UK Politics

Former Labour MP Zarah Sultana has revealed what she wants the new left-wing party she has founded with Jeremy Corbyn to be called. The Coventry South MP, who quit Labour earlier this month to launch the new group, is pushing for the name to be ‘The Left’.However, the name, already a well-known phrase used to describe left-wing parties and activists in the UK, risks repeating the same confusion that occurred when the movement was officially announced last week. At that stage Mr Corbyn unveiled its existence with a message saying “this is your party” and urging his followers to go to the website yourparty.uk. Many assumed the party’s new name was simply Your Party, prompting Ms Sultana to clarify on social media: “It’s not called Your Party.”The party is a joint venture between MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Donald Trump has hit out at Keir Starmer’s taxes on North Sea oil just hours after praising the prime minister when the two met at his Scottish golf course. The president said the resource is a “treasure chest for the United Kingdom” as he urged Starmer to ”incentivise the drillers”.It comes less than a day after Trump described Sir Keir as “strong” and “respected” in an impromptu press conference on Monday, even saying that he wanted “to make the prime minister happy.” Now the president has used his Truth Social network to attack North Sea oil taxes, which he said make “no sense”. He posted: “North Sea Oil is a TREASURE CHEST for the United Kingdom. The taxes are so high, however, that it makes no sense. “They have essentially told drillers and oil companies that, “we don’t want you.” Incentivize the drillers, FAST. A VAST FORTUNE TO BE MADE for the UK, and far lower energy costs for the people!”The two men met at Trump’s Scottish golf course More

The Netherlands will ban two far-right Israeli ministers from entering the country, in the latest European response to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Gaza, the country’s foreign minister said. The ban and other measures were announced in a letter Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp sent to lawmakers late Monday evening, declaring “The war in Gaza must stop.” The ban targets hard-line National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, key partners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition. The pair are champions of the Israeli settlement movement who support continuing the war in Gaza, facilitating what they call the voluntary emigration of its Palestinian population and the building of Jewish settlements there.Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway imposed financial sanctions on the two men last month. Later on Tuesday, leaders will meet in Brussels to discuss a European Union response, including evaluating a trade agreement between the bloc and Israel. The Netherlands wants part of that agreement to be suspended. Ben-Gvir and Smotrich remained defiant. In a statement on social media, Smotrich said European leaders were surrendering to “the lies of radical Islam” and that Jews may not be able to live safely in Europe in the future. Ben-Gvir said he will “continue to act” and said that in Europe “a Jewish minister from Israel is unwanted, terrorists are free, and Jews are boycotted.” Pressure has been mounting on the Dutch government, which is gearing up for elections in October, to change course on Israeli policy. Last week, thousands demonstrated at train stations across the country, carrying pots and pans to signify the food shortage in Gaza. The government will also summon the Israeli ambassador to the Netherlands to urge Netanyahu to change course and “immediately take measures that lead to a substantial and rapid improvement in the humanitarian situation throughout the Gaza Strip,” Veldkamp wrote. After international pressure, Israel over the weekend announced humanitarian pauses, airdrops and other measures meant to allow more aid to Palestinians in Gaza. But people there say little or nothing has changed on the ground. The U.N. has described it as a one-week scale-up of aid, and Israel has not said how long these latest measures would last.Israel asserts that Hamas is the reason aid isn’t reaching Palestinians in Gaza and accuses its militants of siphoning off aid to support its rule in the territory. The U.N. denies that looting of aid is systematic and says it lessens or ends entirely when enough aid is allowed to enter Gaza. Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, are currently wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. The men are accused of using “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid, and of intentionally targeting civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Member states of the ICC are obliged to arrest the men if they arrive on their territory. More

