Tory MP Natalie Elphicke defects to Labour Party
Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke has defected to the Labour Party.
The Dover MP said the change in the Tory Party since she entered parliament in 2019 “has been dramatic and cannot be ignored”.
She hit out at the “broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic government”, adding that Labour “looks to the future – to building a Britain of hope, optimism, opportunity and fairness”.
Mrs Elphicke is the second Tory MP to move to the Labour Party in 11 days after former minister Dan Poulter defected to the opposition.
Part-time NHS doctor Dr Poulter said he could no longer look his NHS colleagues and patients in the eye and remain a Conservative.
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Tory MP crosses the floor to Labour benches
Mrs Elphicke “crossed the floor” to the Labour benches moments before Prime Minister’s Questions started on Wednesday at midday, with Tory MPs seen pointing at her.
She previously announced she will not be standing in the next general election.
Sir Keir welcomed her to the party in his opening remarks at PMQs.
In a statement announcing her decision, she said the key deciding factors for switching have been “housing and the safety and security of our borders”.
She said the Conservative Party in 2019 “occupied the centre ground of British politics” and was about “building the future and making the most of the opportunities that lay ahead for our country”.
“Since then, many things have changed,” she added.
“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.”
She said the Labour Party has also “changed out of all recognition” since then, moving on from Jeremy Corbyn and “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,” she said.
Natalie Elphicke with her ex-husband and former Tory Dover MP Charlie Elphicke, who was imprisoned for two years for sexual assault
Mrs Elphicke has previously been highly critical of Sir Keir, hitting out at him for “ignoring the small boats crisis” in January 2023.
In April last year she wrote an article saying voters should not trust Labour on immigration – one of the key factors she said she was defecting for.
The arrival of asylum seekers in small boats is a major issue in her constituency, with most stepping onto British soil in Dover.
Mrs Elphicke won her seat with 56.9% of the vote after deciding to stand in Dover following her now ex-husband, Charlie Elphicke, being suspended from the Conservative Party and not standing for re-election when he was charged with three counts of sexual assault against two women.
He was found guilty of all counts and sentenced to two years in prison.
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The crash involving a cargo ship and oil tanker off the East Yorkshire coast is bad news for the sea, fish and air in the area. What we don’t know yet is quite how bad it will be.
That depends on a few things – but the speed of the collision, clouds of filthy black smoke from the fires and the leaked fuel are certainly worrying.
Firstly, it matters what was on board those two massive vessels.
Follow live: Jet fuel spilling into sea after tanker collision
Analytics firm Vortexa estimates the 183m-long tanker was carrying about 130,000 barrels of jet fuel (kerosene), which is now leaking into the sea.
Jet fuel is not as sticky or viscous as heavier types of oil, thankfully, so it’s less likely to clog the feathers and fur of birds and seals. It can also be broken down by natural bacteria.
But it can still poison fish and kill animals and plants on the shoreline if it makes its way into the soil there.
The Marine Conservation Society has pointed out the site in the Humber estuary is close to some protected areas and is important for seabirds and harbour porpoises.
And both ships will have been powered by a dirtier, heavier kind of oil – likely marine gas oil or heavy fuel oil, though we don’t know the details yet.
Heavy fuel oil is nasty stuff.
Pic: Bartek Smialek/PA
Cheap, thick and tar-like, it can smother animals and is very dangerous if they consume it, and is extremely difficult to clean up. Let’s hope this isn’t creeping around the North Sea already.
We don’t know how much of either the jet fuel or the oil powering the ships has leaked, or how much will be burned off in the violent fires – which themselves are ploughing black smoke and filthy air pollution into the surrounding atmosphere.
And we don’t know for sure what was on the Solong cargo ship and if, or what, will go into the sea.
Cargo ship ‘had sodium cyanide on board’
It was carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide among other cargo, according to a report from maritime data provider Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
The container vessel was also transporting an unknown quantity of alcohol, said the casualty report – an assessment of incidents at sea – citing a message from the local coastguard.
Plastic takes hundreds of years to break down, and potentially can choke or trap animals.
Many of us have seen that uncomfortable viral video of a turtle having a straw yanked out of its nose. Previous accidents on cargo ships have seen plastic Lego pieces wash up in Cornwall 25 years later.
Read more:
How UK North Sea platforms dump gas
Secondly, the impact depends on the sea and weather conditions around it.
Things like the wind and currents affect how an oil spill spreads in the sea. Scientists can draw up computer models to simulate how the oil could behave.
Thirdly, it matters how quickly this is all tackled and then cleaned up, if necessary, and if it can be.
Usually the slower the response, the worse the impact.
The coastguard has said the incident “remains ongoing” and it has started assessing the “likely counter pollution response” that will be required.
Such a response might need the help of numerous public bodies: the government environment department, the transport department, the Environment Agency and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
So for now the best we can hope for – aside from the welfare of the people involved – is that not all the oil is spilled or burnt, that conditions are calm and that rescuers and those cleaning up can work swiftly.
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