The former immigration minister Robert Jenrick has described his former colleague’s decision to defect to Labour as ‘idiotic’ and a ‘betrayal’ of people he says are on the front line of the immigration crisis.
Speaking on GB News Robert Jenrick said: “I think it's an idiotic decision. Natalie Elphicke's joined the party which stands for everything that she despises.
“I can't tell you the number of times I have had conversations with her and she has attacked the Labour Party for the open doors approach, the fact that Kier Starmer has stood for free movement, and has campaigned in the past to prevent foreign national offenders being sent back to their home countries.
“It's a betrayal, frankly, of the people that she represents in Dover and Deal who are on the front line of our immigration crisis.
“Natalie has joined a party that will do precisely the opposite of what she's campaigned on throughout her time in Parliament.
“What I want the Prime Minister to do is something very different, which is to strengthen our borders, not open them up as Keir Starmer would do. I want to ensure that the Rwanda policy actually works and, as you know, I feel that we've opted for a weak version of that.
“But today, I'm giving the Prime Minister a set of recommendations which will enable him to begin to restore trust in our legal migration system. That template is there for him, I hope that he will use the precious time that we've got now in office before the general election, and that will help to persuade some of those people who, for example, are voting Reform or who are unsure whether to support us, that the party really cares about this central issue.”
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