Labour group leader resigns from party over cuts

The Labour group leader of a Conservative-run council has resigned from his party over huge changes to the benefits system and will sit as an independent member.

Dudley councillor Pete Lowe said welfare cuts announced on Tuesday were "the final straw" after months of heart-searching and tears.

He said he objected to the "stigmatisation of the most vulnerable" including the Labour government's decisions over women's pensions and cuts to pensioners' winter fuel payments.

A Labour spokeswoman said the party inherited a broken welfare system from the Conservatives and would deliver a social security system fit for the future.

Dudley Council was left under no overall control after last year's local elections but is run by the Conservative group with Tory councillor Patrick Harley as leader, following a deal struck after the vote.

Lowe said he resigned from his position, as leader of the Dudley Labour Group and had left the party after he being a member for 41 years.

"I always believed I could better serve my community from within the Labour Party. I no longer believe that is the case," he said.

He said he would sit as an independent alongside two other councillors who he said had also spoken out against Labour - Steve Edwards and Karen Westwood.

Lowe said he would look at "all options that give the people of Dudley a real voice and alternative".

"One founded on anti-austerity, tolerance and inclusion, a voice for the people of our community - one free from the constraints of Westminster," he added.

After Lowe wrote to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a West Midlands Labour spokesperson said: "It is disappointing councillor Lowe has taken this decision.

"Labour inherited a broken welfare system from the Conservatives which risked a generation of young people being written off and millions of people who want to work not getting the support they need.

"Labour will deliver a social security system that is fit for the future."

By Anna Whittaker, BBC Political Reporter, Black Country

In another blow to Dudley's Labour Group, Pete Lowe has raised his head above the parapet to criticise the government.

Resigning from the party he has served for 41 years is certainly a statement.

Dudley councillor Andrew Tromans quit the party in September to sit as a Liberal Democrat as he said the general election result had turned into a "bleak vision of continuity austerity".

With Lowe the latest to quit, Dudley Labour is reduced to 29 councillors while the Conservatives have 35.

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