Tories and Labour brace for more defections to Independent Group as Brexit patience wears thin

The newly formed Independent Group could soon be welcoming more disaffected Labour and Tory MPs as a number of senior figures took to the airwaves to warn of more resignations.

Former Tory MP Heidi Allen, who resigned from the party yesterday along with Remain-supporting colleagues Anna Soubry and Sarah Wollaston, told ITV last night that a third of Conservatives were unhappy with the way the party is going, a number echoed by Wollaston this morning on the BBC.

Meanwhile, former education secretary Justine Greening has been placed on resignation watch. This morning she said she would quit the party if it allowed a no-deal Brexit.

 "I am not prepared to be part of a Conservative party that blithely thinks that's some kind of strategy for Britain in any way, shape or form," she said.

Former attorney general Dominic Grieve has also said he would not be able to stay in the Conservatives if it "went completely off the rails" and backed leaving the EU without a deal in place.

The rumblings of resignations come as May desperately seeks legal changes to the Irish backstop, the insurance policy that prevents a hard border in Northern Ireland. But a meeting in Brussels yesterday concluded with no "breakthrough" in talks. Brexit secretary Steve Barclays is in Brussels today, as is Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who will meet the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier.