Labour defends welcoming rightwing Tory MP Natalie Elphicke into party – UK politics live
Dover MP hit out at ‘broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic government’ as she defected to Labour moments before PMQs
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Ms Elphicke has defected hitting out at the “broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic Government”.
The Dover MP astonishingly crossed the floor in the Commons just moments before Prime Minister’s Questions.
She said in a statement: “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.”
The move has been hit at from all sides, with MPs slamming Sir Keir Starmer for welcoming the right wing politician with open arms and Tory members branding the decision “idiotic”.
Despite ferocious criticism, Labour has defended Ms Elphicke and said it is “happy” to have the Tory MP on board.
In a new humiliating blow for Rishi, Ms Elphickle joins Dr Dan Poulter and Christian Wakeford in joining the opposition.
The walk-out was took place during the first face off since last week’s local election results, where Sir Keir Starmer hit out at the Conservatives for losing nearly 500 council seats in last week’s elections.
Youngest ever MSP opens up about ‘toxic’ and ‘adversarial’ culture at Holyrood
Ross Greer, the youngest ever Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) to be elected, says Holyrood has become “much more toxic” in recent years, as he complained that homophobic abuse has become “considerably worse”.
Mr Greer, the Scottish Greens member who was 21 years old when he first became an MSP, told how he had been “patronised” by those outside of Holyrood because of his age and had also suffered from “much more serious homophobic abuse”.
He spoke out on the issue to the PA news agency in the wake of the 25th anniversary of MSPs first being elected in 1999.
The Greens, which will celebrate his 30th birthday next month, said: “The ageism stuff I find very silly.
“I get much more serious homophobic abuse, and that has got considerably worse in the last couple of years.
“Scottish politics and Scottish society in general is a worse place for LGBT people than it was five years ago.”
Mr Greer said: “Certainly the parliament as an institution has become a much more toxic and adversarial place, it is mimicking a lot of the behaviours of Westminster that it was designed specifically to reject and to be an alternative to.”
His comments came as he hit back at those who say Scottish politics has focused too much on “woke issues”, such as gender identity.
Rachel Reeves says government ‘gaslighting’ public about economy
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves will accuse the government of “gaslighting” the public about the economy, saying ministers’ over-optimistic statements are “out of touch” with Britons still struggling with the cost of living.
The Labour frontbencher will seek to get ahead of the Tories’ response to a raft of economic data this week, arguing that Jeremy Hunt and Rishi Sunak’s likely message of an improving economy is “deluded”.
In a speech in the City of London on Tuesday, she will say voters at the general election have a choice between “five more years of chaos” with the Tories or “stability” with Sir Keir Starmer’s party.
Rachel Reeves says Rishi Sunak government ‘gaslighting’ public about economy
Shadow chancellor calls Tory message of improving economy ’deluded’
John Swinney to be sworn in as new first minister of Scotland
John Swinney will be sworn in as the new first minister of Scotland on tomorrow and is expected to appoint his Cabinet on the same day.
The ceremony at the Court of Session in Edinburgh will involve the Perthshire North MSP making his statutory declarations, after which he will be granted his official title of first minister and keeper of the Scottish Seal.
He pledged to devote himself to the job after winning a Holyrood vote meaning he will become the seventh person to be first minister since the Scottish Parliament was established 25 years ago, following an unopposed selection process a week after predecessor Humza Yousaf resigned.
Mr Swinney said it was an “extraordinary privilege” to become Scotland’s new first minister as he pledged to “give everything I have” to the role.
He shook hands with opposition leaders in the chamber at the Scottish Parliament after the vote.
Mr Swinney told the other parties at Holyrood: “If we want to fund our schools and hospitals, if we want to give our businesses a competitive edge, if we want to take climate action, if we want to eradicate child poverty, if we want to change people’s lives for the better, we have got to work together to do so.”
But he said he would “give all of my energy and my willingness” to achieve this, committing to be “the first minister for everyone in Scotland”.
Jim Wallace says Halyrood needs ‘significantly more’ MSPs
Former Scottish deputy first minister Jim Wallace has said the number of MSPs at Holyrood “needs to be looked at again”.
The former Scottish Liberal Democrat leader played a key role in determining the number of MSPs who would sit in the Scottish Parliament when it was established back in 1999, being involved in negotiations with Labour’s George Robertson on the matter.
But with Holyrood now having increased responsibilities - including powers over income tax in Scotland and social security - Lord Wallace, who was Scotland’s first deputy first minister, now believes “significantly more” MSPs are needed.
The Liberal Democrat, who served as an MP before joining the Scottish Parliament when it was established, told how during his time at Westminster he had been involved in discussions about how the new parliament would operate.
“I think now the Parliament requires significantly more, it has more responsibilities, not least for tax and social security.
“I think 129 needs to be looked at again.”
He said Labour had acted “unilaterally” to hold a referendum on whether the devolved parliament should be established - with Liberal Democrats at the time opposed to such a ballot.
