UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailShadow foreign secretary David Lammy’s speech to the Fabian Society calling for a ceasefire in Gaza was disrupted by pro-Palestine protesters.The Labour frontbencher was addressing the think tank’s conference when flag-waving activists mounted the stage shouting: “When will you condemn the genocide? How many more children need to die?”Mr Lammy was ushered backstage, as two people who got on stage to express outrage over support for Israel were escorted out of the building by security.Another protestor in the audience then stood up to launch verbal attacks on the party’s approach to the Middle East conflict and said Mr Lammy “does not speak for me”.Once Mr Lammy returned after being temporarily rushed backstage, he sparked laughter by joking: “I was born in Tottenham, don’t worry.”Amid repeated heckling, the Labour frontbencher told the audience in London’s Guildhall: “We all want to see a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza … I want change through power, not through protest.”The Free Palestine Coalition later said some of its activists had infiltrated the left-wing think tank’s annual gathering to “call out” the senior politician’s position on Gaza.David Lammy continues with his speech after he was interrupted by protestersEarlier, Mr Lammy said Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments opposing the establishment of a Palestinian state after the war against Hamas in Gaza were “unacceptable”.And in his speech, the shadow foreign secretary went on to express support for a Palestinian state when the war ends and branded Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of the plans morally and practically “wrong”.“The peaceful quest for a Palestinian state is a just cause and the only path to guarantee a just and lasting peace for both Israelis and Palestinians,” said Mr Lammy.He added: “The Israeli government must immediately change their approach. From the pain and despair, new will and a new political process must emerge to make two states a reality.”Mr Lammy also said a Labour government would start urgent diplomatic talks on the creation of a new “international contact group” to take over from the defunct “quartet” – the UN, US, EU and Russia – to coordinate with western and Arab partners over peace in the region.Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted Lammy’s speech in relation to his position on Gaza, the grassroots organisation Free Palestine Coalition said It follows similar comments made by Sir Keir Starmer, who also condemned Mr Netanyahu’s dismissal of a two-state solution as “unacceptable”.Hardening his tone towards the Israeli PM, on Friday the Labour leader said it was wrong to suggest that Palestinian statehood was “in the gift of a neighbour”.In a press conference earlier this week, Mr Netanyahu said he opposed US calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state as part of any post-war plan.He has vowed to press ahead with the offensive in Gaza for many months despite mounting pressure on Israel to rein in its military action as the scale of death and destruction intensifies.But US president Joe Biden voiced hope that it was still possible even while Mr Netanyahu remains in office, following a call with the Israeli leader on Friday – their first talks in nearly a month.Keir Starmer has said Palestinian statehood is not ‘in the gift’ of Israel Mr Lammy said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Mr Biden was “right”, adding: “And I have to say, I think Netanyahu’s words were unacceptable. Of course, the Palestinian people deserve a state.”He added: “And if they don’t, the consequence of that is either one state in which Benjamin Netanyahu would have to explain how Palestinians and Israelis live side-by-side with equal rights, or no state, in which what he’s really saying is occupation and siege continues.”Sir Keir has faced huge pressure from the party’s grassroots left and pro-Palestine campaigners over his initial refusal to back an immediate ceasefire in the wake of the eruption of violence in October, with the Palestinian death toll approaching 25,000, according to local health authorities.Ten frontbenchers also quit over his handling of the Gaza invasion which followed the Hamas terror attack which saw around 1,200 Israelis killed and 240 taken hostage.In December, Sir Keir began calling for a “sustainable ceasefire”, as he and other leaders among Israel’s western allies began to move away from unqualified support for strikes on Gaza. More

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insightLondon mayor Sadiq Khan has criticised the “omerta” which has prevented the party from debating whether the UK could re-join the EU single market after Brexit.The senior Labour figure suggested there was a code of silence which stopped Sir Keir Starmer’s party discussing bolder steps to re-integrate with Brussels.Mr Khan – a leading critic of Boris Johnson’s “hard” Brexit deal – has previously called for Britain to consider signing up again to the bloc’s customs union and economic single market.Sir Keir continues to insist there is no way a Labour government would re-join the single market or customs union, and ruled out a deal to re-establish freedom of movement as a “red line” he would not cross.Speaking at a Q&A event at the Fabian Society conference in London on Saturday, the mayor said it was time to have “the conversation” about meaningful alignment.He said re-joining the EU’s economic alliance should be on the table when the current Brexit deal comes up for review in 2025.