Tories join breakaway Independent Group in blow to Theresa May

Three MPs have quit the Conservative Party to join the new Independent Group (TIG) in a major blow to Theresa May's authority.

Heidi Allen, Anna Soubry and Sarah Wollaston hit out at the Prime Minister's "disastrous" handling of Brexit as they quit.

The three – who will join the eight ex-Labour MPs who have formed TIG – claimed Mrs May had failed to stand up to the "hard line" European Research Group (ERG) of Brexiteers.

The move poses a fresh headache for Mrs May as she prepared to face Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons before heading to Brussels for Brexit talks with Jean-Claude Juncker.

In a letter to Mrs May, the three MPs said: "We no longer feel we can remain in the party of a Government whose policies and priorities are so firmly in the grip of the ERG and DUP.

"Brexit has re-defined the Conservative Party – undoing all the efforts to modernise it. There has been a dismal failure to stand up to the hard line ERG which operates openly as a party within a party, with its own leader, whip and policy."

They added: "The final straw for us has been this Government's disastrous handling of Brexit."