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 predecessor as MP for Dover, Charlie Elphicke, was convicted in 2020 of sexually assaulting two women and jailed for two years.
She ended the marriage after his conviction but supported his unsuccessful appeal, saying Mr Elphicke had been “attractive, and attracted to women” and “an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations”.
A backlash to Labour’s accepting Ms Elphicke is growing after she defected on Wednesday.
One shadow minister told Politico her comments were “abhorrent” and a Labour councillor in Dover said the remarks “minimised what was predatory behaviour and sexual abuse”.
But some Labour members have backed their newest MP, with party chair Anneliese Dodds saying she is a “natural fit” for the party, despite her previous criticism.
Key Points
- Natalie Elphicke apologises for comments in support of ex-husband
- Labour face angry backlash over Tory defector’s ‘gaslighting’ women’s rights record
- Labour chair Anneliese Dodds backs Elphicke admission
- Rishi Sunak ‘to blame’ for Conservative exodus, senior Ben Houchen says
- Former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi to stand down at next election
- Sunak summons university leaders over pro-Palestinian campus protests
Natalie Elphicke apologises for comments in support of ex-husband
Tory defector Natalie Elphicke has issued an apology after she made comments in support of her ex-husband.
In a new statement, she said: “My decision to join the Labour Party is not one I have taken lightly but one I made because I am convinced that this country needs a new government led by Keir Starmer to fix the problems we see from housing to small boats.
“I always knew that this decision would put a spotlight on the prosecution of my ex-husband and I want to address some of the commentary around this head on.
“The period of 2017 - 2020 was an incredibly stressful and difficult one for me as I learned more about the person I thought I knew. 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.
“It is vital that women can have confidence in the criminal justice system and our rates of prosecution and conviction are far too low as a country.
“Keir Starmer’s mission to halve male violence against women and girls is critical and I wanted to take the opportunity to express my explicit support for Labour colleagues working to realise it.”
In case you missed it: Moment Tory MP Natalie Elphicke joins Labour minutes before PMQs
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?”
Rishi Sunak must allow visit from UN food inspector due to increasing levels of UK poverty, 85 charities write
More 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.
Read our full exclusive story here
Salma Ouaguira9 May 2024 17:45 1715271932Tory MP provokes fury as he announces in Commons he has banned asylum seekers cases from his surgery
Labour 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.
Here’s the full story:
Tory MP announces in Commons he has banned asylum seekers cases from his surgery
Dudley North MP Marco Longhi is facing calls to resign after he said he will no longer deal with asylum seeker cases.
Salma Ouaguira9 May 2024 17:25 1715270732‘Shame on you Rishi Sunak,’ says prominent pro-Palestinian activist
American activist Cornel West, who is at the centre of US campus protests, has hit out at the Prime Minister for ‘funding Israel’.
The independent candidate for US president has recently led students at the Columbia University protest that sparked multiple arrests.
He told LBC : “I think the UK Government and the American Government have a morally bankrupt policy. They’re in denial about genocide.
“Genocide denying, to me, is morally bankrupt. And I don’t see how they could not call into question their funding. The military and financial support of this kind of genocide.
“I would say [to the Prime Minister] shame on you. I would say what kind of moral fibre do you actually have that you could continue to fund this kind of massacring and murdering of people?”
Fresh headache for Keir Starmer as pro-Gaza professor launches campaign against top Labour MP
Sir Keir Starmer is facing a fresh headache over Gaza just days after pro-Palestinian candidates cost Labour tens of thousands of votes at the local elections.
The former head of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is running against shadow veterans minister Steve McCabe in Birmingham Selly Oak, which has a significant Muslim population.
Kamel Hawwash, who is a Professor in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Birmingham, is standing against the veteran MP, who is also the chairman of Labour Friends of Israel.
Read our full exclusive story here
Labour face angry backlash over Tory defector’s ‘gaslighting’ women’s rights record
Natalie Elphicke’s defection to Labour has raised concerns among some in Keir Starmer’s party who condemned her defence of her former husband who was imprisoned after being charged with sexual assault.
After Charlie Elphicke was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault against two women, the MP for Dover said he had been punished for being “attractive” and being “attracted to women”.
Ms Elphicke, who defected to the Labour Party on Wednesday, was temporarily suspended from the Commons in 2021 for trying to influence his trial and was forced to apologise.
Charlotte Cornell, a Labour councillor who ran against Ms Elphicke in Dover in 2019, told The Independent: “Her comments minimised what was predatory behaviour and sexual abuse.
“It is one of the reasons I find today really hard to understand. I know there will be women in the local area who are incredibly upset by today’s decision.”
Elphicke defection left Labour MPs in tears due to ‘abhorrent’ comments
Natalie Elphicke’s defection has caused huge uproar among Labour MPs who don’t believe she has a place in the party.
According to Politico, a shadow minister said the move caused “a lot of unease” because “Natalie has said some abhorrent things and I’m not sure her values are those we should be aspiring to have in the party.”
A fellow Labour MP said the Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to allow her into the party left her in tears, adding: “I thought we had some values that were sacrosanct but we don’t.”
Salma Ouaguira9 May 2024 16:12 1715266821Mapped: All the by-elections that have taken place this parliament
Since the 2019 general election, there has been a total of 23 by-elections across the UK - two of which have taken place in Scotland with the remainder being held in England.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats have, at the expense of the Conservatives, gained eight and four seats respectively.
Sir Keir Starmer’s party has held five of its seats and lost one to Mr Galloway, while the Tories have managed to hold one, scraping a narrow victory - 495 votes - in Uxbridge & South Ruislip, a contest that was dominated by the expansion of Ulez in outer London.
Check out the numbers in full here:
Mapped: All the by-elections that have taken place this parliament
Since the 2019 general election, there has been a total of 23 by-elections across the UK
Salma Ouaguira9 May 2024 16:00 1715265787In full: Who is Natalie Elphicke’s ex-husband?
The new Labour MP has been target of criticism for defending her former husband following sexual assault allegations.
But who is Charlie Elphicke? Here’s what you need to know:
- The disgraced former Tory member chaired the Dover constituency from 2010 to 2019.
- He had his whip removed after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women.
- According to court documents, he chased one of the victims around his home chanting “I’m a naughty Tory”.
- He was later slapped with two years in prison.
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