Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailForeign Secretary David Cameron has said “a whole series of warnings” needs to be given to Israel over aid reaching Gaza with people dying of hunger and disease in the besieged enclave.Speaking in Parliament, the former prime minister said he would be “starting” with Benny Gantz, a retired general and a member of Israel’s war cabinet, who he was due to meet on Wednesday.Despite pressing for humanitarian assistance to get through, Lord Cameron said the amount of aid that reached the territory in February was just half that of the previous month.He also made clear Israel as the occupying power was responsible, which had consequences under international humanitarian law.The Cabinet minister made his comments as he responded at the end of a lengthy, wide-ranging debate on foreign affairs in the upper chamber, who saw contributions from more than 60 speakers.Lord Cameron also made a cryptic reference to former Liberal Democrat leader and former coalition partner Sir Nick Clegg in the face of calls by members of the party to restore the UK’s aid-spending target of 0.7% of gross national income.He told peers: “We are also committed to getting back to 0.7%.“I won’t reveal what Nick Clegg said to me privately when we were pushing for 0.7% as that would be unfair.”Lord Cameron also insisted using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine “is the right thing to do” and did not believe it would damage London’s position as a leading financial centre.The Foreign Secretary said Israel had an ‘obligation to ensure significantly more humanitarian aid reached the people of Gaza’ (Stoyan Nenov/PA)Against the backdrop of the devastating Israel-Hamas conflict, triggered by the militant massacre on October 7, Lord Cameron said: “We are facing a situation of dreadful suffering in Gaza. There can be no doubt about that.“I spoke some weeks ago about the danger of this tipping into famine and the danger of illness tipping into disease and we are now at that point. People are dying of hunger. People are dying of otherwise preventable disease.“We have been pushing for this aid to get in. We have had a whole set of things we have asked the Israelis to do but I have to report to the House that the amount of aid that got in in February was about half of what got in in January.”He added: “So patience needs to run very thin and a whole series of warnings need to be given starting I hope with a meeting I have with minister Gantz when he visits the UK.”He went on: “Israel is the occupying power, it is responsible and that has consequences, including in how we look at whether Israel is compliant with international humanitarian law.”On the moves to find a permanent peace settlement in the Middle East, Lord Cameron said: “Clearly part of a two-state solution is the recognition of Palestine as a state. I don’t think that should happen at the start of the process because I think that takes all the pressure off the Palestinians to reform, but it shouldn’t have to wait until the end.“I think recognition can become part of the unstoppable momentum we need to see towards a two-state solution.”The Tory frontbencher also responded to a report in the Jewish Chronicle that the Foreign Office had hosted a seminar at which officials were told that calling Hamas terrorists was an “obstacle to peace” and it was suggested Israel was a “white, settler colonialist nation”.Lord Cameron said: “Hamas is a terrorist organisation and let me say very clearly, its apologists should not be invited into the FCDO for a seminar.“I once said as Prime Minister that when you are Prime Minister you spend half the time trying to find out what the Government is doing and then you spend the half of the time trying to stop it. It turns out being Foreign Secretary is not entirely different.”On using frozen Russian assets to assist Ukraine, Lord Cameron said: “I think the moral case is there. That this money should be used for the benefit of the Ukrainian people. I think the economic case is very strong.”Referring to London’s position as a financial centre, he said: “I don’t think this will disadvantage us in any way using this money.”Outlining the possible options, he said the assets could be used a surety against a loan or bond.And while aiming for “the maximum amount” of unity with other nations on such a move, he added: “But if we can’t get it I think we will have to move ahead with allies that want to take this action. I think it is the right thing to do.” More

An LBC caller has suggested he would be “put off” voting for Sir Keir Starmer because he is “vegetarian, but not a vegan”.Vegan caller Simon told presenter Iain Dale that he is typically a Labour voter, but isn’t convinced about the opposition leader’s “character”.“What puts me off Labour a little bit is the fact that Starmer is a vegetarian but not a vegan,” he said.“It says something to me about his character, that kind of sitting on the fence thing. I don’t know why he just doesn’t go the whole way and become vegan.” More

Sir Keir Starmer needs to “shed a few pounds” before the general election, Labour grandee Peter Mandelson has said.Lord Mandelson, one of the architects of New Labour, said Sir Keir needed to lose weight to appeal to voters.In an interview with Times Radio on Tuesday (5 March), Lord Mandelson said: “My problem with Rishi Sunak’s fashion is that he wears these skinny suits and narrow ties and they diminish him“Just to be even-handed about it, by the same token, Keir Starmer needs to shed a few pounds.” More

