THE Independent Group last week announced their entry into the Westminster political arena with fanfare that quickly turned controversy to after Angela Smith’s “funny tinge” racism row.

And while the informal bloc managed to prise Heidi Allen, Anna Soubry and Sarah Wallaston from the heaving underside of the Conservative Party to swell their numbers to 11, their impacts, ideas and how they may impact on the big decisions to come remains to

be seen.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that the Labour defectors should do the “decent and democratic thing” in calling a by-election in their respective constituencies.

Heidi Allen claimed that The Independent Group’s ideals were just and that the big parties were trying to “crush the birth of democracy”.

“They want to crush people like us trying to change things for this country. And this is the game of course that they will play,” she appealed.

“But we’re better than that and we think our constituents in the country deserve better.”

“The last thing the country needs right now is a General Election or any kind of by-election,” she said, before admitting that the group “were not ready for a General Election or for by-elections” and would continue to resist such demands.

An SNP Westminster source confirmed that the party were not concerned about losing their prominent third-party status at Westminster, were The Independent Group numbers to swell in the coming weeks.

No matter how many members the group attracts, it is not a political party as such.

“The reality is that they wouldn’t become the third-largest party, even if they had 36 MPs. The Independent Group are symbolic of the Westminster chaos,” the source said.

However, the source did not rule out the idea that the SNP would be prepared to work with The Independent Group members as part of their ongoing cross-party efforts to counter Brexit.

“This is an opportunity for the SNP to continue to show leadership by reaching out across parties – which will continue with The Independent Group – to build consensus around extending Article 50 and calling for a People’s Vote,” the source added.

And in terms of parliamentary rules, The Independent Group run into issues. Last week, Dr Alice Lilly from the Institute for Government wrote: “The Independent Group of MPs have given themselves a label and a logo, but in terms of parliamentary rules this is irrelevant.”

Dr Lilly pointed out that the 11 TIG MPs sit as independents, making them no different to other MPs who have resigned from their parties for separate reasons.

Indeed, reality bites in terms of the group’s ability to support themselves. They have no access to short money, public cash dished out to political parties, given that they have not contested any elections.

They would not be able to wrest time from the Speaker either. As Dr Lilly points out, the SNP need not worry about losing their platform.

“The main Opposition party is allotted 17 days’ worth of time each parliamentary session, and the second largest opposition party is given three days,” Dr Lilly wrote.

In the Commons, Speaker John Bercow will be the arbiter of the Independence Group’s participation in debates. The ball rests with the SNP to a degree, as they can opt to “donate” seats to allow independents to sit on legislative committees.