General election latest: Tory tactic on Starmer age may backfire, poll suggests; Reform promises 'immigration tax' (2024)

Ali Fortescueturns to our panel, former government adviser Mercy Muroki and ex-Labour staffer Greg Cook.

Asked about Mark Logan's defection, Ms Muroki says it is a "very odd" example of someone changing parties.

She points out that Mr Logan was elected in 2019 as a Boris-backing Brexiteer who is now saying Sir Keir Starmer is the future of the country.

Ms Muroki adds that Mr Logan doesn't really criticise Rishi Sunak in his letter, and admitted the Tories could hold his seat.

She says there is no clear reason for him leaving the Tory party, unlike in other defections.

Tories 'will be absolutely terrified'

Mr Cook says it may be that Labour had a hand in the defection, and it could be a useful distraction from the bad Labour headlines at the moment.

The former Labour employee says that Mr Logan seems like a "genuine, honest guy" who clearly thought his decision through.

Mr Cook says that, when Tories defected in 1997, it was over Europe and showed other Conservatives they could back Labour.

Now, there is no single clear reason that defectors have given.

"I imagine the Tories will be absolutely terrified there are more of these in the pipeline," Mr Cook says.

On the subject of Diane Abbott, Ms Muroki says it is "clearly not a good look" for the Labour Party.

But she criticises some of the narrative around the case.

She says: "I just do find it this narrative that, you know, she's a black woman, and somehow she should receive special treatment for that.

"It's kind of undermining the reason that she was sort of being investigated in the first place."

Ms Abbott was suspended from the parliamentary Labour Party after writing in The Observer that "Irish, Jewish, and Traveller" people suffer "prejudice" - and likened it to discrimination experienced by "redheads".

"But they are not all their lives subject to racism," she added.

Another MP defecting to Labour will no doubt come as a blow to Rishi Sunak, but there are divisions in Labour too, our political editor Beth Rigby says.

"Mark Logan has defected… it comes on the back of Natalie Elphicke [leaving, who was] more high-profile, actually," she says.

"She defected to Labour about small boats and you then had Dan Poulter, a former minister and a doctor, saying he was defecting to Labour over the NHS.

"It will, of course, be a blow to the prime minister."

In response, Beth says, the Tories have thrown themselves fully into campaigning.

"Rishi Sunak is actually trying to shore up, for now, the right of the party, with those offers on national service, on the triple lock and more tax benefits for pensioners."

Moving to Labour, she says the Diane Abbott row may actually be a bigger story than we think.

"The way that they are responding is making it a bigger, bigger, bigger problem, instead of nipping it in the bud," she says.

"It speaks to divisions in the party."

Sky political correspondent Serena Barker-Singh has been speaking to Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader who is now an independent.

Mr Corbyn was asked about the candidates seen to be on the left of the party - like Diane Abbott, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, and Faiza Shaheen - not being allowed to stand.

He tells Serena: "The one thing they all have in common, the people that have been purged, is that they're on the left of the party and have all spoken out in favour of an immediate ceasefire and permanent ceasefire in Gaza."

When it was put to him that Labour claims some of the action was down to liking social media posts, Mr Corbyn says: "We don't even know which tweet it was or whose tweet it was.

"That seems to me a bit thin - and the Labour Party's procedures ought to be more robust and more open than that."

Serena asks if Mr Corbyn thinks Sir Keir Starmer is behind the decisions.

The ex-Labour chief says: "Well, as much as he claims sometimes it's nothing to do with him and other times that he's made the decision, he better make up his mind what it is.

"I think the leader ought to be independent of the other processes. But he clearly is intervening all along the way."

Sir Keir has denied he was blocking leftwing candidates.

He says that he wants the "highest quality candidates" - and that "no decision" has been taken on Ms Abbott's case.

He then paid tribute to her and the "incredible challenges" she overcame as an MP.

Mr Corbyn is standing for re-election in Islington North.

The full list of candidates for the seat is as follows:

• Jeremy Corbyn, independent;
• Vikas Aggarwal, Liberal Democrat;
• Sheridan Kates, Green Party;
• Praful Nargund, Labour;
• Martyn Nelson, Reform UK.

If you need more insight into Mark Logan's defection, read this from our chief political correspondent Jon Craig...

In a Sky News interview after Tory MP Christian Wakeford defected to Labour in 2022, Mark Logan was asked if he planned to join him.

At the time, the Northern Ireland-born MP laughed and replied jokingly: "I'm not planning to defect - to the Democratic Unionist Party."

Yet two years later, Mr Logan has indeed - likeMr Wakeford,Dan PoulterandNatalie Elphickein the parliament that has just ended - abandoned the Conservative Party and switched to Labour.

Mr Logan said he had done "much soul-searching throughout my first term in parliament".

Not many MPs admit to that sort of self-doubt. But then Mr Logan has never been tribal like the more bombastic and shouty members of the Tories' 2019 intake. You know who you are!

Nor is he a divisive figure like the most recent previous Tory defector to Labour, Natalie Elphicke, whose welcome from the party leadership appalled some Labour MPs and activists.