“I’m not saying today we should rejoin the European Union. What I’m saying is that [shadow foreign secretary] David Lammy is onto something when he’s saying we should have a closer relationship with the European Union.”Mr Khan then criticised the “omerta” – a mafia term for a pact of silence – which means “you can’t talk about being close to the European Union, joining the single market, joining the customs union”.Sadiq Khan giving a speech to the Fabian Society conferenceThe London mayor said “the economic cost of this extreme hard Brexit is huge”, having commissioned a recent study which found that it had already cost the UK economy £140bn.The damning study by Cambridge Econometrics also found that Britain’s decision to leave the EU is set to leave Britain’s economy £311bn worse off by the middle of the next decade.Mr Khan also said Rishi Sunak’s government is using its Rwanda deportation plan “in the same way they used Brexit – as a deflection of all the problems they’re caused to our country”.He called for the Labour party to “speak up” on the benefits of immigration and diversity, rather than try to match the Tories on promises to lower migration levels.Meanwhile, Labour’s shadow Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn claimed that the EU will breathe an “audible sigh of relief” if the party wins the general election later this year.The frontbencher touted the benefits of a stronger alliance with the bloc, highlighting both economic and security benefits amid growing geopolitical uncertainty.Keir Starmer at anti-Brexit rally in 2019“The EU is a bit tired of negotiating with Britain,” Mr Benn said in a speech at the left-wing think tank’s event. “And there is no doubt that the arrival of a Labour government, if we win … will be greeted in the EU with a big and audible sigh of relief.“And I think eventually there is going to be a moment when we look at each other across the Channel and say, ‘You know what, we’re still big and important trading partners, we’re still friends and allies, we are co-operating on foreign policy and security and we need to do more of that … so wouldn’t it make sense to have a closer relationship?’”Mr Benn added: “And why does this matter so much? Well, clearly it matters economically but there’s something else that is even more important, and that is building alliances in a dangerous world.”The Labour frontbencher pointed to conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and Sudan, tensions over Taiwan, the threat of climate change and the risk of a second Donald Trump presidency.“We should come together with those who share our common values to defend those values in the face of these threats,” he concluded. “The best way to protect your sovereignty is to work with others.”Sir Keir has promised to seek a new veterinary agreement with the EU to align some stands in a bid to ease current trade friction.The Labour leader has also made vague pledge to examine the current Brexit trade deal when it comes up for review in 2025 with a view to making it “better”. More

David Lammy’s speech calling for a ceasefire in Gaza was disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters.The incident happened in London on Saturday 20 January.Labour’s shadow foreign secretary was addressing the Fabian Society conference on foreign policy when flag-waving demonstrators mounted the stage shouting: “When will you condemn the genocide? How many more children need to die?”After they were escorted away by security, more people in the audience stood up to launch verbal attacks on the party’s stance on the Middle East conflict.Once Mr Lammy returned after being temporarily rushed backstage, he joked: “I was born in Tottenham, don’t worry.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak is now more unpopular than both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn at the peak of their unpopularity, a new survey shows.The Conservative PM is struggling to reverse his party’s dire polling fortunes, and his own personal standing with the British public has a hit a new low.Mr Sunak has a net approval rating of minus 48, according to the latest IpsosUK poll – lower than either Mr Johnson or Mr Corbyn when they resigned.Mr Johnson’s approval rating was minus 45 when he was booted out of No 10 by his own party, while Mr Corbyn’s was minus 44 when he quit as Labour leader following the thumping 2019 election defeat.The Tory leader can take some small comfort from the fact is slightly more popular than Liz Truss when she left No 10 in disgrace in the autumn of 2022 with an approval rating of minus 51.IpsosUK pollster Keiran Pedley cautioned that “ratings can go up and down so Rishi Sunak’s should not be seen as set in stone”.“However, it may concern the Conservatives that the prime minister’s poll ratings are so low as we head towards a general election,” he added.Rishi Sunak under pressure to boost Tories flagging poll fortunes A leading Johnson supporter has claimed that “at least” 29 Conservative MPs have submitted letters of no confidence against Mr Sunak.Andrea Jenkyns – a Tory backbencher who has been a consistent critic of Mr Sunak – said that more than two dozen colleagues had told her they had handed in letters.“Talk of letters is always nonsense – only Sir Graham [Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee] knows how many are in,” one Sunak ally told The Independent. The senior Tory said it would be “madness” to replace the current leader before the general election.But talk of replacing Mr Sunak continues to rumble on. Right-wing Tory rebels told The Times that the party’s awful polling mean there was “nothing left to lose” in trying to replace their leader once again.