https://anotherangryvoice.substack.com/p/why-starmer-labour-dustbin-tory-trash

Why is Starmer turning Labour into a dustbin for Tory trash
What is Keir Starmer hoping to achieve by welcoming disgraced Tory trash like Natalie Elphicke into the Labour ranks?
Another Angry Voice
May 10, 2024

You can tell it’s all some stupid game to these people by the timing of Natalie Elphicke’s defection from the right-wing of the Tory party to Labour just minutes before Prime Minister’s Questions.

Keir Starmer said he’s "delighted" to have her on board, but it’s profoundly odd for a man who loves to present himself as some kind of "forensic lawyer" and "man of integrity" to welcome a woman who was censured by parliament for undermining the legal system by pressurising the judge in her jailed ex-husband’s trial.

She also attacked the women who testified against her ex-husband for sexually assaulting them, and has never apologised for smearing the victims of his sex crimes.

It’s impossible to see Labour as a party that is going to take issues like sexual assault and misogyny seriously when they welcome such a disgraced figure with such glee.

Then there’s the damage to democracy from this ongoing spate of defections between political parties. It should obviously be the case that a by-election should be called when MPs decide to swap parties, so that the voters get to decide if they accept this kind of side-swapping.

Starmer is sending a very clear message that Labour has no intention of ruling the country with respect for the rule of law, democracy, or for women’s rights.

Elphicke’s scandalous behaviour has to be considered alongside her disgusting voting record, and her hard-right xenophobic rhetoric about immigrants too.

A significant number of Labour MPs have risked Starmer’s wrath and vengeance by publicly speaking out against the defection, and for every one who has spoken out, there must be many more who are biting their tongues for fear of Starmer’s retribution if they dare to publicly defy him.

So if Starmer is willing to damage Labour’s reputation so dramatically, and cause such disquiet in the Labour ranks, what are the intended payoffs from accepting such a disgraced and lawless Tory right-winger into the Labour ranks?

It makes absolutely no sense in terms of parliamentary maths. It would take over a hundred more defections from the Tory party to Labour to give Starmer a majority, and literally dozens even just to turn Rishi Sunak’s large parliamentary majority into a hung parliament.

If that many Tory MPs are discontented with Sunak’s leadership, they could trigger a vote of no confidence in the government, rather than jumping ship to Labour en masse.

The defection stunt was obviously intended to embarrass Rishi Sunak at Prime Minister’s Questions, but it backfired dramatically when Tory MP Penny Mordaunt got the best line of the day in by claiming that she’s "too left-wing for Starmer’s Labour".

The main intention behind this defection stunt seems to be the sending of a message to socialists and social liberals that Labour has no intention of serving their interests.

Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott remain suspended; Jamie Driscoll was forced out of his job over absolute nonsense; left-wing MPs like Sam Tarry have been deselected amongst accusations of internal vote-rigging; and scores of Labour councillors have been disciplined, suspended, or expelled for calling out Israeli war crimes and/or demanding a ceasefire.

Starmer’s Labour is a party with a zero tolerance attitude towards socialists, social liberals, and opponents of genocide, yet they make a huge song and dance about how delighted they are to welcome a disgraced hard-right xenophobic headbanger from the lunatic fringe of the Tory party!

This is particularly hypocritical given all the faux tears Starmer’s faction have shed over accusations that they’re "red Tories".

We’re being expected to believe that calling Starmer’s pro-austerity, pro-privatisation goons "red Tories" is the most despicable abuse imaginable, and then to applaud as Starmer declares Labour to be "the real conservatives" and celebrate as he welcomes Tory trash like Elphicke into the ranks!

Is Natalie Elphicke really so popular amongst Tory voters that they’ll approvingly switch their vote to Labour in such numbers that they’ll outweigh the traditional Labour voters who will refuse to vote for a pro-austerity, pro-privatisation party that welcomes such disgraced Tory trash with open arms?

It seems doubtful, doesn’t it?