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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Labour defends welcoming rightwing Tory MP Natalie Elphicke into party – as it happened

Robert Jenrick ​​Rishi Sunak United Kingdom Immigration Neil OBrien
Labour leader Keir Starmer greets Natalie Elphicke, MP for Dover, after her defection from the Conservatives.
Labour leader Keir Starmer greets Natalie Elphicke, MP for Dover, after her defection from the Conservatives. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

Afternoon summary

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.

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.


Updated

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.

Sean Ingle has the story here.

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.

Elphicke has not been promised peerage or safe seat, Labour says, but she will get role as housing adviser

Keir Starmer’s spokesperson told reporters that Natalie Elphicke has not been offered a peerage in return for defecting to Labour.

Elphicke is MP for Dover and she will not stand again in the constituency as a candidate for Labour. The constituency is being renamed Dover and Deal and Labour has already selected a candidate, Mike Tapp.

Asked if Elphicke would be standing anywhere else, the spokesperson said:

Obviously, as a Labour party member, it is open to her to apply for any selection that comes up.

But it is understood that Elphicke has not asked for a seat, and nothing has been offered.

However, Elphicke is due to take on an unpaid role with the party working on housing policy. “We have talked about her doing a role building on her experience in housing policy,” the spokesperson said.

Elphicke herself address this point in her defection statement. (See 12.04pm.) She said:

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.

In a Commons debate last month Elphicke made a strong attack on the renters (reform) bill, saying that it had been made too favourable to landlords. She worked in housing, and on housing policy, before becoming an MP and has published reports on how social housing can be funded.

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.

Tory MPs says Elphicke's defection opportunist and unprincipled given her rightwing, anti-Labour views

Huw Merriman, the rail minister, told BBC that he was “staggered” by Natalie Elphicke’s defection to Labour because it appeared so unprincipled. He said:

I’m absolutely staggered – I’ve seen some sights in this place, but actually the lack of scruples on this one is a new bar that Natalie has created.

Just recently she’d written a Daily Mail article saying ‘Don’t trust Labour on immigration, they really want open borders’ and now she’s sitting with them …

She is just being opportunist I’m afraid to say and I’m just disappointed for politics that she’s done what she’s done today.

I feel sad for politics, principles, scruples, and what the public must think of us when someone makes such a shameless decision as we saw today.

Merriman seemed to be referring to this article by Elphicke, published in the Daily Express a year ago.

Other Tory MPs have been making similar comments. (See 1.19pm and 1.49pm.)

The Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns has criticised Natalie Elphicke for defecting, in effect accusing her of hypocrisy.

@NatalieElphicke you were a centre right Conservative, Labour want to give asylum to 50,000 plus people. I thought you had more conviction than to join the lefty labour lot you despised so much!

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!

Natalie Elphicke should have 'no place in Labour party committed to progressive values', says Momentum

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”.

Russian defence attache being expelled from UK, James Cleverly tells MPs

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.”

PMQs - snap verdict

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.

Updated

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.

Starmer jokes that, although the election is coming soon, if Sunak is asking the questions now he is getting ahead of himself. Ignoring the Khan question, he says 2,400 people have arrived on small boats since the Rwanda Act was passed.

Sunak says Starmer refused to condemn Khan. That shows Labour has not changed, he says. And he claims small boat arrivals are down a third since Sunak became PM.

(Sunak seems to be quoting the figures for 2023, when small boat arrivals did fall. Now they are going up.)

Starmer says that is not what Sunak’s neighbours in Yorkshire think. Sunak is a “dodgy salesmean desperate to sell them a dud”.

Turning to the Rwanda policy, he asks how many small boat arrivals there have been since the Rwand Act was passed.

Sunak brings up Sadiq Khan’s “equivalence” comment (see 11.23am) and challenges Starmer to condemn it.

Starmer says Sunak is surprised to hear Sunak go on about police investigations, because Sunak has been fined twice (over Covid regulations and a seatbelt offence). He says Sunak is now represented by a Labour mayor in Yorkshire.

Sunak says people in Yorkshire believe in secure borders and common sense. They won’t get that from a virtue-signalling laywer from north London.

Starmer says Sunak is an election loser. How many more times does he need to lose before he takes the hint?

Sunak says last year he reminded him of advice from Tony Blair, who said he could be as cocky as he wanted about local elections results, but it was policy that counts. He mentions Labour’s record, and says Starmer’s deputy is under police investigation.

At PMQs Keir Starmer starts by welcoming Natalie Elphicke to his benches.

He says Dan Poulter, a doctor concerned about the NHS, and Elphicke, a Dover MP concerned about immigration, are both turning to Labour, because they both think Labour has the solutions.

