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Sir Keir Starmer said the UK’s failed asylum system has turned refugee camps into a “job-centre for modern slavery” as he outlined Labour’s plan to stop small boat crossings on Friday 10 May.The Labour leader delivered a speech on the Kent coast in which he attacked the government’s current approach as “rank incompetence” and dismissed the Rwanda scheme.Sir Keir also recalled a visit to a refugee camp on the outskirts of Calais in 2016 and described the situation as a “monumental failure”.“People had been brutally let down,” he said.“Not just in terms of the truly awful conditions but also because the failure of our asylum system had encouraged a false hope.” More

Tory minister Claire Coutinho has defended Rishi Sunak’s recent poor party election results as she insisted the Conservatives have got a “very positive agenda”.The Conservative Party suffered its worst electoral defeat in years last week, losing more than half of its councillors who stood for re-election across England.The energy secretary defended the Conservative Party’s results when she appeared on ITV’s Peston show on Wednesday night (8 May) and was asked if the prime minister should change his plans. More

Robert Jenrick wrote that he was sharing “the truth that needs to be told” as he posted a new video explaining his decision to resign from government.Mr Jenrick resigned as immigration minister back in December 2023 as he criticised the government’s Rwanda legislation and this week suggested Rishi Sunak needs to win back Tory voters who have gone “on strike”.“I resigned as immigration minister because this dishonesty can’t go on,” Mr Jenrick says in a new video shared on his social media on Wednesday evening (8 May). More

Robert Jenrick has labelled Natalie Elphicke’s defection to the Labour Party “baffling and idiotic”.Ms Elphicke quit the Conservatives just moments before Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday (8 May), hitting out at Rishi Sunak’s “tired and chaotic government” and accusing him of failing to deliver on his promise to “stop the boats”.Speaking on ITV’s Peston hours after she crossed the floor in the House of Commons, former Tory immigration minister Mr Jenrick suggested Ms Elphicke has joined a party that represents “everything she despises”.“Her decision was baffling, idiotic,” he said. More

Natalie Elphicke appeared to join in with protesters’ chants as she attended a demonstration against P&O Ferries’ decision to sack 800 seafarers, resurfaced footage from March 2022 shows.The video was re-posted on social media after the MP for Dover defected from the Tories to Labour, heavily criticising the prime minister and her former party.Footage showed Ms Elphicke being heckled by union members outside Maritime House in the Kent town, with other protesters shouting “You voted for fire and rehire,” and “Shame on you.”Elaborating on her decision to defect, Ms Elphicke hit out at the “broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic government.” More

Sir Keir Starmer declined to comment on Natalie Elphicke’s past remarks about Charlie Elphicke’s conviction for sexually assaulting two women.Her then-husband, the former MP for Dover, was jailed for two years in 2020.In an interview with The Sun, Ms Elphicke defended him, saying he was “attractive, and attracted to, women” and that that made him “an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations”, claiming he was the victim of a “terrible miscarriage of justice”.When pressed on Ms Elphicke’s remarks on Wednesday, 8 May, the Labour leader declined to comment and said: “I’m delighted to welcome Natalie Elphicke to the Labour party.”She’s got a strong track record on issues such as housing.” More

Tory minister Laura Trott branded an MP a ‘Brexit zombie’ during a heated Commons debate on car insurance prices on Wednesday (7 May).Addressing the Commons, SNP MP Drew Hendry said: “Prices for car insurance have more than doubled in the UK compared to an 18 percent rise across the EU.“What is the reason? Is it Brexit, shameless profiteering or has Westminster just given up on people in the cost of living crisis.”“Why is the government doing absolutely nothing to hold insurance companies to account?Ms Trott replied: “I think we’ve heard enough from the Brexit zombies.” More

This is the moment Tory MP Natalie Elphicke walks across the Commons floor to join the Labour party, just minutes before Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) on Wednesday 8 May.The Dover MP crossed the floor in the Commons as she hit out at the “broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic Government”.She said: “I have carefully considered this decision. The change has been dramatic and cannot be ignored.”At PMQs, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer asked Mr Sunak “what is the point of this failed Government staggering on” when “the Tory MP for Dover on the front line of small boats crisis says the Prime Minister cannot be trusted with our borders and joins Labour?” More