“Even John Major got 31 per cent in 1997. No Conservative leader can survive being at 20 per cent for very long. If this persists until the election the Conservative party is dead for 10 to 15 years,” one said.This week’s YouGov survey gives Labour an astonishing 27-point lead over the Tories (47 per cent to 20 per cent). It follows the polling company’s MRP mega-poll which predicted the Conservatives were on course to hold just 169 sears in a 1997-style wipeout.The fresh rows came as Mr Sunak urged peers to “crack on” with the Rwanda bill in the House of Lords – saying he wanted to get the deportation flights “up and running” as soon as possible.But the latest poll shows that the public is not convinced by his Rwanda plan. A majority – 51 per cent of voters – think the PM’s deportation policy will fail to send asylum seekers to the African country, while just 21 per cent think he will succeed in getting flights started.More voters (39 per cent) back the Rwanda plan than oppose it (28 per cent), according to the Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey for the i newspaper. But the findings suggest a jadedness about the issue.Some 42 per cent of voters say Rwanda deportation flights wouldn’t influence which party they vote for, while 16 per cent said the Tory plan make them more likely to vote for a rival party. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak was accused of being “out of touch” with voters after he was captured laughing as he was challenged in the street by a woman who expressed her anger over the dire state of NHS waiting lists.Cameras caught the awkward exchange as the PM was confronted by voters in Winchester town centre about problems in the health service during a walkabout in Winchester town centre.Mr Sunak burst out laughing as the woman – a former NHS worker – told him he could solve the problems and “make it all go back to how it used to be”.Labour pounced on the uncomfortable clip and said it showed that the Tory leader “has no idea of the misery NHS patients are going through”.In an exchange caught on camera during his visit to the southern blue-wall constituency, Mr Sunak blamed striking junior doctors for the NHS backlog, telling the woman that the recent dip in the number of people waiting “just shows that when there aren’t strikes, we really can make progress”.Rishi Sunak challenged over NHS waiting lists in Winchester Mr Sunak laughed as she said: “You could make it all go back to how it used to be … where if you had a problem, you could go to the hospital.”The woman then confronted Mr Sunak about lengthy waiting times for hospital treatment, telling him: “My daughter spent seven hours waiting.”Mr Sunak appeared to turn his back on the woman when she began talking about her daughter. But he then turned to continue the conversation – saying he was “sorry to hear” that her daughter had spent seven hours in A&E.The PM reiterated that all of the disputes behind NHS strikes had now been resolved, apart from the one with junior doctors. The woman said she “hoped so” and shook his hand.Sir Keir Starmer said that the clip of Mr Sunak laughing at a voter who was worried about the NHS “reinforces what people think” about the government.The Labour leader said: “The prime minister doesn’t understand what people are going through,” adding: “We engage with our plan – we don’t laugh and walk away.”Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said the encounter showed that Mr Sunak “has no idea of the misery” NHS patients are going through. “When Sunak asks for their vote later this year, he will get a taste of his own medicine,” he said.Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine said that “laughing in the face of a former health worker” as they try to explain NHS problems “is frankly shocking”.She added: “Out of touch does not even begin to describe Rishi Sunak’s attitude to the NHS. The prime minister either does not care or he does not get it.”Sunak speaking to voters in the blue-wall seatLabour has maintained its narrow lead over the Conservatives in crucial blue-wall seats, a new Redfield & Wilton poll has found. The survey has Sir Keir’s party on 31 per cent ahead of Mr Sunak’s party on 30 per cent in 42 seats in the south of England that were won by the Tories in 2019. Mr Sunak has promised to get waiting lists down as one of his five big pledges ahead of the 2024 general election, which he is planning to call in the “second half” of the year.Some 6.39 million patients across England were waiting for routine hospital treatment in November, figures suggest, which is down slightly from 6.44 million in October. But the data indicates that the NHS is still failing to hit most of its key performance targets, despite the overall drop.Just over 11,000 people in England were waiting for more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment at the end of November, up from just over 10,500 at the end of October.A&E waiting times also worsened, with 69.4 per cent of patients in England seen within four hours in December, down from 69.7 per cent in November and against a target set for March this year of 76 per cent.Meanwhile, a leading Boris Johnson supporter has claimed that “at least” 29 Conservative MPs have submitted letters of no confidence against Mr Sunak.Andrea Jenkyns – a Tory backbencher who has been a consistent critic of Mr Sunak – said that more than two dozen colleagues had told her they had handed in letters.