Vox Political has had a chance to see ex-Tory MP Stephen Phillips’s resignation letter, and it is damning.
In it, he tells the chairperson of his local Conservative association he has “irreconcilable” policy differences with Theresa May’s Tory government.
He writes: “To identify three areas in particular: its failure to appreciate the constitutional necessity of properly consulting Parliament with regard to leaving the European Union; the continued shirking of our responsibility for unaccompanied child refugees who have been forced to flee war and conflict; and the way in which international aid is now apparently to be used other than to assist some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.”
He noticeably omits any reference to ill-treatment of the poorest and most vulnerable people here in the UK – but concludes: “Some will label me a quitter or, no doubt, worse. Those are labels with which I can live. The label Conservative no longer is.”
Stephen Phillips: No longer a Conservative MP.
Commentators on Twitter and elsewhere have been quick to point out what this actually says about Mr Phillips. For example, Bonnie Greer tweeted: “#Tory who just couldn’t stand being a #Tory anymore. Otherwise known as ‘Man With Conscience’.”
Mr Phillips said he had to resign as an MP because “I take the view that it would be wrong simply to resign the whip and remain an MP. The majority of the people in the constituency voted to be represented by a Conservative. That choice should be respected.”
It is to be hoped that, in the light of his principled decision, the majority of people in Mr Phillips’s constituency decide they no longer wish to live with the label “Conservative” either.
Do you want Vox Political to cover a story? Use this form to tell us about it (but NOT to comment on the article above, please):
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
