Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailGeorge Galloway’s deputy has refused to condemn the October 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel, in a sign of the controversy surrounding his Rochdale by-election win.As Mr Galloway prepares to return to parliament, the deputy leader of his Workers Party suggested Israel should have “expected” the attacks.Former Labour MP Chris Williamson also accused the government and Labour of “effectively facilitating the genocide in Gaza”.The former Labour MP for Derby North refused to condemn Hamas’ terror attacks His remarks were condemned by Labour’s Ellie Reeves, who said it was “utterly appalling” for Mr Williamson not to condemn the 7 October atrocities.It came as the Board of Deputies of British Jews hailed Mr Galloway’s election win as a “dark day” for the UK’s Jewish community.And the Campaign Against Antisemitism said Mr Galloway’s “endurance in our public life serves to exploit extremist sentiment and divide communities”.Following Mr Galloway’s win, Mr Williamson took to the airwaves to describe his boss as “probably the best orator in the world”.He also said Mr Galloway, an alleged antisemite notorious for stoking division and courting controversy, will “be able to speak truth to power” in Westminster.And, when asked about October 7, he refused to condemn the Hamas attacks.He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “You can’t expect to live in a situation where people have been oppressed for 75 years and not expect a reaction.”“In international law, oppressed peoples have an absolute right to armed resistance,” Mr Williamson said, before going on to claim that the majority of those innocent people killed on October 7 were killed by Israeli forces.Ms Reeves, Labour’s deputy national campaign coordinator, said she was “utterly appalled by Chris Williamson’s failure to condemn Hamas attacks on the seventh of October, and likewise his failure to distance his party from the endorsement of [former president of the far-right British National Party] Nick Griffin”.George Galloway declared his by-election win was ‘for Gaza’ in a challenge to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer Mr Williamson is a former close ally of Jeremy Corbyn and was suspended from the Labour party for claiming it had “given too much ground” and been “too apologetic” in tackling antisemitism.He is now the deputy leader of Mr Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain.The ex-Labour MP for Derby North had faced previous criticism for incidents of alleged antisemitism, including offering to host a parliamentary screening of a film by a Labour member suspended for claiming Jews had been the “chief financiers” of the slave trade.Mr Galloway won the Rochdale by-election with just under 40 per cent of the vote, a majority of 5,697 over second placed David Tully, a local businessman and independent candidate.In his victory speech, he said: “Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza.” It echoed the message Mr Galloway sent upon his 2005 win in the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, when he said: “Mr Blair, this is for Iraq.”He added: “You have paid, and you will pay, a high price for the role that you have played in enabling, encouraging and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Palestine in the Gaza Strip.”Labour’s former candidate Azhar Ali, who was suspended for making antisemitic comments, came fourth. More

Reform UK’s leader Richard Tice claimed his Rochdale election candidate Simon Danczuk received a death threat during the campaign and said his team had been subject to “daily intimidation and slurs”.Mr Tice alleged that “menacing behaviour” had featured throughout the campaign and questioned the validity of the postal ballots returned during the contest.He said: “This by-election and result should act as a serious wake-up call to those in power and indeed to the entire electorate.“We are supposed to be a beacon of democracy, this shameful contest has been more characteristic of a failed state.” More

George Galloway echoed his 2005 general election speech during his Rochdale by-election victory claiming ‘Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza”.The former Labour MP, now the leader of the Workers Party of Britain, made his declaration before criticising Sir Keir and vowing councillors in the Labour-run town hall “have to go”.The scenes on Friday morning (1 March) resembled Mr Galloway’s 2005 Bethnal Green and Bow general election win over Labour.Then the leader of the Respect Party, Mr Galloway used his victory speech to hit out at prime minister Tony Blair over the Iraq war, declaring: “This is for Iraq”. More

George Galloway storms out of a television interview after being challenged by Jeremy Paxman over his election night victory.The resurfaced 2005 interview, filmed after Mr Galloway’s victory over Labour’s Oona King, is back in the spotlight following The Workers Party of Britain by-election win in Rochdale on Friday (1 March).In the BBC clip, Mr Galloway angrily accused Paxman of “insulting” his new constituents by asking about his Labour opponent on the BBC’s election night special.”They chose me. Can’t you find it within yourself even to congratulate me?” Mr Galloway fumed after Paxman asked him whether he felt guilty about unseating Oona King, “one of the few black women in parliament”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email The United Kingdom is poised to hold its first election in five years in a country battered by a cost-of-living crisis, fallout from the Israel-Hamas conflict and deep divisions over how to deal with migrants and asylum seekers crossing the English Channel from Europe on small inflatable boats.Here is a look at the upcoming election and the biggest issues at stake. When is the election in the United Kingdom? Prime Minister Rishi Sunak can call an election at any time up to Dec. 17, with the election taking place 25 working days later. That means the last possible date for the election is Jan. 28, 2025.The timing of the election will be determined by Sunak’s calculation of what date will be most advantageous for the Conservatives. The most likely time for the election is in the autumn, according to the Institute for Government, a London-based think tank. But one can’t be sure. How does voting work in the United Kingdom? People throughout the United Kingdom will choose all 650 members of the House of Commons for a term of up to five years. The party that commands a majority in the Commons, either alone or in coalition, will form the next government and its leader will be prime minister.That means the results will determine the political direction of the government, which has been led by the center-right Conservatives for the past 14 years. Opinion polls suggest that Labour is currently in the strongest position. Who is running in the United Kingdom? Sunak, a former Treasury chief who has been prime minister since October of 2022, is expected to lead his party into the election. His primary opponent will be Keir Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions in England and leader of the Labour Party since April 2020.But there are other parties, some of which have strong regional support and could be crucial to forming a coalition government if no one wins an overall majority.The Scottish National Party, which campaigns for Scottish independence; Liberal Democrats; and Democratic Unionist Party, which seeks to maintain ties between Britain and Northern Ireland, are currently the three largest parties in Parliament after the Conservatives and Labour. Some observers suggest the new Reform Party, formed by Tory rebels, may siphon votes from the Conservatives. What are the big issues at stake in the United Kingdom? The economy: Britain has struggled with high inflation and slow economic growth, which have combined to make most people feel poorer. The Conservatives succeeded in meeting their goal of halving inflation, which peaked at 11.1% in October 2022, but the economy slipped into a technical recession in the last six months of 2023, raising questions about the government’s economic policies.Immigration: Thousands of asylum seekers and economic migrants have crossed the English Channel in flimsy inflatable boats in recent years, raising concerns the government has lost control of Britain’s borders. The Conservatives’ signature policy for stopping the boats is a plan t o deport some of these migrants to Rwanda. Critics say the plan violates international law, is inhumane, and will do nothing to stop people fleeing war, unrest and famine.Health care: Britain’s National Health Service, which provides free health care to everyone, is plagued with long waiting lists for everything from dental care to cancer treatment. Newspapers are filled with stories about seriously ill patients forced to wait hours for an ambulance, then longer still for a hospital bed.The environment: Sunak has backtracked on a series of environmental commitments, pushing back the deadline for ending the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered passenger vehicles and authorizing new oil drilling in the North Sea. Critics say these are the wrong policies at a time the world is trying to combat climate change. More

