Labour defends welcoming Natalie Elphicke to party The Labour party has defended its decision to welcome former Tory rightwinger Natalie Elphicke into the party. At a post-PMQs briefing, a spokesperson for Keir Starmer said that they were confident that Elphicke shared their values and that there were no skeletons in her cupboard. Asked if all Labour MPs were happy to have her as a new colleague, the spokesperson said: It’s a sign of the progress that we’ve made that people recognise that on some of the key challenges facing the country, the Tories have failed. And here is someone who is willing to make the significant step of switching across to Keir Starmer’s changed Labour party, and that’s something we’re very happy to see. When it was put him that Elphicke had in the past been reprimanded for trying to influence a judge with a letter using House of Commons notepaper (in a case involving her ex-husband), the spokesperson said: All of those issues have been dealt with previously, both in parliament and in public. And asked about Elphicke saying in the past that her ex-husband, who was jailed for two years for sexual assualt, was punished for being attractive and attracted to women, the spokesperson said: Natalie can speak to her own remarks on that and she has spoken extensively about that case, and I don’t have anything to add to what she has said on that subject. Afternoon summary The Conservative MP for Dover, Natalie Elphicke, has staged a dramatic defection to Labour saying her former party has become “a byword for incompetence and division”. Although the announcement of the news at noon provided huge embarrassment for Rishi Sunak at PMQs, many Labour MPs have expressed alarm about Keir Starmer’s decision to allow Elphicke to join the party given her record as a rightwinger. Summing up some of the discontent in a report for Politico, Emilio Casalicchio reports: One shadow minister said people like Elphicke should not be welcomed into Labour, adding: “She has views that would be welcome in Reform.” A backbencher said although she had done good work on housing, Elphicke was “on the hard right of the Conservatives” on almost all other issues, adding: “I do hope this doesn’t mean an import of some of her problematic views from the past.” A staffer to a shadow minister said Elphicke was a “right-wing opportunist,” adding: “We don’t need these people … It won’t change a single person’s vote. Natalie Elphicke isn’t even a name in her own living room.” John Swinney has appointed Kate Forbes as Scotland’s deputy first minister. Russia’s defence attache is an “undeclared military intelligence officer” who will be expelled from the UK amid an escalation of sanctions, the home secretary has said. A teacher was subject to a viral hate campaign after a manipulated video of her campaigning for Labour falsely implied she had used racist language. The Conservative MP Jackie Doyle-Price has been elected as the new chair of the Commons public administration and consitutional affairs committee. She beat Tom Randall in the election to replace William Wragg, who resigned. Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, told Radio 4’s PM programme that he thought Natalie Elphicke’s decision to join Labour was “idiotic”. He explained: She’s joined a party which stands for all the things that she despises. I can’t count the number of times I’ve discussed with her in the past how concerned and fearful she would be of a Labour government and their open borders policy. (Labour is not in favour of open borders.) John McDonnell suggests, if Elphicke allowed to join Labour, Corbyn and Abbott should have whip restored too John McDonnell, the Labour MP and former shadow chancellor, has expressed concern about his party’s decision to admit Natalie Elphicke as a member. In an interview being broadcast on LBC’s Tonight with Andrew Marr at 6pm tonight, McDonnell said that, on the basis of some of her past views, it was hard to see why she had now joined Labour. He also said that the admission of Elphicke now made it harder for Keir Starmer to justify not allowing Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott to rejoin the parliamentary Labour party. Both of them have been suspended over comments relating to antisemitism. McDonnell told LBC: I’m a great believer in the power of conversion but even this one would strain the generosity of spirit of John the Baptist quite honestly … It certainly is a stunt that damages the Tories, there’s no doubt about that, but it has implications for the Labour party as well. Because of the views that Natalie Elphicke has expressed in the past, some of which I don’t think the Labour party should be associated with. McDonnell said that the admission of Elphicke meant there was now “no argument” to justify the ongoing suspension of Corbyn and Abbott. And he expressed alarm when told that, at his post-PMQs briefing, Starmer’s spokesperson would not rule out Labour letting Nigel Farage join the party. He was responding to a question about whether the former Ukip leader would also be allowed in. Even though the possibility of Farage wanting to join Labour is probably zero, or lower, when told by Marr about the briefing McDonnell said: I don’t know who that Labour spokesperson was but they need a proper briefing on what Labour history is and what Labour values are. And we’re certainly not allowing into the party the likes of Nigel Farage who’s been nothing as far as I’m concerned [but] the major cause of division of society. Another Labour figure who is on the record as condemning her new colleague Natalie Elphicke in the past is Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor. After Elphicke posted a message on X in 2021 criticising the England footballer Marcus Rashford for his campaigning on free school meals, Reeves said in an interview: The MP for Dover, Natalie Elphicke – when Rashford missed a penalty – her tweet was ‘if he spent more time on football rather than trying to get free school meals for our kids maybe he’d be better’? Fuck off! "Failed on every front" - What Labour"s candidate in Dover said recently about Natalie Elphicke Mike Tapp, a former soldier who has been selected by Labour to fight the seat of Dover and Deal, was remaining silent about Elphicke’s defection, but made his views known about her in a Facebook video posted last month. To a background of sinister sounding music, Tapp says on the Facebook video : The current Conservative MP, who’s only here for photo opps, has been suspended from parliament, has taken a second job and has failed on every front, from the cost of living and NHS to our roads