You’ll be used to people in my kind of job saying things like, “these are critical days”.

And hands up, on many of the occasions when a big move is predicted, a damp squib often comes along to squelch the expectation.

What I’m about to say may well be a repetition of that familiar phenomenon. But I’m not the only person in Westminster this week to be wondering whether after many, many, many months of private conversations where this possibility was discussed, in the next couple of weeks, maybe even in the next couple of days, something that actually is critical is going to start happening.

It is far from secret that since Jeremy Corbyn was elected, many of his MPs have been unhappy with his style of leadership and clashed with his ideology.

Those who challenged him were comprehensively beaten by the massed ranks of Labour members who rallied to his cause.

And since the 2017 election worked out better for him than many in Labour could ever have imagined, the public attacks on him from his own MPs have been much more muted, with even his fiercest rivals, in the main, keeping their criticisms to themselves. The often predicted splintering of the party has never happened.

But the boiling pot of Brexit and repeated concerns inside the party over anti-Semitism mean that might genuinely be about to change.

Moment of decision

It’s no secret that a small group of Labour MPs has been discussing for many months whether to leave the party, and if so, when and how.

For any MP, this is a huge decision. For many of them, whatever their tribe, their political party is like part of their family, certainly a huge part of the fabric of their lives.

But there’s a rising expectation that under stress, a small-ish group of Labour MPs might be ready to say goodbye to that, and quite soon. Read more

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