PMQs live: Sunak facing Starmer at PMQs as Tory MP defects to Labour – BBC News

That’s a wrap on a rowdy session of PMQs, which saw Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer spar over local election results and immigration.

They came just after we received the news that Natalie Elphicke, the MP for Dover, has defected from the Conservatives to Labour.

We’ll be bringing you more updates and analysis, so stay with us.

Another one.

Another defection.

Another Conservative MP giving up on the Conservatives and crossing the floor to Labour.

Defections don’t happen very often.

Or at least they don’t in normal times.

But barely days after Dan Poulter, a former Tory minister, switched to Labour, now Natalie Elphicke has too.

Little wonder there was chat beforehand that Sir Keir Starmer wanted to talk about small boat crossings. Natalie Elphicke is the MP for Dover.

Defections are head spinning for Westminster — such a tribal place.

They are a morale lifting fillip for the party of the new arrival, and debilitating for the party they have departed, particularly when it from the governing party to the main opposition party.

Why?

They personify very starkly what an opposition party is seeking to do on a far wider scale — tempt people who recently backed the Conservatives to switch to backing Labour.

And the party political words of the defecting MP have an additional capacity to wound given their previous political home.

“Under Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives have become a byword for incompetence and division.”

It is the sort of thing you wouldn’t be surprised to hear from a career Labour MP.

But these are the words of someone who was a Conservative MP a matter of hours ago.

Labour will retain their existing candidate in Dover and Deal at the general election and Natalie Elphicke will stand down, we’re told.

But Keir Starmer will delight in the pictures of him welcoming Natalie Elphicke to his side of the House of Commons.

And expect to see the two of them together shortly doing the handshakes, warm words and broad smiles for the cameras.

We’ve brought you news of her defection, but who is Natalie Elphicke?

Elphicke, 53, was elected as Dover’s Conservative MP in 2019, taking over the seat which had been held by her then-husband Charlie, who was jailed for two years after being found guilty in 2020 of sexually assaulting two women.

Natali Elphicke, a former finance lawyer, is known for being outspoken about border security.

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Emma Lewell-Buck, Labour MP for South Shields, is up now and asking about child poverty.

She says the cross-party group ‘Our Child of the North’ has found expectant mothers are terminating pregnancies because they can’t afford another mouth to feed, while infant and child death rates are increasing in deprived areas.

Lewell-Buck ask the prime minister if this is his “plan for a brighter Britain in action”?

Sunak describes it as a “tragedy”, and that no one wants to see children grow up in those circumstances.

He says the government has overseen a “significant fall” in child poverty since 2010. He adds he’ll make sure she’s aware of the support offers in place for her constituents.

We’re now hearing from SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, who begins by congratulating John Swinney on becoming the party’s new leader and Scotland’s first minister.

He then asks Sunak whether the UK will follow the US in pausing arms shipments to Israel.

The prime minister responds that the UK government doesn’t itself directly provide arms to Israel, adding that he is deeply concerned about the situation in Rafah.

Sunak says he is continuing to urge all sides to bring about a pause and get aid in.

Flynn asks again, saying that UK arms and tech is supporting Israel activity and will be used in any attack on Rafah, whether the UK will halt arms sales to Israel.

Sunak responds that robust licensing is in place and the position on export licences is unchanged.

Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh asks if the government will “do the only thing that will be a deterrent and arrest and detain all those who land illegally on our shores”.

Sunak agrees that the crossings are “incredibly dangerous” and says everything must be done to “break the criminal gangs”.

Only this party has a plan to stop the boats, he adds.

Sunak replies that we are getting on and reforming, we are getting people into work and controlling migration – we are boosting defence spending.

Referring to Starmer, Sunak says he snipes from the sidelines while the Conservatives are building a better future.

Starmer then attacks the PM for having not yet called a general election.

If Sunak really thinks the public “believes the nonsense that he spouts”, why doesn’t he put it to the test and call a general election, Starmer asks.

Sunak says since he became prime minister small boat crossings “are down by a third”.

The prime minister says that’s due to a number of factors, including the deportation of 20,000 people and processing of more claims.

“When it comes to border control, there’s a crucial difference between us. We want secure borders, he is happy with open borders,” Sunak says.

Starmer quips that Sunak is getting ahead of himself in asking the Labour leader questions, setting off raucous shouts across the chamber.

Once calm is restored, Starmer says there have been 2,400 small boat crossings in the past 16 days, and puts it to Sunak that the government’s plan is not a deterrence, but an amnesty.

Sunak goes on to joke, saying he was surprised to see Starmer in North Yorkshire, but probably not as surprised as he was to realise he could not get the tube there.

Sunak says the people of North Yorkshire “believe in hard work, secure border, lower taxes and straight talking common sense”.

Adding: “They’re not going to get none of that from a virtue signalling lawyer from north London.”

Starmer is up again, with some jabs at Sunak’s multiple properties and disappointing results in the local elections, as the prime minister himself described it.

Starmer says Sunak can go to the various places he calls home across the country and enjoy the fruits of his success on Thursday night.

Is the prime minister in a hurry to get back to California, Starmer asks – a reference to the penthouse property the Sunak family owns in the US state.

Sunak replies that this time last year he reminded Starmer he can be as cocky as he likes about the local elections, but when it comes to national elections it is policy that counts.

The PM takes a swipe at Starmer, asking what has Labour achieved, and points to its deputy leader under investigation and several U-turns in Labour policies.

Starmer references Labour’s recent local election victories, saying the Tories have faced several high profile losses over the past months.

“How many more times do the public and his own MPs need to reject him before he takes the hint?” Starmer asks.

Starmer’s comments follow the local elections last week, which saw Labour gain more than 180 council seats, while the Tories lost more than 470 – just under half of the seats it was defending.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joins Starmer in welcoming new MPs.

Sunak says he hopes his new councillors make Starmer as proud as his make him.

“Great leaders like Andy Street,” Sunak adds, saying the departed West Midlands mayor leaves behind a strong legacy.

Street, who held the role of West Midlands mayor for seven years, lost by just 1,508 votes to Labour’s Richard Parker on Saturday in the mayoral elections.

There were genuine looks of bafflement on the Conservative benches when Sir Keir Starmer heralded Natalie Elphicke’s defection.

Most of them seemed not to have noticed that she had crossed the floor and was sitting directly behind the Labour shadow cabinet.

Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer opens with a welcome to his new MP – Natalie Elphicke, who announced moments ago she was switching parties.

He asks the prime minister: “What’s the point of this failed government staggering on?”

Blimey, another one.

Another Conservative MP has defected to Labour.

This time it is Natalie Elphicke, just as PMQs starts – timed for maximum political impact.

And listen to her words: “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.”

We can bring you more now from Natalie Elphicke, who has just announced her move to Labour.

In a statement, she hit out at the “broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic government”.

The Dover MP crossed the floor in the Commons just moments before Prime Minister’s Questions.

She said: “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.”

Her resignation comes less than two weeks after MP Dan Poulter defected to Labour.

Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke has decided to join Labour, it has just been announced.