Labour backlash after Keir Starmer welcomes former Tory Natalie Elphicke into party
8 May 2024, 23:59 | Updated: 9 May 2024, 08:02
Sir Keir Starmer's decision to welcome former Tory MP Natalie Elphicke into the Labour Party has provoked a strong backlash among his own MPs.
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Ms Elphicke, the MP for Dover, crossed the floor of the House of Commons to sit on the Labour benches on Wednesday just moments before PMQs, surprising Conservative and Labour members alike.
Sir Keir said he was "delighted" to welcome her to Labour - but many MPs in his party are "outraged" by the decision, given Ms Elphicke's politics.
She is considered to be especially tough on migrants, having previously said there is not a refugee crisis, but an immigration crisis.
Ms Elphicke was also forced to apologise when she suggested England forward Marcus Rashford should 'stick to playing football, not politics', after he missed a penalty in the Euros final in 2021.
Watch the full interview this evening on Tonight with Andrew Marr on Global Player.
'There are limits'
Lord Kinnock, the former Labour leader, told Radio 4: “I think we have got to be choosy to a degree about who we allow to join our party because it’s a very broad church but churches have walls and there are limits.
“Mrs Elphicke has got to decide whether she is committed to the programme and principles of the Labour Party, broadly defined, generously defined with great liberal intentions, but we are a political party and not a debating club.”
Labour MP Mick Whitley added: “Natalie Elphicke’s values are not the values of the Labour movement.
“It’s outrageous that she should be allowed to join the Labour benches while principled socialists like Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn still haven’t had the whip restored.”
Read more: Labour MP Kate Osamor has whip restored after being suspended for Gaza comments
John McDonnell, a Jeremy Corbyn ally, told LBC's Andrew Marr that he is "shocked" by Elphicke, saying her previous comments she made that have "nothing to do with Labour values".
Mr McDonnell, a sitting Labour MP who served as Shadow Chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn, said he was a "great believer in the powers of conversion, but I think even this one would have strained the generosity of spirit of John the Baptist".
Several Conservative MPs have also criticised the defection, with one telling LBC Ms Elphicke's move was "ridiculous". Cabinet minister Michelle Donelan said she was "gobsmacked".
Tory MP Michelle Donelan 'can't fathom' Natalie Elphicke's logic as she defects to Labour
On Wednesday, Mr McDonnell told LBC's Andrew Marr: "It certainly is a stunt that damages the Tories, there's no doubt about that, but it also has implications for the Labour Party as well, because of the views that Natalie Elphicke has expressed in the past, and some of which I don't think the party should be associated with.
"Attacks on migrants, the support for the Rwanda scheme which Labour has opposed. Other things like can you remember when [England forward Marcus] Rashford missed that penalty in the Euro matches and then she basically condemned him for playing politics, his campaign for free school meals, I thought that to be honest, has nothing to do with Labour values."
Mr McDonnell said that Ms Elphicke being able to join Labour meant that Sir Keir Starmer should restore the whip to Diane Abbott and Mr Corbyn.
He added: "The Labour Party is a membership party, and always will be no matter who is the leader. But the two examples of Diane and Jeremy, there is no argument now that they should have the whip withdrawn. That should be done instantly, I believe, because if you look at Jeremy and Diane's record, they've been standing up for socialist principles.
"They've devoted their life to the Labour Party. And that means I think they deserve to have the whip restored. And in the context of welcoming Natalie Elphicke, what does that say about judgement that has taken place at the moment?"
Labour Party Andrew Fisher and Ben Kentish discussing whether Labour 'need' Natalie Elphicke
He said that restoring the whip to Ms Abbott and Mr Corbyn would "rebalance things" in the minds of voters, who might be dismayed by Ms Elphicke joining the party.
Ms Elphicke crossed the floor in the Commons just moments before Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.
In a statement, Ms Elphicke said that under Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives had become a "byword for incompetence and division." She added that the Labour Party has changed "out of all recognition". She is set to stand down at the next election.
The defection is the latest blow for the Conservatives - who lost Dan Poulter MP to Labour last month over concerns for the NHS. Several Tory MPs have said they were surprised and upset by the move, given that she was considered to be on the right of the party.
But the move appears to be causing a stir on the left of the Labour party.
Iain Dale reacts to the former Tory MP defecting to Keir Starmer's Labour Party
In addition to Mr McDonnell's comments, NEC Mish Rahman told LBC's Tom Swarbrick: "I'm all for people changing their views when they realise that they've got things wrong but the problem here for me is, Miss Elphicke hasn't changed her views. Her statement today says she doesn't think Sunak has gone far enough.
"To me it's Labour who has changed to a position where her anti immigrant supporters, of Thatcherite economics, feel at home in the Labour party."
He said of Ms Elphicke: "This isn't any old centrist Tory...
"From Starmer's decision today, he wants Labour to be a dustbin for far right Tory politicians who have inflected colossal damage on our country
"She is a far right ERG member, an equality and human rights banning, migrant bashing, Rwanda deportation fetishist, anti abortion, trade union hating...
"I'd rather beat every Tory,... the whole country wants to get rid of Tories, instead Starmer wants them in his Parliamentary party, who can explain that? You couldn't make it up.
"There was another one last week I'd never heard of.... it just stinks to me.
"I don't see what Labour benefit from accepting these Tories, what endorsements they are going to provide to Labour... Labour are miles ahead, we are not just defeating Tories but everything they've done wrong.
"We are voting for Labour to get rid of the Tories... who are making our lives miserable. If Keir Starmer keeps on recruiting these Tories into the Parliamentary party when we are saying the country's changed, we won't be sending the right message to voters."
Labour chairperson Anneliese Dodds told Andrew in response to the criticism: "I don't believe that we should say as a Labour Party that if people have changed their mind about the Conservative Party, that they're not allowed to then support labour.
"Instead, we should be saying that Labour is a party that wants to govern for the whole country, that we have a plan to deal with these critical issues that impact on everyone. The Conservatives don't."
Conservative MP Neil O'Brien told Tom that Ms Elphicke's defection was "ridiculous".
He added: "I think everyone assumes that she has been promised a peerage, because she spent the last five years slating the Leader of the Opposition, saying that he was weak on immigration, that he would be totally open borders on the small boats, that he was hopeless on legal migration."
"I mean, she has been more aggressive on this issue and incredibly critical of the Labour Party again and again and again.
Ms Dodds insisted that Ms Elphicke had not been offered a peerage.
A Labour spokesperson said the party was "very happy" to welcome Natalie Elphicke despite some of her previous comments, which a party spokesman said had been "dealt with previously".
The spokesman said he is confident Ms Elphicke shares Labour's values and that there are no skeletons in the closet.
Pressed on whether all Labour MPs are happy about her joining, he 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."
Sir Keir said: "I'm delighted to welcome Natalie Elphicke to the Labour Party.
"She's got a strong track record on issues such as housing, she's on the frontline when it comes to the crisis of small boats."
He added: "And I say to every Tory voter who feels that they want to be part of a national mission to change our country for the better that the project we've built here in this changed Labour Party is a project that I hope they would feel they could get behind."
