British ruling coalition MP Sarah Teather quits politics over visa bond

LONDON: A prominent British MP - who shot to fame when she became the youngest member of parliament a decade ago - has decided to quit politics over her party's increasingly toughening stance on immigration.

Sarah Teather, belongs to ruling coalition partner Liberal Democrats. She described party leader Nick Clegg's support for a UK Home Office plan for some immigrants, including those from India, to pay a 1,000 pounds deposit when applying for visas as the final straw that left her feeling "desolate" and "catastrophically depressed".

"It was an absolutely black moment. I couldn't even move from my seat when I read it. I was so depressed I couldn't even be angry. I was utterly desolate," says the MP from Brent in north London, explaining her decision to step down from the House of Commons in 2015.

Her decision to quit comes just a week before the Lib Dem annual conference and will come as a blow to Clegg.

"Of course we are disappointed by Sarah's decision," a party spokesperson said.

The Liberal Democrats have a proud record in government, including cutting taxes for working people by 700 pounds and lifting the poorest paid out of tax altogether, helping businesses create a million jobs; investing billions more in schools to help the poorest children and introducing radical plans for shared parental leave, the party said.

"Sarah was a part of this when she served as a minister in the coalition, as well as playing a key role in ending Labour's disgraceful policy of locking up children for immigration purposes," the spokesperson added.

Sarah maintains that Clegg was "a decent bloke", but complained that he led a party that too often appeared to have lost its passion for the values that had attracted her as a teenager.

"It was the moment of realising that my own party was just as afraid of public opinion as the Labour party. Something did break for me that was never ever repaired," she said.

Sarah rode a wave of anti-Iraq war sentiment in 2003 to overturn a Labour party majority of more than 13,000 at the age of 29.

Following boundary changes she won the Brent Central seat in 2010 by a slim margin of 1,345 and has also been a former minister for children and families.

Sarah was appointed minister for children and families in the coalition government, but she lost her place in September last year to make room for the return of David Laws, who resigned over his expenses in 2010.

She has been a strong critic of Lib Dem backing for the Conservative-led government's planned cap on benefits. She believes the 26,000 pounds-a-year limit on access to state-funded welfare schemes is a political stunt that will not work.