However, Lord Wallace said: “In retrospect, it was probably the right thing to do. Because I think it gave the Parliament a political grounding which once done you can never roll back.”
Top EU politician who survived Iran assassination plot delivers ‘end appeasement’ plea to Cameron
A senior EU politician who survived a shocking assassination attempt last year has asked parliamentarians to tell foreign secretary Lord Cameron to end Britain’s “appeasement of Iran”.
Spanish politician Alejo Vidal-Quadras, the former first vice president of the European Parliament, was in London today to talk to MPs and peers about the need to proscribe Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC).
But attempts for him to meet a minister fell on deaf ears.
Read more here:
Iran assassination plot survivor delivers ‘end appeasement’ plea to Cameron
Former European Parliament vice president Alejo Vidal-Quadras was in London today to urge the UK to proscribed Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) after surviving an assassination attempt last year.
Potential Tory contender steps up pressure on Sunak to curb ‘disastrous’ immigration
The former immigration minister Robert Jenrick has called on the government to “undo the disastrous post-Brexit liberalisations” that “betrayed” the public’s wish for lower immigration before the general election.
He had put forward more than 30 recommendations to curb migration in a Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) report he co-authored.
The proposals include capping health and care visas at 30,000, scrapping the graduate route for international students, and indexing salary thresholds for visa routes in line with inflation.
It argues that net migration needs to be wound back to “the tens of thousands”.
Mr Jenrick, who is seen as a potential Tory leadership contender, argue that large-scale migration has failed to deliver significant fiscal benefits while putting pressure on housing, public services and infrastructure.
Mr Jenrick said: “It would be unforgivable if the Government did not use the time before the general election to undo the disastrous post-Brexit liberalisations that betrayed the express wishes of the British public for lower immigration.
“The changes we propose today would finally return numbers to the historical norm and deliver the highly-selective, highly-skilled immigration system voters were promised. These policies could be implemented immediately and would consign low-skilled mass migration to the past.
“Immigration is consistently one of the top concerns of voters and they deserve a department whose sole mission is controlling immigration and securing our borders. For far too long, the Home Office has proven incapable of doing that.”
Penny Mordaunt claims Tory election win ‘not impossible’ if civil war ends
Penny Mordaunt gave a speech in central London last night warning the Tory MPs that their factionalism is the main reason Labour is expected to win the general election.
The leader of the House of Commons recently dismissed claims that she is positioning herself as a unity candidate to replace Rishi Sunak as leader.
Full report:
Penny Mordaunt claims Tory election win ‘not impossible’ if civil war ends
Penny Mordaunt gave a speech last night calling for Tories to unite
We’re alingned with voters, minister insists after Tories' local election drubbing
The Conservatives are aligned with the priorities of the British public, a cabinet minister has insisted despite the party’s drubbing in last week’s local elections.
Claire Coutinho, the energy secretary, conceded the results were “disappointing” but said the Tories have a “positive message” they want to outline to the public.
Asked if the party needed to shift to the right after losing hundreds of councillors last week, Ms Coutinho told Times Radio: “I think what we need to do is to go where the country is.”
She added: “They want us to be tough on immigration. They want us to be cognisant of the fact that they’ve had a difficult time when it comes to public finances, which is why we’re putting forward £900 of tax cuts.
“They want us to make sure that we’re protecting their security, which we are when it comes to defence, when it comes to energy as well.
“I would just have contrast with some of Labour’s positions, when it comes to their mad energy plans which will hike up people’s bills and heap costs on people, with the 75 new business regulations which will deter investment at a time when we need investment coming into this country and on things like immigration where they don’t have a plan at all.”
Gove invokes Kate Moss as he warns Tories against ‘comfort eating’ on hard-line policies
Michael Gove told his colleagues “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” as he invoked supermodel Kate Moss to warn against “comfort eating” on hard-line policies.
The secretary of state for housing and communities comments came during Tuesday’s cabinet meeting - the first since the Tories lost nearly 500 councillors in last week’s local elections drubbing.
He urged cabinet ministers not to pursue policies that “make us feel good,” The Times reported. But not everyone agreed, with Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary and Alister Jack, the Scotland secretary, raising concerns about the direction of their party.
“I disagree with you. We shouldn’t be apologists for what we believe in,” the latter said.
ICYMI: Pollsters tell Sunak he is wrong over ‘hung parliament’ prediction
Pollsters have dismissed Rishi Sunak’s claims that his party still has a fighting chance with a general election likely to produce “a hung parliament.”
The prime minister is set to try to persuade MPs tomorrow that the result will be closer than many people predict at the first of two briefing sessions on the local elections alongside his party chairman Richard Holden and head of election strategy Isaac Levido.
Full report:
Pollsters tell Sunak he is wrong over ‘hung parliament’ prediction
Rishi Sunak’s claims that Britain is heading to a hung parliament after general election have been dismissed as “wishful thinking”
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