Today is the anniversary of the launch of The Independent Group, later Change UK, then Change UK – The Independent Group, then The Independent Group for Change, before splitting off into a group called The Independents and independent MPs. Brexiteers have a lot to thank them for…
- Firstly, their hard-line position within Parliament helped scupper the indicative votes attempt to bounce the UK into a rule taking position. The customs union option came just three votes away from achieving a majority, meaning TIG’s decision to oppose it prevented Parliament backing a subservient post-Brexit Britain trapped within the customs union. Remain strategy became ‘all or nothing’, and they got nothing…
- Secondly, without pressure generated by the TIGgers, it is unlikely that Labour would have felt compelled to switch to a pro-second referendum decision. Labour U-turned off the back of the threat of more defections and dire EU election results. In doing so they shifted away from their traditonal voters and helped crumble the Red Wall and perhaps even consign Corbynism to the history books. Time will tell…
- Thirdly, it was thanks to the five TIG defectors who became Lib Dems that an election was called at all. Without the defector induced momentum Jo Swinson’s party gained, they would not have fallen
forin behind Number 10’s strategy of forcing an election to break the deadlock. And the rest was history…
Thank you, TIGgers!
Just in case things weren’t confusing enough after the Change UK/Independent Group split, a new grouping called The Independents has now launched, including some – but not all – of the rump of the Independent Group. Rather than being a party they say they are structured as a “co-operative” instead. Hopefully they manage to work together more cooperatively than Change UK did…
At launch they have five MPs – Independent Groupers Heidi Allen, Luciana Berger, Gavin Shuker and Angela Smith plus former Labour MP John Woodcock, although there’s no sign of Sarah Wollaston. Looks like they won’t be following Chuka to the Lib Dems just yet…
They are making a big feature of their values, rather than political positions, and their independent complaints procedure which Woodcock has already referred himself to in order to resolve the outstanding Labour complaint which Labour deliberately left hanging over him. Can they succeed where TIG/CUK/RA/FC_N failed…?
UPDATE: Even more confusingly, they’re separate from another pet project launched today by Heidi Allen called “Unite to Remain” which will try to get the unruly mass of pro-Remain parties to work together. Or alternatively, try to maintain any sort of media relevance for Heidi herself…
