London (CNN)A new schism opened up in British politics on Monday when seven lawmakers staged a dramatic walkout from Britain’s opposition Labour Party, denouncing its handling of a wave of anti-Semitism and a “betrayal” on Brexit.
The seven Members of Parliament, many of them longstanding figures in the party, said variously that Labour was racist, had betrayed its working-class roots and was a threat to national security. Its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, was not fit to become Prime Minister, they said.
One of the seven, Luciana Berger, said she had become ashamed of the party she’d served as a Member of Parliament since 2010. It had become “hijacked by the machine politics of the hard left,” she said.
