‘Outrageous’: Labour backlash builds after Starmer opens door to Tory Right-winger
SIR Keir Starmer faced growing fury in Labour ranks today over his decision to welcome Tory Right-winger Natalie Elphicke into the party while still denying a return to veteran MP Diane Abbott.
Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds defended the defection despite Ms Elphicke’s long record of attacking Labour policies, her insults against footballer and free school meals campaigner Marcus Rashford, and her defence of her ex-husband and predecessor as Dover MP when he was convicted of sexual assault.
Ms Abbott, meanwhile, remains suspended from the Labour whip after more than a year of investigation over an antisemitism row. One senior Labour MP told the Standard: “This is outrageous. Labour MPs are incredulous about what has happened.
“Politics is about policies and values and this does not confirm with our policies or our values. It just debases politics,” he added, after Sir Keir stunned the Commons by introducing Ms Elphicke as his newest MP yesterday. Jess Phillips, the former shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, said the defector should “account for her actions” over ex-husband Charlie Elphicke, telling ITV’s Peston: “I’m all for forgiveness but I do think that that needs some explaining.”
Ms Elphicke supported her then husband’s unsuccessful appeal, claiming he was “an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations”. She was suspended for a day from the Commons alongside two other MPs after trying to influence a judge who was deciding whether to release character references they had written in his support. Ms Dodds said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “There is no place for sexual assault or sexual harassment of any kind and, therefore, those processes must be held to, and I think it’s quite right that they were applied to Natalie Elphicke.”
The former Tory had “rightly apologised” for her past comments and had concluded that the Conservatives under Rishi Sunak were too “incompetent” to deliver on key issues including small boats, she added.
Ms Dodds “absolutely” ruled out any deal to confer a peerage on Ms Elphicke in return for her defection, and stressed the investigation into Ms Abbott was independent of the Labour leadership.
Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock said the party had “got to be choosy to a degree about who we allow to join our party”. “Ms Elphicke has got to decide whether she is committed to the programme and principles of Labour,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
For the Conservatives, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan called the defection “baffling” after Ms Elphicke had backed Liz Truss for Tory leader.
But Lord Houchen, the newly re-elected Tory mayor for Tees Valley, said the party was “fighting each other like rats in a sack” and the blame for its difficulties “ultimately lies with Rishi [Sunak]”. He spoke after a YouGov poll gave Labour a 30-point lead.