Rishi Sunak praises the Tory mayors elected.

Updated

Full statement from Elphicke explaining why she is defecting to Labour, party that 'looks to the future'

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.

Tory MP Natalie Elphicke defects to Labour

Tory MP Natalie Elphicke has defected to Labour, hitting out at the “broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic government”, PA Media reports.

Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, urged colleagues at cabinet yesterday that responding to the local election results by embracing righwing policies would be like “comfort eating” intended to “make us feel good about ourselves”, Steven Swinford reports in the Times.

Swinford says:

[Gove] said that the Tories are at the best when they are united and have a “broad appeal” to the rest of the country after suffering heavy losses in the local elections.

He suggested the Tories should follow the controversial advice of Kate Moss, the model, from an interview in 2009. “As Kate Moss once said ‘nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’,” he said.

He also argued that the Tories risk drowning out the “wonderful orchestra” of their broad policy platform – including social justice, which he has championed – by focusing on rightwing measures.

Swinford says that Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, and Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary, both told Gove they disagreed with him.

After PMQs there will be one urgent question, on the early release of prisoners (see 10.14am), followed by two government statements, on Russia and on the e-gates malfunction at airports last night.

Sunak faces Starmer at PMQs

PMQs starts in just over 20 minutes, and today there will be particular interest in the mood on the Conservative benches. Rishi Sunak has actively embraced the theory that the local election results show Labour is not on course to win an overall majority, but this is based on a projection that has been widely dismissed as unrealistic.

Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.

Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, is being criticised by Conservatives for saying there is an “equivalence” in relation to the deaths of civilians killed by Hamas and civilians killed by the Israeli army.

As Dominic Penna reports for the Telegraph, Khan used the word yesterday when speaking to his reporters about his position on Gaza.

Khan told reporters:

It’s an issue of humanity and I think you’ve got to show equivalence. I condemn unequivocally the actions of Hamas on Oct 7; those 134 hostages must be released. At the same time I condemn unequivocally the actions of the IDF and Netanyahu; 34,000 people have perished including 14,000 children.

A source close to Khan told the Telegraph that he was making a point about the deaths of Israelis and Palestinians being of equivalent importance, but some Tory MPs have criticised him for implying the Israeli army is equivalent to Hamas, a terrorist organisation.

Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, told the paper:

It’s utterly wrong and an insult to those victims to equate the brutality of Hamas to the legitimate military measures that Israel is taking in defence of its people and nation.

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, was giving interviews this morning and he was asked about the Times story about the prison early release scheme being extended. (See 10.14am.) One solution would be to send fewer people to jail, but that was not something Ashworth was advocating. Asked on Times Radio if he favoured sending fewer people to jail, Ashworth replied:

You have to use prison, it’s an important deterrent and people consider it to be an appropriate punishment that people should lose their liberty for carrying out some heinous crimes. So you’ve always got to have prison, you’re always going to send people to prison.

But equally, if you have capacity problems, you’ve got to use the budgets properly to expand capacity.

According to this briefing paper from the House of Commons library, from last year, England and Wales jail more people per head than any other country in western Europe.

Jenrick says Tories need to show 'honesty about mistakes of past' to win back voters

Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister (and potential future leadership candidate), has been giving interviews this morning to promote his new report on immigration. (See 9.42am.) In an interview with LBC, he said the Conservative party needed to show more “honesty” about its mistakes if it wanted to win back voters. He explained:

What I’ve tried to set out are a series of policies that could be implemented before the general election, such as what I’m saying today on legal migration, which would convince some of those Conservative voters – who are essentially on strike – to come back and support the party at the general election.

And also to persuade some of those voters who are considering voting Reform that we do care about the issues that they do, which are principally immigration, but also on crime, on extremism and on lower taxes.

And if we can do that, I think we can persuade more of those former Conservative voters to come back and to support us.

But that will require honesty, it requires levelling with the public about the mistakes of the past and using every last minute we have in office before the general election to actually deliver positive change for the public.

John Swinney sworn in as Scotland's new first minister

John Swinney has been sworn in as Scotland’s new first minister at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, PA Media reports. PA says:

Scotland’s most senior judge, the Lord President Lord Carloway, presided over the ceremony.

The Perthshire North MSP made his statutory declarations and was granted his official title of First Minister and Keeper of the Scottish Seal.

Swinney’s family, including his wife Elizabeth, thirteen-year-old son Matthew and brother David, accompanied him to court.

Labour says prisons in chaos after leak reveals some inmates set to be released up to 70 days early to ease overcrowding

An early release scheme for prisoners in England and Wales is being extended, with some inmates now set to be released up to 70 days early, the Times has revealed.

