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Ex-Labour MP Luciana Berger joins Liberal Democrats

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LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 18: Labour MP Luciana Berger announces her resignation from the Labour Party at a press conference on February 18, 2019 in London, England. Chuka Umunna MP along with Chris Leslie, Luciana Berger, Gavin Shuker, Angela Smith, Anne Coffey and Mike Gapes have announced they have resigned from the Labour Party and will sit in the House of Commons as The Independent Group of Members of Parliament. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Former Change UK MP Luciana Berger has joined the Liberal Democrats.

The former Labour MP who moved to the newly-former party this year said she would now serve under Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson as the party is “the strongest party to stop Brexit, fight for equality and a fairer country”.

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Berger becomes the fifth addition to the party in recent months. Former Tory MP Sarah Wollaston and former Labour MP Chuka Umunna have joined their ranks this year, while Jane Dodds won a by-election for the Brecon and Radnoshire constituency for the party in early August.

Earlier this week, former Tory MP Philip Lee crossed the Commons floor while Prime Minister Boris Johnson was addressing the House to join the Lib Dems.

Berger told the Evening Standard the move came after she struck up a friendship with Swinson in a Whatsapp group for MPs who have babies. She left Labour in February to help found Change UK with Umunna.

She said: “This is a moment of national crisis.

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“The Liberal Democrats are unequivocal in wanting to stop Brexit and are committed to securing Britain’s future as a tolerant, open and inclusive society. 

“I am joining Jo Swinson and the Liberal Democrats today, in the national interest, to offer a vital, positive alternative to Johnson and Corbyn and help build a future that our country deserves.”

Main image: Getty