Five days have passed since Keir Starmer’s masterstroke of getting Natalie Elphicke to defect from the Tories and join the Labour party. Yet in Starmer’s rush to secure a defective Tory, no-one in the Leader’s Office (Loto) seems to have wondered whether the Labour party would actually welcome into its ranks a scandal-prone, hardline Eurosceptic with a history of rubbishing sexual assault victims. Surprise, surprise, they hadn’t. Labour MP Jess Phillips, union boss Matt Wrack and, er, Lord Cameron are among those lining up to criticise Elphicke for her dodgy comments, anti-strike rhetoric and naked perfidy. Trebles all round!
A floundering McKinnell suggested that no such investigation is possible
Starmer’s team has reacted to this self-induced crisis in its usual cool and rational way. Reprising the tried and tested playbook that led to the storming success of the Rochdale by-election and the £28 billion green new deal, one member of Loto briefed
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