And division and criticised what she called the broken promises of rishi sunak s tired and chaotic government. Sir keir starmer welcomed her to his party, a week after another tory mp, dan poulter, also defected. Natalie elphicke explained why she decided to make the move. In 2019, the conservative stood on a manifesto that was very much Centre Ground, but under rishi sunak, theyve abandoned the Centre Ground and broken many election promises. Meanwhile, under keir starmer, labour have changed and i think that change is going to bring a much Better Future for our country and thats why i was so keen to join the labour party and play my part in bringing that important future forward. The conservative rail minister, huw merriman has described fellow mp Natalie Elphicke as shameless and an opportunist. Lam i am absolutely staggered. I have seen i am absolutely staggered. I have seen some sights in this place but the lack seen some sights in this place but the lack of seen some sights in th
Been accepted by hamas. From jerusalem, our middle east correspondent Yolande Knell reports you may find some of her report distressing. The panic and confusion as rescuers pull the wounded from the rubble after an overnight israeli airstrike in rafah. And today, another all too familiar scene in gaza, a mother struggling with unbearable loss. After israel seized control of the key crossing with egypt, it says its continuing a limited offensive in gazas southernmost city, battling hamas gunmen in the east of their last stronghold. But for hundreds of thousands of palestinians who fled to rafah to escape the fighting elsewhere, theres renewed fear. Translation last time i they told us to go to rafah, saying theres aid and its a safe place, and look, they came into rafah. For now, i wont go anywhere. Ill stay here. Its enough. Were tired of being displaced, and i dont know where i want to go. World powers have warned israel against a full assault here, saying it would be a humanitarian c
Hello and welcome to the bbc news at one. In the last hour, the mp Natalie Elphicke has become the latest conservative to defect to the labour party. Natalie elphicke has been the mp for dover in kent since 2019. Our chief Political Correspondent Henry Zeffmanjoins Me from The Houses Of Parliament henry, was this a surprise . It was a shock. If you had asked me before this afternoon to list 100 conservative mps most likely to defect to the labour party, Natalie Elphicke would have been nowhere near that list. And i think that was reflected in the faces of conservative mps at prime ministers questions, as keir starmer announced at the start of his question that he wanted to welcome her to the labour side. Mps had not noticed her there, and they were expressing to bewilderment to each other. Natalie elphickes announcement will hurt rishi sunak, because she goes for him on an issue that is central to his attempt to recover his political position. She accuses him of failing on small boats.