A row has broken out between Labour and Reform after the Technology Secretary accused Nigel Farage of being on the side of “extreme pornographers” and “Jimmy Savile” over his party’s pledge to scrap the Online Safety Act.Mr Farage labelled the comments “disgusting” and called on Peter Kyle to apologise, after the Cabinet minister said the Reform leader is “on the side of turning the clock back” to when “strangers can get in touch via messaging apps with children”.Former Reform chairman Zia Yusuf claimed the remarks are “one of the most outrageous and disgusting things apolitician has said in the political arena”.Under rules that came into effect on July 25, online platforms such as social media sites and search engines must take steps to prevent children accessing harmful content such as pornography or material that encourages suicide.Mr Yusuf said on Monday that the party would repeal the legislation if they got into Government, claiming it works to “suppress freedom of speech” and “force social media companies to censor anti-government speech”.Speaking to Sky News on Tuesday, Mr Kyle said that children have been living in a “wild west” and labelled the new law “a big step forward”.He added: “I see that Nigel Farage is already saying that he’s going to overturn these laws. So you know, we have people out there who are extreme pornographers, peddling hate, peddling violence. Nigel Farage is on their side.“Make no mistake about it, if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today, he’d be perpetrating his crimes online. And Nigel Farage is saying that he’s on their side.”Asked to clarify his comments, Mr Kyle said: “Nigel Farage is on the side of turning the clock back to the time when strange adults, strangers can get in touch via messaging apps with children.”Mr Farage reacted on X by calling Mr Kyle’s remarks “disgusting” and said “he should do the right thing and apologise”.Mr Kyle then doubled down on his comments in response, and said that “if you want to overturn the Online Safety Act you are on the side of predators. It is as simple as that.”Mr Yusuf claimed that Mr Kyle’s remarks showed “how deeply unserious” the Government was about child safety, adding: “Talking about Jimmy Savile in that way does nothing other than denigrate the victims of Jimmy Savile.”He told Sky News that the comments are “one of the most outrageous and disgusting things a politician has said in the political arena that I can remember. And that’s quite a high bar, frankly.”Sir Keir Starmer jumped to defend the legislation from its critics when he met Donald Trump on Monday, telling reporters “We’re not censoring anyone”.“We’ve got some measures which are there to protect children, in particular, from sites like suicide sites.”He added: “I personally feel very strongly that we should protect our young teenagers, and that’s what it usually is, from things like suicide sites. I don’t see that as a free speech issue, I see that as child protection.” More

Donald Trump has removed a key obstacle to Sir Keir Starmer officially recognising a Palestinian state as the prime minister prepares to discuss the issue at a crucial cabinet meeting this week.The president, seen as one of Israel’s strongest supporters, signalled the United States would not object to such a move – giving Sir Keir the green light as pressure mounts on him politically to follow Emmanuel Macron, who last week announced France would do so.In an apparent shift in US backing for Israel, the president also expressed his concern at images and reports of children starving in Gaza, as a ground blockade means only very limited aid is getting through.And he joined calls for Benjamin Netanyahu to soften his tactics in Gaza, saying the Israeli PM “may have to do it a different way”.Keir Starmer is greeted by Donald Trump at his Trump Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire More

The impromptu press call on the steps of Turnberry with Keir Starmer and Donald Trump provided a historic moment for UK, US and Middle East politics.Amid the rambling of the US president, almost drowned out by the bagpipe music commissioned to welcome the prime minister and his wife, Lady Victoria, there was a significant shift in policy.Trump essentially greenlit Sir Keir recognising a Palestinian state and almost simultaneously rewrote US Republican Party policy on Israel and supporting Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.Trump publicly dismissed the Israeli prime minister’s claim that “nobody is starving in Gaza”.Starmer and Trump in Turnberry More

Sir Sadiq Khan has hit back at Donald Trump after the US president called him a “nasty person”. After Mr Trump said he has done “a terrible job”, a spokesman for the London mayor said that a record number of Americans are leaving the US for the UK’s capital under his administration. The spokesman said: “Sadiq is delighted that president Trump wants to come to the greatest city in the world.“He’d see how our diversity makes us stronger, not weaker; richer, not poorer.“Perhaps these are the reasons why a record number of Americans have applied for British citizenship under his presidency.”Sir Sadiq Khan hit back at Donald Trump on Monday More