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      Labour’s new MP Natalie Elphicke apologises for comments about her ex-husband’s victims

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      Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe MP whose shock defection to Labour has sparked a fierce backlash against Keir Starmer has been forced to apologise for comments about her ex-husband’s victims. Charlie Elphicke was convicted of sexually assaulting two women and sentenced to two years in prison in 2020.Natalie Elphicke supported his unsuccessful appeal, saying he was an “attractive” man who had been “an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations”.As anger mounted over Labour’s decision to admit her, one female Labour MP told The Independent there was a “collective rage” against Sir Keir over Ms Elphicke. A member of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) also called for her to have the party whip suspended, just 24 hours after she joined the party. In a statement, Ms Elphicke said she always knew her decision to cross the floor would “put a spotlight on the prosecution of my ex-husband and I want to address some of the commentary around this head on”.She described the period between 2017 and 2020 as “an incredibly stressful and difficult one for me as I learned more about the person I thought I knew.” She added: “I know it was far harder for the women who had to relive their experiences and give evidence against him.”I have previously, and do, condemn his behaviour towards other women and towards me. It was right that he was prosecuted and I’m sorry for the comments that I made about his victims.”Natalie Elphicke has defected to Labour from the Tories (David Woolfall/UK Parliament) More

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      Rishi Sunak must allow visit from UN food inspector due to increasing levels of UK poverty, 85 charities write

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      Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailMore than 80 charities and civil society bodies have called on Rishi Sunak to reverse a decision to block a UK visit by the UN inspector on food poverty until after the election. Mr Sunak’s government has told the UN special rapporteur on the right to food that he cannot visit the UK until next year. Professor Michael Fakhri, who uses his role to study hunger and food insecurity in countries around the world, asked to make a formal visit to the UK more than 20 months ago. His request was denied in April by the minister for food, farming and fisheries, Sir Mark Spencer, who said a visit would not be feasible this year, denying the UN inspector the chance to conduct his research during the current parliament. Food and human rights charities and civil society organisations have now written to Mr Sunak to ask that the decision be reversed. In a letter signed by 85 groups, including Amnesty International, Just Fair, and the Food Foundation, the charities wrote: “We believe now is an opportune time for a country visit by the UN special rapporteur on the right to food due to the increasing levels of poverty, food bank use, and reports of hunger that have remained persistent for a number of years and became more pronounced during the Covid-19 pandemic and cost of living crisis”. A volunteer at Bonny Downs Community Association food club during a March visit as part of Sainsbury’s and Comic Relief’s campaign to raise awareness of food poverty in the UK More

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      UK politics – live: Labour MP Elphicke apologises for comments about ex-husband’s sexual assault victims

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      Labour MP Natalie Elphicke with ex-husband Charles Elphicke (PA) Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email New Labour MP Natalie Elphicke has apologised for defending her ex-husband after he was found guilty of sexual assault. Ms Elphicke’s former husband and […] More

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      Pro-Trump thinktank tells Sunak to take US diplomacy lessons from David Lammy

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      Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA righ twing British think tank which supports Donald Trump has praised David Lammy for his US diplomacy.The Legatum Institute has told Rishi Sunak and the Tories to learn lessons from Labour’s shadow foreign secretary after he made another successful trip to Washington DC ahead of what many think will be a Labour general election victory.The controversial think tank, funded by hedge fund billionaire Christopher Chandler, has recently opened a UK-US Special Relationship Unit at its offices in Mayfair which is pushing to promote UK/ US diplomatic relationship.The thinktank has been impressed by the way that Mr Lammy has reached out to both sides of the aisle in the US and even made attempts to connect with the Trump camp.Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy (Jonathan Brady/PA) More

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      Mapped: All the by-elections that have taken place this parliament

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      Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailChris Webb, one of Labour’s newest MPs, has taken his seat in the Commons after winning the Blackpool South by-election.Mr Webb won the Lancashire seat after securing nearly 60 per cent of the vote and the third-biggest swing from the Tories to Labour (26.3 per cent)  in a by-election since the Second World War.He beat Conservative candidate David Jones in the contest to replace ex-Tory MP Scott Benton, who was forced to quit after becoming embroiled in a lobbying scandal.“The people of Blackpool have spoken for Britain,”  Mr Webb said following his victory.  “They have had enough of this failed government, people no longer trust the Conservatives.”Labour’s Chris Webb has taken his seat in the House of Commons (Peter Byrne/PA) More

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      Tory MP provokes fury as he announces in Commons he has banned asylum seekers cases from his surgery

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      Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour MPs erupted in fury as a rightwing Tory told the Commons that he has instructed his constituency staff to refuse any cases brought to him by asylum seekers.Calls of “resign!” could be heard across the chamber as Dudley North MP Marco Longhi got up to speak.His intervention was another shot across the bows for Rishi Sunak with the right of his party making their views clear on his failure to stop the small boats with asylum seekers on them.Mr Longhi said: “I have stopped the large number of so-called asylum seekers from attending my surgey and I have instructed my office to not deal with asylum seekers for two reasons.”Marco Longhi is the Conservative MP for Dudley North (Richard Townshend/UK Parliament/PA) More

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      Keir Starmer accused of paying ‘lip service’ to violence against women and girls after Elphicke defection

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      Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer has been accused of paying “lip service” to victims of violence against women and girls after welcoming Natalie Elphicke into the Labour Party.The Labour leader unveiled the Dover MP at PMQs after her shock defection on Wednesday, sparking a furious reaction among his MPs and charities in the sector.As well as a backlash over Ms Elphicke’s right wing views, the defection raised questions about Sir Keir’s commitment to tackling violence against women and girls, which he has made a central part of his pitch as Labour leader.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer with former Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

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      Defiant David Cameron defends UK arms sales to Israel hours after Joe Biden threatens to withhold weapons

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      Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA defiant Lord Cameron has defended UK arms sales to Israel hours after Joe Biden threatened to withhold weapons if there is a ground offensive into Rafah.In highly unsual step, the US president publicly vowed to cut supplies if the heavily populated southern Gaza city is attacked.Rishi Sunak is facing mounting pressure, including from within his own party, to immediately suspend arms to Israel amid a growing outcry at the number of civilians killed in its war on Hamas.Those calls intensified on Wednesday, after the US said it had paused a shipload of bombs bound for Israel amid fears over the country’s plans. But Mr Biden went further overnight, saying in an interview: “I made it clear that if they go into Rafah … I’m not supplying the weapons.”Asked if the UK would follow the US’s lead, the foreign secretary insisted arms exports from Britain were very different, in part because they were much smaller in scale and policed by strict rules.He said: “There’s a very fundamental difference between the US situation and the UK situation.””The US is a massive state supplier of weapons to Israel … we do not have a UK government supply of weapons to Israel, we have a number of licences, and I think our defence exports to Israel are responsible for significantly less than 1 per cent of their total.”Smoke billows from Israeli strikes in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip More