LABOUR faced criticisim today for welcoming with open arms a golf-playing former Conservative health minister who oversaw the most damaging “reform” of the NHS in history.

Sir Keir Starmer said it was “fantastic to welcome Dr Dan Poulter to today’s changed Labour Party.”

The working medic defected from the Conservatives in a blow to PM Rishi Sunak five days before Thursday’s local elections, saying “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.”