The decision by a small number of my former colleagues, to break away from the Labour Party, has done something surprising – it’s united the different Labour traditions.

John McDonnell and Peter Mandelson, and many others, have come together with the same message (for once!) calling for unity, and arguing that this wrong decision will result in a long reign of Tory government.

They are absolutely right.

A split on the centre-left only benefits those on the Right.

Whatever concerns these MPs have, you only have to look at history to see that the changes our country is crying out for only ever come about when Labour is in government.

From founding the NHS, setting up the Welfare State; introducing the Equal Pay Act, establishing the National Minimum Wage to delivering Sure Start. A strong and powerful Labour is the ONLY route to a fairer Britain.

But we do need to reflect too on the reasons why some MPs left.

I’m sorry that my friend Luciana Berger was pushed out of our Party because of vile antisemitism and bullying.

The Party leadership must redouble their efforts to root out this evil racism perpetrated by a minority of members.

The Momentum wing must also down tools and bring an end to internal point-scoring, the threats of deselections, and a belief that only one viewpoint is valid.

We must all respect and value different opinions, and take the bile out of politics, on and offline. We must be a broad church.

This has been one of the worst weeks in the history of the Labour Party.

The challenge now is how we react to it. We can either come together stronger than ever, or fail the test we have been set, and be complicit in the longest reign of a destructive Tory government in a generation.

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The Independent Group

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