LGBT Lib Dem Members Are Quitting The Party Over The Defection Of Ex-Tory MP Phillip Lee

A number of LGBT Liberal Democrat members have announced they are leaving the party after MP Phillip Lee dramatically quit the Tories to join the party.

There were gasps in the House of Commons as Lee took a seat next to Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson during prime minister Boris Johnson’s speech ahead of a crucial vote on Brexit on Tuesday evening. It means Johnson no longer has a working majority.

Jennie Rigg, who chaired the Lib Dem LGBT group, told BuzzFeed News that Lee’s voting record proved he was “not a Liberal”. She said he had “problematic” views on gay rights, HIV migrants, and privatising the NHS.

Luke Graham, a member since 2010, told us Lee had a “deeply conservative mindset that did not align with Lib Dem values” and said he was “very disappointed” in Swinson’s decision.

Lee abstained in the 2013 vote on same-sex marriage and sparked controversy in 2014 when he proposed that people coming to settle in Britain should have to first prove they do not have HIV or hepatitis B.

He has also suggested that NHS patients suffering from lifestyle-related diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes, should pay for their prescriptions.

Rigg, who was a member of the Lib Dems for 11 years, tweeted that she had formally resigned from the party just an hour after Lee crossed the floor.

A Senior MP Is Furious That Boris Johnson Is Kicking Her Out Of Her Office

A senior MP has branded Boris Johnson’s government “petty” and “imperious”, after she was given two weeks by Tory whips to clear out her office — despite telling them that a close relative was gravely ill.

Sarah Wollaston, who defected from the Conservatives earlier this year, also accused government whip Mike Freer of entering her office without permission while she was out.

Wollaston said it was part of a “vindictive” campaign by Johnson’s team to undermine her role in parliament, where she serves as chair of both the health select committee and the powerful liaison committee, which holds the prime minister to account.

A former doctor, Wollaston served as Conservative MP between 2010 and February this year, when she defected to the Independent Group. She later quit the newly formed party and now sits as an independent MP.

Allocation of MPs’ offices is in the control of party whips but Wollaston said the government under Theresa May never sought to take her office back.

However, within a week of Johnson becoming PM, his team is now demanding that she clear out within two weeks. She has instead been allocated a smaller office nearby which, she claims, will make it far more difficult to carry out her parliamentary business.