This is the moment George Galloway is announced the winner of the Rochdale by-election in the early hours of Friday morning (1 March).Mr Galloway’s campaign team claimed early on in the night that the former Labour and Respect MP would win “comfortably”. The Workers Party of Great Britain leader received just under 40 percent of the vote.His majority of 5,697 votes amounted to 18.3 percent of the total, on a turnout of 39.7 percent, a little higher than the two recent by-elections in Wellingborough and Kingswood.The surprise runner-up was David Tully, a local businessman and independent candidate, who secured more than 6,600 votes. More

Victorious George Galloway declared “this is for Gaza” as his party won the Rochdale by-election.Mr Galloway, of the Workers Party of Britain, won a 6,000 majority over his nearest rival in the by-election on Friday (1 March).In his victory speech, Mr Galloway said: “Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza. You have paid, and you will pay, a high price for the role that you have played in enabling, encouraging and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Palestine in the Gaza Strip.”He said he would put Rochdale councillors “on notice” that he intended to form a “grand alliance” to “clean the town hall up” at the local elections in May. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA Home Office pilot scheme to place ankle tags on up to 600 migrants on immigration bail to track their location breached UK data protection law, a watchdog has said.The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said the Home Office had failed to sufficiently assess the risks posed by the electronic monitoring of people, including the privacy concerns around the continuous collection of a person’s location.The data protection regulator said it had now issued an enforcement notice and a warning to the Home Office over the pilot, which orders the department to update its privacy policies and warns that data collection on a similar basis would spark enforcement action by the regulator.The pilot had been evaluating whether electronic monitoring was an effective way to maintain regular contact with asylum claimants, while reducing the risk of absconding and offering a potential alternative to detention.The ICO said it had been in discussion with the Home Office about the scheme since August 2022, after concerns about the pilot were raised by Privacy International.The pilot scheme ended in December 2023, but the ICO said the Home Office continues to have access to data gathered during the trial.Having examined the scheme, the data protection watchdog said the Home Office had also failed to assess the potential impact on people who may already be in a vulnerable position because of their immigration status, for reasons such as the conditions of their journey to the UK, or English not being their first language.The Home Office did not assess those risks sufficiently, which means the pilot scheme was not legally compliantInformation Commissioner John EdwardsThe ICO said the Home Office did not sufficiently consider how to mitigate against those risks, for example by providing clear information about why people’s location data was being collected and how it would be used.The regulator added that throughout its enquiries, the Home Office had also been unable to adequately explain why it was necessary or proportionate to access the data it collected.Information Commissioner John Edwards said: “Having access to a person’s 24/7 movements is highly intrusive, as it is likely to reveal a lot of information about them, including the potential to infer sensitive information such as their religion, sexuality, or health status.“Lack of clarity on how this information will be used can also inadvertently inhibit people’s movements and freedom to take part in day-to-day activities.“If such information were to be mishandled or misinterpreted, it could potentially have harmful consequences to people and their future.“The Home Office did not assess those risks sufficiently, which means the pilot scheme was not legally compliant.“We recognise the Home Office’s crucial work to keep the UK safe, and it’s for them to decide on what measures are necessary to do so.“But I’m sending a clear warning to the Home Office that they cannot take the same approach in the future. It is our duty to uphold people’s information rights, regardless of their circumstances.”In response, a Home Office spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that the ICO has issued this notice and whilst acknowledging improvements to documentation could be made, we reject the claim that the privacy risks of the scheme weren’t sufficiently addressed.“The pilot was designed to help us maintain contact with selected asylum claimants, deter absconding and progress asylum claims more effectively.“We will now carefully consider the ICO’s findings and respond in due course.”Under the enforcement notice issued, the Home Office has been ordered to update its internal policies, access guidance and privacy information in relation to data it retained from the pilot scheme.The formal warning issued alongside the notice states that any future data processing on the same basis by the Home Office would breach data protection law and would see the ICO take enforcement action. More