“Talk of letters is always nonsense – only Sir Graham [Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee] knows how many are in,” one Sunak ally told The Independent. The senior Tory said it would be “madness” to replace the current leader before the general election.The fresh rows came as Mr Sunak again urged peers to “crack on” with the Rwanda bill in the House of Lords – saying he wanted to get the deportation flights “up and running” as soon as possible.In a pointed message to the Lords, the PM said on Friday: “I would urge them strongly to crack on with it, because we all just want to get this done … the country is fed up and frustrated with the merry-go-round on this topic.”However, peers have rejected the Tory leader’s “bizarre” demand to rush through the legislation. The upper chamber has approved a two-month timetable to scrutinise the bill – refusing to move any more quickly than usual. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email European Union Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders on Friday praised efforts by Poland’s new pro-EU government to restore the rule of law and said they may lead to the release of billions of euros in EU funds for the country that were frozen under the previous government. Reynders was holding talks in Warsaw with new Justice Minister Adam Bodnar, the foreign and European affairs ministers and parliament speakers about the steps that Poland’s month-old government is taking to reverse the controversial judicial policies of the previous administration that the EU had criticized as undemocratic. Reynders said at a news conference that he was pleased by the determination of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his Cabinet in restoring the rule of law, in line with Poland’s Constitution and the requirements of the EU and the European Convention on Human Rights. He said the European Commission, the executive arm of the 27-member bloc, was supporting the government’s efforts. He expressed hope that the steps would soon allow the approval of Poland’s request for the release of about 7 billion euros ($7.6 billion) from the post-pandemic recovery funds earmarked for the country. The EU froze the money as a result of rule-of-law disputes with Poland’s previous right-wing government of the Law and Justice party.Among its key steps, Tusk’s government has imprisoned two members of the previous government who were convicted of abuse of power and document forging and is making personnel changes in vital judicial bodies and some courts where rule-of-law principles had been questioned. Bodnar’s steps have been harshly criticized by the opposition which lost power in October elections, but he told the news conference that they were well thought-out and necessary. More

Rishi Sunak laughed as a disgruntled voter in Winchester pleaded with him to fix lengthy NHS waiting lists for treatment.The woman told the prime minister “you could make it all go back to how it used to be” before the prime minister appeared to chuckle nervously in an exchange caught on camera by Sky News.”If we had a problem, you could go to the hospital. My daughter spent seven hours waiting,” she added.Figures suggest that some 6.39 million patients across England were waiting for routine hospital treatment in November, down slightly from 6.44 million in October. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailChristmas saw the worst month for retail sales in nearly three years, raising the risk that the UK economy tipped into recession at the end of last year. Analysts at Capital Economics said the weak spending increased the chances that the country was now in a technical, or ‘weak’, recession. Sales by UK retailers fell at their fastest rate in nearly three years in December as consumers did some of their Christmas shopping earlier than usual.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that retail sales volumes have had the worst performance since January 2021, and are thought to have dropped 3.2% in December, down from a rise of 1.4% the month before.The figures have been seasonally adjusted, meaning the actual figures were likely to be higher than reported in November, but the rise was less than in past years.Heather Bovill, deputy director for surveys and economic indicators at the ONS, said: “Following a strong November, retail sales plummeted in December with all types of outlets being hit.Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has hinted at tax cuts before the next election “This was the largest overall monthly fall since January 2021, when the reintroduction of pandemic restrictions knocked sales heavily.“Food stores performed very poorly, with their steepest fall since May 2021 as early Christmas shopping led to slow December sales.“Department stores, clothing shops and household goods retailers reported sluggish sales too as consumers spent less on Christmas gifts, but had also purchased earlier during Black Friday promotions, to help spread the cost.“The longer-term picture remains subdued, with quarterly sales dipping, while annual sales volumes fell for the second consecutive year, to their lowest level in five years.”Alex Kerr, assistant economist at Capital Economics, said: “The fall in retail sales volumes in December was far worse than expected and suggests that the Black Friday boost to retail sales proved short-lived. Today’s release would subtract around 0.15 percentage points from real gross domestic product growth in December, which increases the chances the economy may have ended 2023 in the mildest of mild recessions.”Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones MP, remarking on the fall in retail sales, said:“Fourteen years of Conservative economic failure have left working people worse off and are forcing families to cut back.“A decade of low economic growth has left Britain with the highest tax burden in 70 years, with families set to be £1,200 a year worse off under the Tories’ tax plans.“It’s time for change. Rishi Sunak should call an election and give the people the chance to vote for a Labour government that will get Britain’s future back.” More