Twenty councillors quit Labour accusing Starmer of abandoning party values

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Twenty Labour councillors have quit the party in protest at its direction under the leadership of Sir Keir Starmer, accusing the prime minister of having "abandoned traditional Labour values". “It is with a heavy heart that we can no longer be in a party that has abandoned traditional Labour values under Keir Starmer’s leadership,” the group said. “From the cutting of the winter fuel allowance for 11 million pensioners, to the retention of the two-child benefit cap for struggling families, the increase in bus fares across our towns and cities, the betrayal of Waspi women pensioners to a tepid response to the genocide in Gaza, we say this is not the Labour Party we campaigned for.” Council leader Milan Radulovic, who had been a party member for more than four decades, is among those walking away from Labour to establish a new independent party. Meanwhile, the remaining Labour councillors in Broxtowe said it is “incredibly disappointing” that they have quit the party just 18 months after being elected on a Labour ticket.