Former Labour party MPs Chris Leslie, Mike Gapes, Luciana Berger, Ann Coffrey, Angela Smith and Chuka Umunna (left to right) watch as Gavin Shuker (center) addresses the press | Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images 7 UK Labour MPs leave party to form breakaway group Luciana Berger says she is ’embarrassed and ashamed’ to remain within the Labour Party.

LONDON — Seven Labour MPs have quit the party over the leadership's stance on Brexit and foreign policy issues as well as what they regard as the failure to deal with anti-Semitism.

The MPs, including five former shadow ministers, have formed what they call "The Independent Group" and will sit as independent MPs in the House of Commons. They say the group is not a new political party but an attempt to represent what they say are millions of voters in the U.K. who feel "politically homeless" — unrepresented by the established parties.

There has been speculation for months about centrist MPs splintering from both the main parties as U.K. politics has been thrown into turmoil by Brexit. As yet, the new group has no Tory members, but they appealed to people from all political traditions to join them.

The group's website states: "To change our broken politics, we need a different culture. The Independent Group aims to reach across outdated divides and tackle Britain’s problems together. We all have the right to be heard. We can all make a difference."

"For my part, I have become embarrassed and ashamed to remain in the Labour Party," said Luciana Berger at a press conference in Westminster. She said the party's core values of equality, opportunity for all, and anti-racism have been "consistently and constantly violated, undermined and attacked."

And she added: "I cannot remain in a party that I have today come to the sickening conclusion is institutionally anti-Semitic ... I am leaving behind a culture of bullying, bigotry and intimidation."

The established political parties "can’t be the change because they have become the problem," said another of the breakaway MPs, Chuka Umunna. "They have put their party political interests before the national interests."

"It is time we dumped this country’s old-fashioned politics," he said. "If you are sick and tired of politics as usual then, guess what, so are we."

He urged people to “leave your parties and help us forge a new consensus on a way forward for Britain.”

"We are asking you to help us shape what the next steps should be ... We want to invite you, the British people, to join us in the this endeavor," he added. "Politics is broken. It doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s change it."

Chris Leslie, another of the MPs said: "The Labour Party we joined, that we campaigned for, and believed in is no longer today’s Labour Party."

"British politics is now well and truly broken and in all conscience we can no longer knock on doors and support Jeremy Corbyn and the team around him," he added, although he emphasized the group "absolutely oppose" Theresa May's Conservative government.

“The evidence of Labour’s betrayal on Europe is now visible for all to see: offering to actually enable this government’s Brexit; constantly holding back from allowing the public a final say,” he added.

Following the press conference, Corbyn tweeted: "I am disappointed that these MPs have felt unable to continue to work together for the Labour policies that inspired millions at the last election and saw us increase our vote by the largest share since 1945.

"The Tories are bungling Brexit while Labour has set out a unifying and credible alternative plan. When millions face the misery of Universal Credit, rising crime, homelessness and poverty, now more than ever is the time to bring people together to build a better future for us all," he added.

Brandon Lewis, Conservative Party chairman, said in response to the split: “The resignations and speeches today confirm in former Labour MPs’ own words, that the Labour Party has changed irreversibly under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn."

“Labour has become the Jeremy Corbyn Party – failing to take action on everything from tackling anti-Jewish racism to keeping our country safe. We must never let him do to our country what he is doing to the Labour Party today.”

Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable tweeted that the move was "not unwelcome."

"The Liberal Democrats are open to working with like-minded groups and individuals in order to give the people the final say on Brexit, with the option to remain in the EU. We will be engaging in talks to progress both that campaign and a wider political agenda," he wrote.

The other MPs in the group are Mike Gapes, Ann Coffey, Gavin Shuker and Angela Smith. They said the group does not yet have a leader, a manifesto or defined roles.

The breakaway has inevitably attracted comparisons with the formation of the Social Democratic Party in 1981 when four Labour heavyweights left to form the center-left party. It broke the mould of British politics, but split the left-of-center vote at subsequent elections, allowing Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives to achieve big majorities.

Smith said she does not think "the comparison with the SDP stands up to scrutiny," because the new century presents challenges on a much greater scale and many people do not feel adequately represented at Westminster.