Natalie Elphicke hasn’t changed her values, it’s the Labour Party that has changed theirs

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The Labour Party has become a fit home for politicans like Elphicke (PA)

The decision to admit right-wing defector Natalie Elphicke from the Tory Party into the ranks of the parliamentary Labour Party has been defended by Labour chair Anneliese Dodds on the grounds that “people can change their minds”.

The problem with that explanation is that Elphicke – a member of the hard-right European Research Group and notorious for her anti-immigrant politics – hasn’t changed her “mind”. Her politics – which included attacking Marcus Rashford when he fought for free school meals for poor children – remain the same, despite crossing the floor of the house.

That Dodds sees the reactionary Elphicke as a “good, natural fit” for her party says everything about Keir Starmer’s Labour Party.