Tory MP Natalie Elphicke defects to Labour as Sunak faces Starmer at PMQs – UK politics live

Here is the statement from Natalie Elphicke announcing why she is defecting from the Conservatives to Labour.

Today I announce that I have decided to join the Labour Party and that I will sit in Parliament as a Labour MP.

When I was elected in 2019, the Conservative Party occupied the centre ground of British politics. The party was about building the future and making the most of the opportunities that lay ahead for our country.

Since then, many things have changed. The elected Prime Minister was ousted in a coup led by the unelected Rishi Sunak. Under Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives have become a byword for incompetence and division. The centre ground has been abandoned and key pledges of the 2019 manifesto have been ditched.

Meanwhile the Labour Party has changed out of all recognition. Since 2019, it has moved on from Jeremy Corbyn and now, under Keir Starmer, occupies the centre ground of British politics. It has accepted Brexit and its economic policies and defence policies are responsible and can be trusted.

Most significantly for me, the modern Labour Party looks to the future – to building a Britain of hope, optimism, opportunity and fairness. A Britain everyone can be part of.

I have carefully considered this decision. The change has been dramatic and cannot be ignored. For me key deciding factors have been housing and the safety and security of our borders.

From small boats to biosecurity, Rishi Sunak’s government is failing to keep our borders safe and secure. Lives are being lost in the English Channel while small boat arrivals are once again at record levels. It’s clear they have failed to keep our borders secure and cannot be trusted.

On housing, Rishi Sunak’s Government is now failing to build the homes we need. Last year saw the largest fall of new housing starts in England in a single year since the credit crunch. The manifesto committed to 300,000 homes next year – but only around half that number are now set to be built. Renters and leaseholders have been betrayed as manifesto pledges to end no fault evictions and abolish ground rents have not been delivered as promised.

The last couple of years have also seen a huge rise in homelessness, in temporary accommodation and rough sleeping - with record numbers of children now in temporary accommodation, without a secure roof over their head.

Meanwhile Labour plan to build the homes we need, help young people onto the housing ladder and care about the vulnerable and homeless. That’s why I’m honoured to have been asked to work with Keir and the team to help deliver the homes we need.

We need to move on from the broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic Government. Britain needs a Government that will build a future of hope, optimism, opportunity and fairness. A Britain everyone can be part of, that will make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead. That’s why it’s time for change. Time for a Labour Government led by Keir Starmer. The General Election cannot come soon enough.

Rosie Duffield, the Labour MP for Canterbury who claims she has been treated as a pariah in the Labour party because of her gender critical views on trans issues, posted a message on X welcoming Natalie Elphicke’s defection in these terms.

Am no longer the only @UKLabour MP in Kent!!! ????????????

But then she followed it up with this reference to longstanding complaint about Keir Starmer not being willing to meet her to discuss her concerns about trans policy, and about how she’s been treated.

Well, at least one woman from Kent got a meeting!

Momentum, the leftwing Labour group, has criticised Keir Starmer for allowing Natalie Elphicke to join the parliamentary Labour party. In a statement it says, given her voting record, she should have “no place in a Labour party committed to progressive values and working-class people”.

An “undeclared” Russian military intelligence officer will be expelled from the UK, James Cleverly, the home secretary, has told MPs.

Cleverly also announced the closure of several Russian diplomatic premises.

In a statement to MPs, he said:

Today in conjunction with the foreign secretary, I am announcing a package of measures to make clear to Russia that we will not tolerate such apparent escalations.

I can tell the house that we will expel the Russian defence attache, who is an undeclared military intelligence officer.

We will remove diplomatic premises status from several Russian-owned properties in the UK, including Seacox Heath house, a Russian-owned property in Sussex, and the trade and defence section in Highgate, which we believe have been used for intelligence purposes.

We are imposing new restrictions on Russian diplomatic visas, including capping the length of time Russian diplomats can spend in the UK.

Steve Baker, a Northern Ireland minister and one of the leaders of the Tory hardline Brexit faction in the last parliament, has posted a message on X saying he does not know any Conservative who thinks they are more rightwing than Natalie Elphicke.

I have been searching in vain for a Conservative MP who thinks themself to the right of Natalie Elphicke.

????One just quipped, “I didn’t realise there was any room to her right.”

Today was one of those days when the news released timed to coincide with PMQs overshadowed anything actually said during it. Defections matter in politics because MPs tend to be better attuned to what their voters think than anyone else and, when they start jumping ship, that is much more solid evidence as to which party is in the ascendance than, for example, a seat projection based on local election results. The defection of Natalie Elphicke, announced at about noon (see 12.04pm), was a body blow for Sunak at PMQs. He had no real hope of recovery.

That said, this was an odd defection, and one that not all Labour MPs have welcomed.

Safe to say Natalie Elphicke’s defection isn’t sitting comfortably with all Labour MPs.

One frontbencher says: “There’s a lot of people sat opposite me I’d welcome with open arms. I can’t say Natalie would have been one of those.”