and immigration. The audio overlays clips of the white cliffs of Dover and cutings from coverage of controversies relating to Elphicke, such as her attack on footballer and anti-poverty campaiger Marcus Rashford. Elphicke, MP for Dover, has accepted that she will not be Labour’s candidate at the general election, when the constituency will have a new name because of boundary changes. Kate Osamor has Labour whip restored after investigation into Gaza genocide comments Kate Osamor has had the Labour whip restored after an internal investigation was conducted into her comments on Holocaust Memorial Day, Aletha Adu reports. John Swinney, Scotland’s new first minister, has appointed his cabinet. As well as being deputy first minister, Kate Forbes is responsible for the economy, and for Gaelic. And Shona Robison, the former deputy first minister, remains finance secretary. Otherwise the team is largely unchanged from when Humza Yousaf was first minister. A reader asks: Regarding the claims that Starmer should not have allowed Elphicke into the PLP, how practical would that have actually been? Is there any (known) history of leaders blocking a defection? It would have been very easy for Keir Starmer to refuse to admit Natalie Elphicke into the Labour party. She was free to leave the Tories, and to sit on the opposition benches; there are no seating rules in the Commons. But to be a Labour MP you have to join the party, and Elphicke has become a member. They could have refused. Given that liking a Caroline Lucas tweet is now, more or less, enough to get you suspended from Labour, the party would have been perfectly entitled to tell Elphicke she wasn’t eligible. As for whether there is precedent for a party refusing a potential defector, I’m sure there, but I can’t think of an example off hand. Normally these conversations go on privately. MPs who are tempted to defect might enquire if a peerage, or a safe seat, might be available. If the answer is no, the conversation might not go any further. Monty Panesar quits as election candidate for George Galloway"s Workers Party of Britain Rishi Sunak is not the only party leader losing a candidate today. The former England cricketer Monty Panesar has pulled out of standing for George Galloway’s Workers Party of Great Britain – a week after he gave an excruciating interview in which he could not answer basic questions about Nato, even though Nato withdrawal is the party’s top priority. Stephen Hammond, a Conservative MP on the “moderate”, One Nation wing of the party told Sky News that he was surprised that Natalie Elphicke had chosen to defect to Labour. “If there’s been someone who has done as much as anyone to drag my party away from the centre ground of British politics in the last five years, it’s been Natalie, he said. He told Sky: I’ve known Natalie for 20 years or longer – I’m very disappointed. She has always been very clear about her views, which are one of the reasons why I’m so surprised is that she’s always been on the right of the Conservative party. She was hugely critical of Keir Starmer up to only a month ago about his immigration policy and relying on the French. I’m surprised and disappointed. With the prime minister calling vice-chancellors to Downing Street tomorrow to discuss antisemitism on campuses, the higher education regulator’s free speech tsar has said universities must “make provision” to allow students to peacefully protest. Arif Ahmed, the Office for Students’ director for freedom of speech, said: Peaceful protest is itself a legitimate expression of freedom of speech. We expect universities and colleges to make provision for the lawful expression of the greatest possible range of ideas and opinions, even those that some may find deeply offensive. While universities and colleges should not seek to suppress the lawful expression of any idea or viewpoint, we recognise that to manage their affairs effectively and safely, they may have to regulate the time, place and manner of expression, where there are compelling reasons to do so. Ahmed also said upholding free speech “does not, and cannot, include discrimination against, or harassment of, Jewish students, or any other conduct prohibited by law.” In 2021, while at Cambridge University, Ahmed submitted evidence in support of the government’s higher education freedom of speech bill, saying that academics and students felt afraid to “criticise Israel’s settlements or express concern about the use of military force against Palestinians” for fear of retaliation or disciplinary action. This is from the SNP MP Peter Grant on Natalie Elphicke defecting from the Tories to Labour. Natalie Elphicke wanted to join the Labour Party because she thinks Keir Starmer is politically closer to Boris Johnson than Rishi Sunak is. And Labour think it’s something to be proud of. From my colleague Jessica Elgot Significant private disquiet amongst some Labour women about Natalie Elphicke’s defection... Swinney names Kate Forbes as Scotland"s deputy first minister Kate Forbes has been appointed Scotland’s deputy first minister. Last week, when he launched his bid for the SNP leadership, John Swinney said that Forbes was “an intelligent, creative, thoughtful person who has much to contribute to our national life” and he said he wanted her to play a “significant” role in his team. After hearing what was in effect a public promise of a top job, Forbes confirmed a few hours later that she would not be standing against Swinney. In a statement, the Scottish government said that as deputy first minister Forbes would “support the first minister in ensuring the Scottish government is focused on supporting economic growth, investing in public services and eradicating child poverty” and that more details of her cabinet role would be released in due course. Forbes’ appointment is the result of the “informal talks” (or “stitch-up” if you’re the Scottish Tories) between Swinney and Forbes last week. Forbes, who narrowly lost out to Humza Yousaf in last year’s leadership contest, was said to be confident she could rally support within the party for a second tilt but was persuaded by Swinney’s pledge to pull the party back to the mainstream and swung in behind him. This is no doubt testament to Swinney’s admired negotiating skills, which he’ll need sackoads of as he leads a minority government in Holyrood after his predecessor axed the Bute House Agreement with the Greens. Forbes said it was “a moment of extraordinary privilege” while Swinney described her as “an immensely talented politician”, saying her new role would be critical in his focus on eradicating child poverty.