In his story, Matt Dathan reports:

An email sent to probation and prison staff, obtained by The Times, said measures introduced less than two months ago had failed to ease pressure in men’s prisons in England and Wales.

It said that a scheme that allows prisoners to be set free before their release date will be extended from 35 days to 70 days from May 23.

In the email, labelled “operationally critical,” officials accept that the changes will “create additional work for many people at a time when we know we have our own resource challenges”.

The new policy has not yet been formally announced, and Dathan says Rishi Sunak is under pressure from Tory rightwingers to cancel the early release programme. Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, told the Times that ministers should be open about what was happening. She said:

The Tories have once again used a cloak of secrecy to hide their early release of violent criminals. It’s completely unacceptable and the public has a right to know the truth.

After 14 years of Conservative chaos and the utter mismanagement of the prison estate, the government cannot keep extending the early release of prisoners without facing public scrutiny.

John Swinney said it was a “big surprise” becoming Scotland’s first minister as he arrived at the court of session to be sworn in, the BBC’s David Wallace Lockhart reports.

John Swinney has arrived at the court of session and will shortly be sworn in as first minister.

He said it’s an “enormous privilege” to be in this position, though it’s all come as a “big surprise”

Leeds Green party councillor says sorry for comments about Gaza conflict

A Green party councillor at the centre of an antisemitism row has apologised “for the upset caused” by his remarks but hit back at “Islamophobic” attacks against him, Eleni Courea reports.

Rishi Sunak to take PMQs as Robert Jenrick calls for measures to slash net immigration before general election

Good morning. We’re a few days on from the local elections, and the party has got a new leader. But that’s the SNP, not the Conservative party, where the much-anticipated, post-locals leadership challenge aimed at Rishi Sunak never materialised. Today he will take PMQs for the first time since the plotters called off the dogs, and accepted that Sunak will lead the party into the next election.

But that does not mean the feuding has stopped, and this morning Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, is launching a bid to push Sunak to the right on immigration policy. He has written a report with Neil O’Brien, another former minister, and Karl Williams, research director at the Centre for Policy Studies thinktank, with more than 30 recommendations that would slam the brakes on mass immigration into the UK. Jenrick is clearly gearing up to run for the leadership after the general election and, as Sam Blewett argues in his London Playbook briefing for Politico, today’s intervention “has the whiff of something planned a while back by the rebel faction”, when it was assumed that this week Sunak would be facing a no confidence vote.

The proposals in Jenrick’s report include: raising the salary threshold for people getting health and social care visas, limiting the number of health and social care visas issued to 30,000 a year (last year 146,000 were issued), abolishing graduate visas for students, setting an annual cap on the number of visas issued a year, and recommitting to reducing net migration to below 100,000 a year.

In an article for the Daily Telegraph, Jenrick says Sunak could implement many of his recommendations before the election. He says the PM should make this a priority, “instead of banning smoking or regulating London’s pedicabs”, to see off the threat from Reform UK. He says:

Instead of banning smoking or regulating London’s pedicabs, the government could use the time left in the parliamentary session to deliver the post-Brexit immigration system voters were promised. We shouldn’t wait to save conservative policies for our manifesto when we are 20 points behind in the polls in an election year – that would be government by posturing and an abdication of duty. The Government has a solid majority and could deliver these today.

The local election results reaffirmed two clear trends, obvious to those of us who spend time on the doorsteps listening to voters. First, Conservative voters feel badly let down and are struggling to find reasons to back us. Second, we are haemorrhaging support to the Reform Party. This is primarily because of mass migration and the allied and growing problem of extremism, although clearly other factors are also at play.

In the precious time we have left before the election, reducing net migration to the 10,000s and delivering the highly-selective immigration system we call for in our report would be the single biggest thing the Government could do to win over these wavering voters.

It would be surprising if none of this comes up at PMQs.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: John Swinney is sworn in in Edinburgh as Scotland’s new first minister. Later in the day he will appoint his cabinet.

9.30am: Former ministers Robert Jenrick and Neil O’Brien launch their report, Taking Back Control, calling for tighter immigration controls at an event organised by the Centre for Policy Studies thinktank, which is publishing the paper.

11am: More in Commons holds a briefing with its assessment of the local elections.

Noon: Rishi Sunak faces Keir Starmer at PMQs.

2pm: Sunak is hosting a meeting at No 10 for Tory MPs to discuss the results of the local elections.

If you want to contact me, do use the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a laptop or a desktop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting, too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line; privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate); or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.

Updated

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