Dan Poulter, who also defected recently, was at least a former minister who had long been identified with the One Nation wing of the Tory party (the leftwing faction, most likely to overlap with parts of Labour on policy). But Elphicke was elected in 2019 as a maverick rightwinger, and her defection statement says she was happy with the Conservative platform at the time of the last election. She is now, almost certainly, the only Boris Johnson fan in the parliamentary Labour party. It hard to imagine that she will find it a congenial home.

Starmer’s main job was to gloat, and he did it with the usual confidence and panache. His first three questions were all a victory lap, taunting Sunak and challenging him to call an election. For the record, here they are.

Starmer started by asking:

Can I also warmly welcome the new Labour MP for Dover to these benches?

If one week a Tory MP who is also a doctor says the prime minister can’t be trusted with the NHS and joins Labour, and the next week the Tory MP for Dover on the frontline of the small boats crisis says the prime minister cannot be trusted with our borders, and joins Labour. What is the point of this failed government staggering on?

In his second question he again called for an early election.

In addition to losing two Tory MPs in two weeks, the prime minister has been on the receiving end of some of the biggest byelection swings in history.

He’s also lost 1,500 Tory councillors, half of his party’s mayors and a leadership election to a lettuce. How many more times do the public and his own MPs need to reject him before he takes the hint?

And in his third he include a jibe about Sunak’s property empire (ie, his wealth).

The public keep telling [Sunak], the voters tell him it’s not good enough, instead of listening he keeps telling them everything’s fine, if only they realise his greatness. He just doesn’t get it.

But at least after Thursday night he can go to the many places that he calls home and enjoy the fruits of his success. In Southampton or Downing Street, he’s got great Labour councils. At his mansion in Richmond he can enjoy a brand new Labour mayor of North Yorkshire. At his pad in Kensington he can celebrate a historic third term for the mayor of London.

Now that he too could enjoy the benefits of this changed Labour party, is he really still in such a hurry to get back to California?

None of Sunak’s retorts really cut through, and he did not sound much more confident in the final exchanges, on the Rwanda policy. He must have been anticipating a difficult PMQs, but not as difficult as this.

Matt Vickers (Con) asks Sunak to congratulate Stockton’s football team.

Sunak says he hopes some of their good luck rubs off on Southampton, his team.

And that is the end of PMQs.

Caroline Lucas (Green) asks when the government will renationalise water companies.

Sunak says the government now monitors all overflows. Under Labour, it was just 7%. The record shows the Tories are the only party with a clear plan to tackle water pollution, he says.

John Spellar (Lab) asks Sunak to rule out further freezes in income tax, or an increase in income tax to 8p in the pound, to fund his proposed abolition of national insurance.

Sunak says he can rule that out. He stresses that this is an aspiration, not a detailed policy. And Labour’s response shows it is opposed to tax cuts, he says.

Shailesh Vara (Con) asks about a boy in his constituency who died from severe allergic reaction. On average, two children in every class have a food allery. Allergic reactions are more common in schools than anywhere else. But schools are not required to have allergy medication or guidance. Will the government address this?

Sunak extends his sympathy to the boy’s family. The government understands the seriousness of this problem. Schools have a legal duty to support pupils. He says the health secretary will meet Vara to discuss this.

Stewart McDonald (SNP) asks about concerns about China’s involvement in infratructure projects, including one in Scotland.

Sunak says China does not have the same values as the UK. The National Security Act allows the government to block Chinese investments, he says.

Philip Davies (Con) says, if civil servants do not support the Rwanda policy, they should leave and join leftwing organisations like the BBC.

Sunak says he expects civil servants to deliver on the Rwanda plan. The civil service code has been changed to say they have to follow instructions from ministers on this, he says.

Chris Law (SNP) asks if the government will provide compensation to the Waspi women, who say they were not properly warned about the state pension age for them rising.

Sunak says the government has to study this report properly before it responds.

Emma Lewell-Buck (Lab) asks about child poverty and child neglect.

Sunak says nobody wants to see children grow up in those circumstances. He says child poverty has fallen since 2010.

He is referring to the absolute poverty measure, which is not the measured preferred by experts. But, on this measure, child poverty is now rising.)

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, asks about the abuse of a woman in a care home by staff, captured on camera. The footage is stomach churning, he says. Her relatives are demanding legislation to stop this. They want a national register of staff and a mechanism to hold staff to account.

Sunak offers his sympathies, and says the government will engage with the family on this. Obviously this was unacceptable, he says.

Stephen Flynn, the SNP leader at Westminser, asks Sunak to end arms sales to Israel.

Sunak says the government wants a pause in the conflict.

Flynn says the confidence that Israel has shown in this conflict is because it has the support of its allies. British weapons will be used in any attack on Rafah, he says. Surely the time has come to end arms sales.

Sunak says the UK has one of the most robust set of rules for arms sales in the world. The most recent assessment said the case for allowing them had not changed.

Starmer says people in the country know that the small boat policy is not working. He suggests the Tories are offering what is in effect an amnesty, because these migrants will not be sent to Rwanda.

Sunak insists Labour does not have any answers.