Tory minister says he 'won't lose sleep' over MP Dan Poulter's defection to ... trends now
A Tory minister swiped that he 'won't lose sleep' today after the defection of an MP to Labour.
Chris Philp played down the impact after Dan Poulter, a former health minister and part-time doctor, crossed the floor.
The move was timed to inflict the maximum possible damage on Rishi Sunak ahead of local elections on Thursday - where the Conservatives are braced for a bloodbath.
Dr Poulter said the Tories were 'failing' the health service and that he could no longer 'look my NHS colleagues in the eye' as a Conservative.
However, while Keir Starmer trumpeted the defection, left-wingers were less happy. Corbynite pressure group Momentum branded Dr Poulter an 'active opponent of working-class interests'.
Chris Philp played down the impact after Dan Poulter, a former health minister and part-time doctor, crossed the floor. He is pictured signing his Labour membership card
Mr Philp pointedly said of Dr Poulter that he 'hadn't seen him around Parliament that much recently'
Dr Poulter said that 'the health service has ceased to be an area of priority for the Conservative Party, and that is now showing in the strain on the front line and the deterioration of care for patients'.
He told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: 'I found it increasingly difficult to look my NHS colleagues in the eye and my patients in the eye and my constituents in the eye with good conscience.
'And I feel that the NHS deserves better than it has at the moment in terms of how it's run and governed.'
He added that the Tory Party's 'focus is not on delivering or supporting high-quality public services'.
He said he switched to Labour because of its 'track record of delivering for patients, transforming services, getting on top of waiting lists, investing in community health care'.
Speaking to Times Radio, Mr Philp pointedly said of