And though he won his seat from Labour's Sir David Crausby, who represented Bolton North East from 1997 until 2019, it's not a Red Wall seat.

Read the full article below:

Ali Fortescuesuggests Mark Logan's defection is further evidence of Labour shifting to the right of politics.

Mr Logan thinks it's a case of the party having "decided it wants to govern" and wanting to incorporate a "broad church".

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of a "purge" of left-wing candidates, with predecessor Jeremy Corbyn among his critics.

Some voters are also disappointed with his stance on Brexit, having dismissed any chance of the UK rejoining the EU.

Mr Logan, a Brexiteer, says "we deal with the environment we have".

"I think Labour, if it does come to power, is going to be in the situation where it does have a lot of expertise and interest in furthering the UK's relations with European partners," he says.

"And that's important when we're in a world where things are darker than they have been in recent decades."

In his defection letter released earlier, former Tory MP Mark Logan cited Labour's stance on the war in Gaza as a reason for switching.

Many of his constituents feel strongly about it, he says.

He thinks a Labour government would have "the right intention" to help end the conflict, saying there are many people in the party "that have an interest" and even a "specialism" when it comes to the Middle East.

The party has been calling for an immediate ceasefire, though the leadership has been criticised for how long it took to change its stance.

'An opportunity to show leadership'

"I do think Labour are going to do things a bit differently," says Mr Logan.

"It's actually an opportunity to show leadership. The UK can show leadership with other like-minded countries.

"There's a real opportunity if we can show leadership and move to having reconstruction that benefits the people of Gaza and also making sure that Israel is secure and safe."

Mark Logan, who has tonight defected from the Tories to Labour, is speaking first to Ali Fortescue.

He says he thinks his move is "the right thing for both my constituency in Bolton North East, but also the country".

Mr Logan refers to the "sense of optimism" before Tony Blair came to power back in 1997 and thinks the country has again reached a "pivotal turning point" head of the 4 July election.

He tells Ali he's been thinking about defecting "for quite a long time", finally coming to the decision after a week of "soul-searching".

'It's time for change'

Mr Logan thought his values "fit better" with Labour.

He acknowledges Ali's point that it's "quite a turnaround", given he's previously praised Rishi Sunak and backed him to be PM.

Mr Sunak can still "leave office with his held high" if he loses the election, says the defector.

"I do think he's a person of integrity. I think he is hard-working, but it's just time for a change."

But he won't now be standing at the election in his constituency or looking for another potential Labour seat.

Our weeknight politics showPolitics Hub With Ali Fortescueis live now on Sky News.

The fast-paced programme dissects the inner workings of Westminster, with interviews, insights, and analysis - bringing you, the audience, into the corridors of power.

Among Ali's guests tonight will be the latest Tory defector,Mark Logan, who has sworn his allegiance to Labour this evening.

On Ali's panel tonight are:

• Greg Cook, former head of strategy for Labour;
• Mercy Muroki, ex-adviser to Tory minister Kemi Badenoch.

Watch live on Sky News, in the stream at the top of this page, and follow live updates here in the Politics Hub.

WatchPolitics Hubfrom 7pmevery night during the election campaign on Sky channel 501, Virgin channel 602, Freeview channel 233, on theSky News websiteandappor onYouTube.

Our weeknight politics showPolitics Hub With Ali Fortescuewill be live on Sky News from 7pm.

The fast-paced programme dissects the inner workings of Westminster, with interviews, insights, and analysis - bringing you, the audience, into the corridors of power.

Among Ali's guests tonight will be the latest Tory defector, Mark Logan, who has sworn his allegiance to Labour this evening.

On Ali's panel tonight are:

• Greg Cook, former head of strategy for Labour;
• Mercy Muroki, ex-adviser to Tory minister Kemi Badenoch.

Watch live on Sky News, in the stream at the top of this page, and follow live updates here in the Politics Hub.

WatchPolitics Hubfrom 7pm every night during the election campaign on Sky channel 501, Virgin channel 602, Freeview channel 233, on theSky News websiteandappor onYouTube.

By Gurpreet Narwan, political correspondent

Reform UK events are usually light on policy, but the party has been doing some brainstorming.

Its latest offer: an employers' immigration tax.

Businesses which employ foreigners instead of British citizens will have to pay additional premium on their national insurance contributions, taking the tax rate up from 13.8% to 20%.

The party believes this could raise £20bn for the exchequer.

However, there are exemptions.

It will not apply to health and social care, a major sector for migrant labour, which raises doubts about how much of a dent the policy would make to net migration figures.

Small employers with fewer than five staff will also be exempt.

The party did not say what it would mean for those with settled status or workers on spousal or family visas.

When asked whether he was comfortable with the prospect of businesses going bust, Nigel Farage said: "Some might but businesses generally innovate, businesses generally go bust if people don't buy their products.

"Yes, costs are a factor, but it's all about innovation and change."

Both he and Richard Tice were nonplussed at the prospect that businesses might pass the costs onto consumers, risking higher inflation.