Labour MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the party, citing “cruel” policies and “hypocrisy” from leader Keir Starmer. In her resignation letter, published in the Sunday Times, Duffield criticised Starmer for accepting gifts worth tens of thousands of pounds while scrapping the winter fuel payment and keeping the two-child benefit cap. She described the “revelations of hypocrisy” since the change of government in July as “staggering and increasingly outrageous”. Duffield, who was first elected in 2017, now intends to sit as an independent MP while “guided by my core Labour values”.
The MP’s resignation follows the suspension of seven other Labour MPs who voted against a motion calling for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished. The total number of independent MPs in parliament is now 14. The winter fuel payment was previously paid to all pensioners to help with energy bills, but in July the government announced that it would now only be made to those on low incomes who receive certain benefits.
Duffield also criticised Boris Johnson for accepting gifts from Labour peer Waheed Alli, and for promoting people with “no proven political skills”. She argued that Johnson had been “elevated immediately to a shadow cabinet position without following the usual path of honing your political skills on the backbenches”. Duffield has previously been critical of senior Labour figures over trans issues, and was investigated by the party after liking a tweet from comedy writer Graham Linehan. She was exonerated of allegations of antisemitism and transphobia in January 2024.
Throughout the letter, Duffield emphasised the importance of Labour values, suggesting that Starmer’s leadership has departed from the party’s core principles. Her decision to resign has been described as the fastest by an MP following a general election in modern political history. It highlights the ongoing divisions within the Labour party, particularly over issues such as means-testing and trans rights. Duffield’s resignation may be seen by some as a symptom of the party’s wider instability in recent years, as it struggles to define itself in response to changing political norms and pressures
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
