What Parliament’s Breakaway Group Means for Brexit Britain

This week, British politics saw its first split in the center since the early 1980s, as 11 rebel pro-EU lawmakers to quit the two major parties to form The Independent Group. (A nine Labour MP quit on Friday, though disagrees with the group on Brexit so has not joined them.) Although the breakaway is not entirely motivated by opposition to Brexit -- the ex-Labour lawmakers in particular cited antisemitism in their former party, among other issues -- all of them support a second referendum on the U.K.’s departure of the EU.

The immediate consequences for Brexit in terms of parliamentary arithmetic are probably limited. Party discipline had broken down so much on this issue that changes of allegiance are unlikely to have much direct effect. Their impact is far likelier to come from the prospect of this group becoming a true party, contesting elections and changing public opinion toward the mainstream parties.