A SENIOR Labour councillor announced yesterday that he has left the party after 41 years over its attacks on society’s most vulnerable.

Announcing the decision, Dudley councillor Pete Lowe wrote: “I always believed I could better serve my community from within the Labour Party.

“I no longer believe that is the case under Keir Starmer’s leadership.

“The national party is not only attacking the most vulnerable in society but silencing voices within the party who dare to speak up. 

“First, they came for the pensioners and our children and now they are coming for the sick, vulnerable and disabled.

“I cannot attack the Tories in Dudley for cutting support for the most vulnerable, whilst staying silent when the government does the same.

“The Labour Party has never been perfect but it always offered a voice for working people.

“Unfortunately, I no longer feel this is the case.”

Mr Lowe, who represents Lye and Stourbridge North Ward, will consequently resign from his position as the leader of Dudley’s Labour group.

He will now sit as an independent, joining fellow Dudley councillors Steve Edwards, who had his membership terminated in February after speaking out against Sir Keir, and Karen Westwood, who resigned earlier this month over the leader’s “continued attacks on the working class.”

In a separate letter to Sir Keir, Mr Lowe said that the Labour Party has “lost its soul” and “chooses to prioritise the few over the many.”

He concluded: “I am not leaving the Labour Party....the Labour Party left me some time ago.”