Who is the Labour MP ready to defect?

[outofsounds]

Nigel Farage said today that a Labour MP will be joining Reform next week. I’m intrigued. Any thoughts on who it might be?

I don't think it will be an mp, more likely a councillor?

Angela Raynor?

Well they need someone, right now Reform is just looking like the Tories’ latest way of changing leaders.

I thought Farage said it was an MP but I probably misheard, and yes, it’s much more likely a councillor.

Could be from the Lords? It was pretty ham fisted today though! I listened on the radio and rather hoped RJ had done a runner. Odious self serving creep!

Post Brexit the Tories lost loads of centrists, the right wing unbalanced the party. If most of them go and it rebalances towards the centre then great. RJ is no loss.

This morning Farage said he could look us all in the eye, with his hand on his heart and assure us that he wasn’t going to announce Robert Jenrick as a new Reform MP at 4.30pm. Look what happened there. You can’t trust a word the bloke says.

Why does it have to be next week? Why isn’t it a case of ‘I want to join your party’ ‘come on then!’ I’m not au fait with the process.

Who knows if he’s telling the truth? They did have a counsellor from the greens join a day or two ago. I hardly think that counts as proof towards them not being Tory 2.0. There are so many people in this world driven by power and ego, not principles.

There’s a Labour MP who represents a Brexit-y constituency who is very disgruntled with Starmer at the moment. Could be that person.

Well TBF events rather did take over there 😆

It will be a Red Wall MP. Or someone in the Lords.

Is that the Hull MP who is up in arms over jury reform?

Yes. Wouldn’t have thought Reform was his thing, though but who even knows these days?

Dan Hodges on X is hoping it's Keir Starmer 😄

I can never work out how a labour MP could move to reform. Private insurance based healthcare is something Labour have always been against. It doesn't work and that is clear of you look at the United States. How we fund healthcare is fundamental and health insurance is not great for people with chronic illness. Without insurance your life will be cut very short because you won't have access to drugs or treatment when you need it.

The NHS is funded by tax payers, large parts of the NHS are run privately. Your GP and your Dentist are private....but aligned with the NHS funding model. So if you remove the funding model you then will have to find suitable insurance to fund treatment.

You will see lots of adverts about how cheap health insurance is, but that's only the case for people who are young and healthy. As soon as you hit 50 or you get an illness then the premiums will explode. Claims will force premiums I and many who can't afford them Will be left relying on charity.

This is not universal healthcare and the UK established the NHS to deal with poor health.......so it would be a huge step back to go to insurance

There are quite a few Labour MPs that supported Brexit. And presumably old school ones that want to represent the working class rather than the benefits class that the current Labour Party represent. And who know what a woman is. I bet the current Labour Party is a big disappointment to them

People on welfare have endured hardship while the cost of living has soared. Most working people have had large pay increases in comparison. Many on welfare are in work but are paid so little they need welfare.

All Labour has done is give the poorest some respite. Labour are not soft on those in receipt of welfare....that is a myth peddled by the right wing media.

The country needs to encourage work but we shouldn't be punishing those at the bottom to satisfy a rapid craving for more austerity on the poorest. Many of these people are living in HMOs working in the care sector or packing and picking food .

We need a sensible approach to all civil matters and not populism. The biggest threat to stability is following the popular narrative.... because it results poor policies and governments that chop and change their policies to suit the thirst of the public whim. This is how Brexit happened and what a disaster it's been, it's crippling the country even today. Yet it was the result of popular demand.

Just because it's popular doesn't mean our politicians should do it....they should represent everyone even those with little voice.

It’s not a Labour MP, it’s a “Labour figure” so I’m going for Maurice Glassman. He’s always been an almost-Tory anyway. No loss.

This. 🤷‍♀️

Kate Hoey?

I agree with pp Karl Turner. MP for Kingston upon Hull East

I heard he’d confirmed definitely not although as a Blue Labour figure, he has a lot in common with Reform.

I thought of Rosie Duffield but Kate Hoey seems possible

He said we'll known labour figure so it won't be an MP. It will be someone like Kate Hoey or Gisela Stuart neither would be any loss, both prominent Brexiteers

Rosie is too far left to go to the Tories, and I believe she has a lot of friends there in parliament who provide her with moral support. Jonathan Hinder is a possibility; it's not really a Labour seat, so he's losing if he stays Labour. He may have a chance as Reform. Dan Carden is similarly right of Labour but representing a Liverpool constituency, probably has a seat for life, so he's more likely to hang in there.