Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh To Speak At Conservative Conference To 'Confront Tories' Over Housing

Politician's decision to cross divide is "about more than political posturing".
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Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh will speak at Tory conference
DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS via Getty Images

A Labour MP has defended her decision to appear at a Conservative Party conference event.

Siobhain McDonagh will be part of a panel discussing intergenerational fairness and housing at the Tories’ annual conference in Birmingham later this month. 

The Mitcham and Morden MP says she will “go anywhere to confront the Tories” on London’s housing crisis and that her appearance “is about more than political posturing”. 

Her decision to cross the political divide, which will see her at an event sponsored by the Thatcherite think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), is likely to be controversial. 

It comes as a string of Labour MPs face votes of no confidence from their local members and as the party weighs up rule changes which could make deselection easier. 

McDonagh, who was among those to sign a cross-party motion to back building on the nation’s greenbelt, will share a platform with leading Brexiteer Priti Patel, John Myers, of the Yes In My Back Yard (YIMBY) campaign, Sam Collins of the charity for elderly people Age Endeavour and Kate Andrews, associate director of the IEA. 

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The listing for the fringe event on the Tories' conference agenda
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McDonagh told HuffPost UK: “I will go anywhere to confront the Tories with the terrible housing reality for hundreds of my hard-working constituents living in overcrowded conditions at private sector rents that leave them with little to live on and some without enough to eat.

“I will go anywhere to explain the reality of nightly paid temporary accommodation for 80,000 families including 123,000 children in our country in the 21st Century.

“This is about more than political posturing.”

When asked what they thought, one angry Labour MP, who did not want to be named, said: “I can’t repeat what I think.”

Tory MP Robert Halfon, meanwhile, said he was happy about McDonagh’s inclusion. 

He said: “I welcome debate from all quarters - it should be part of a healthy democracy and healthy Conservative party. 

“This is what a free society should mean.”

A source from Momentum, the campaign group closely aligned to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, gave a muted response, commenting: “Don’t they have better things to be doing?”