Dan Poulter: Keir Starmer welcomes new Labour MP after defection from Conservatives

Labour leader Keir Starmer opened prime minister’s questions today by welcoming Dan Poulter to the opposition benches.

Poulter, a former minister, defected from the Conservative Party to Labour over the weekend, citing the state of the NHS. Poulter is a doctor.

Speaking on Wednesday afternoon, Starmer said: “[Poulter has] concluded that if you care about the future of our country and our NHS, that it’s time for change – it’s time for this changed Labour Party”.

He asked of the prime minister: “When a lifelong Tory and doctor says that the only cure for the NHS is a Labour government, isn’t it the time the prime minister admits he has utterly failed?”.

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