London - Mr Dennis Canavan MP yesterday blamed the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, for his decision to quit Westminster - a move which will cause a by-election Labour had hoped to avoid.
The MP and MSP for Falkirk West stood as an independent, resulting in his expulsion from the party.
Meanwhile, a senior Conservative MEP yesterday defected to the Liberal Democrats, claiming the Tory leader, Mr William Hague, had led his party on a "hard swing to the right".
Mr Bill Newton Dunn MEP said Mr Hague's Euro-sceptic policies had "overturned 40 years of constructive engagement" by the Tories.