Starmer faces calls for Elphicke probe and criticism over views

SIR Keir Starmer is under fresh pressure over Natalie Elphicke’s defection to Labour, amid criticism of the ex-Tory MP’s anti-strike stance and calls for a probe into claims she lobbied a minister to interfere in her then husband’s sex offences trial.

The president of the Trades Union Congress has reportedly described Labour’s decision to welcome Ms Elphicke as “alarming” because of her vocal support for the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act, which curbs the effect that industrial action can have on some key services.

Matt Wrack, who is also the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, denounced comments she made in March blaming firefighters for the deaths of three people during a past national strike.

“This is a disgraceful attack on firefighters, who protect the public and save lives every day, sometimes at great personal cost,” he wrote in a letter to the Labour leader seen by The Guardian.