put on a manifesto that we would have an eu referendum in order to satisfy this right—wing extreme in our party. was the george osborne truncheon is a good thing? -- chancellorship. i have to say that the things we did to the economy we re necessary the things we did to the economy were necessary at the time that i do not have a problem with that. there have been difficulties, and, as i have been difficulties, and, as i have said nice of comments, i think that certainly for local government, who there so many of the cuts,

certainly my county, nottinghamshire, finds it, which is run by tories, and is very competent, finds itself in a position they were if it does not get more money it will go into a dangerous deficit. we are knowingly and deliberately sending ourselves back into an economic downturn, you are depriving us economic downturn, you are depriving us of the opportunity to make progress, so it is extraordinary that any conservative government would even contemplate that. who has got the microphone? you said yourself earlier that you cannot change the arithmetic and parliament. so what can you actually change? i think what i said the

arithmetic will not change