Martin Lewis warned that children struggle to recognise the difference between real money and money spent on applications on mobile devices and tablets.The financial expert told MPs at the Commons Education Committee on Tuesday (5 March) he hears from parents whose children have spent money on purchases inside games.”In the old days when you had cash and you had money in a game, the money in the game wasn’t real and the cash was real. Now the two things are very similar,” Mr Lewis said.During the same committee hearing, schools minister Damian Hinds pulled faces behind Mr Lewis as he criticised the government’s “political failing” in financial education. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch as David Cameron was expected to speak in a House of Lords debate on foreign affairs on Tuesday, 5 March.It came after the foreign secretary warned that Israel is in breach of international law if it does not provide Gaza with food and water.The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that children are dying of starvation in northern Gaza.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the agency, said 10 children have died from a lack of food.Dr Ghebreyesus said visits over the weekend found severe levels of malnutrition, children dying of starvation, serious shortages of fuel, food and medical supplies, and hospital buildings destroyed.The situation at Al-Awda Hospital is “particularly appalling, as one of the buildings is destroyed,” he said, adding that the only paediatric facility Kamal Adwan Hospital was overwhelmed with patients. Elsewhere, Lord Cameron has “strongly” called on Hong Kong to “reconsider” their proposal for a new national security law, which he said will inhibit freedom of speech, expression, and the press.He said the region’s new security legislation breaches its obligations signed under the British government’s handover deal of the former UK colony. More

David Cameron has marked 100 days as foreign secretary by featuring in a video social media users described as “embarrassing.”Footage shows Lord Cameron walking in front of a camera saying: “My team set me the challenge to see if I could say all the things that I think we’ve done in the last hundred days”, before referencing “36 different visits to 26 different countries” and aid for Ukraine and Gaza.Lord Cameron’s video had a mixed reaction after it was posted on X/Twitter.Some told him to “keep up the good work”, while others described the footage as “cringey.” More

Schools minister Damian Hinds pulled faces behind Martin Lewis as the MoneySavingExpert founder criticised the government’s “political failing” in financial education at a parliament committee on Tuesday, 5 March.The financial expert told MPs at the Commons Education Committee he donated money to provide a financial education textbook for schools because “the state would not”.As Mr Lewis said “I could have put bias into this textbook. We need proper textbooks, digital resources. We need teachers to be trained, and we need ongoing teacher training,” Mr Hinds appeared to scowl.Mr Lewis has campaigned for financial education to be on the national curriculum. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA minister has been forced to deny plans for a May election as the government faced calls to explain why a top diplomat was kept ‘in the dark’ over the cancellation of a major summit in April.Rishi Sunak had been due to host political and business leaders from 25 different African countries at the gathering in London.But it will not now be held at the end of April, a decision taken so abruptly the event’s official envoy was already on his way to visit the continent when he found out, ministers have admitted.The revelation will add to growing speculation over an early poll.Mr Sunak has previously said he wants to hold it in the second half of the year.And asked on Monday if there was a “sniff” of a chance of a May general election, trade minister Mr Hands told Times Radio: “No.”He was questioned over mounting speculation the PM could call a snap poll to coincide with local elections at the start of May, just weeks after the postponed Africa investment summit was due to have taken place.In answer to questions from shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry, ministers have now admitted the envoy, former British ambassador to Ethiopia, Dr Alastair McPhail, was only informed the summit had been delayed while “en route” to Rwanda to discuss it.They blamed “scheduling issues in the international calendar” for its postponement.But Labour has accused them of showing “blatant disrespect” to allies and called for an explanation.The party says it is prepping for a May election amid fears the Conservatives will try to use the element of surprise to avoid a thumping from voters.Rishi Sunak (Stefan Rousseau/PA)Shadow minister for trade Gareth Thomas said: “Whether or not this summit was postponed with a May election in mind, there has been no proper explanation for the decision, and now we discover that even the official envoy for the event was left in the dark about it.”He added: “But as bad as that is, the biggest issue is not how David Cameron has sidelined his own diplomats, it is how our trade partners throughout Africa have been treated.””Treating countries who should be our friends with such blatant disrespect is not the way to promote mutually beneficial business deals. “In a parliamentary answer, minister Leo Docherty said the “Envoy was informed of the postponement of the Summit on 29 January shortly after the decision was taken, at which point he was already en route to Rwanda.”He added that the decision had been taken “owing to scheduling issues in the international calendar”.The total cost of three-day trip to promote the event was £4,714 visit, the government said.The Foreign Office declined to comment. A No 10 source said the working assumption was still an autumn election. More