UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailKeir Starmer has insisted he took “decisive” action after Labour was accused of a “shambolic” delay in withdrawing support for a candidate who claimed Israel had allowed the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people. In his first public comments since the row erupted on Sunday, the Labour leader also denied he would have dumped the would-be MP sooner had he been on the left of his party. And he pledged to investigate any allegations against other Labour councillors present when Azhar Ali made his widely condemned remarks. Labour initially backed Mr Ali, who said Israel had “allowed” the October 7 massacre in order to attack Gaza, saying he had fallen for an online conspiracy theory.But the party dramatically dropped him on Monday night after it emerged he had also blamed “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters” for fuelling criticism of a pro-Palestinian MP.The Conservatives said the furore showed claims Labour had changed under Sir Keir were “hollow”. Appearing on the campaign trail in Wellingborough, Sir Keir insisted he had taken tough action. He said: “Certain information came to light over the weekend in relation to the candidate. There was a fulsome apology. Further information came to light yesterday calling for decisive action, so I took decisive action.“It is a huge thing to withdraw support for a Labour candidate during the course of a by-election. It’s a tough decision, a necessary decision, but when I say the Labour Party has changed under my leadership I mean it.” He also denied he had stuck by Mr Ali because of factionalism, saying it makes “no difference to me where somebody stands in the Labour Party”.Earlier Mr Forde had described Labour’s reaction in the 36 hours since Mr Ali’s first comments emerged, as “pretty shambolic.” He described the remarks as “clearly antisemitic” and “inflammatory”, and said Labour should have withdrawn its support at the weekend: “That to me would be the sensible thing to do.”“One does have to question how such individuals are selected in the first place”, he said, and added that left-leaning Labor MPs feel there has been a “disparity in treatment” when it comes to allegations of antisemitism. Mr Forde’s 2022 inquiry, commissioned by Keir Starmer, found that both the left and right wings of the party had used antisemitism as a factional weapon under former leader Jeremy Corbyn.Former Labour MP, now the government’s antisemitism tsar, Lord Mann said it was “hardly a surprise” Labour had been forced to pull its support. He called on political leaders from all parties to “get their collective acts together to sort this out” as he warned of a “tornado” of anti-Jewish racism working its way through the country. Mr Ali initially apologised after he was recorded suggesting in a meeting of the Lancashire Labour Party that Israel had used the October 7 Hamas assault as an excuse to invade Gaza.On Monday night a party spokesperson said Labour’s backing had been withdrawn “following new information” about the aspiring MP, understood to be suspended pending an investigation. Labour recently suspended an MP, Kate Osamor, after she appeared to suggest the Gaza war should be remembered as genocide on Holocaust Memorial Day, for which she later apologised.Veteran MP Diane Abbott has also had the whip withdrawn after she suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people were not subject to racism “all their lives” in a letter to the Observer last year.She apologised and suggested that “errors arose” when the letter was being drafted. Mr Forde highlighted both cases, saying “things seemed to drag on in terms of disciplining certain elements of the party, and be dealt with swiftly in others”.Sir Keir has boasted of turning his party around after controversies over alleged antisemitism dogged Jeremy Corbyn’s time as leader.Tory minister Lee Rowley accused Labour of “going to ground” over the furore, after no shadow minister appeared on Tuesday’s morning media.”Where’s Labour today?,” he told Sky News.On Monday Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden said the party acted because “new information and more comments have come to light which meant that we had to look at this situation again”.A spokesperson said: “Keir Starmer has changed Labour so that it is unrecognisable from the party of 2019. We understand that these are highly unusual circumstances, but it is vital that any candidate put forward by Labour fully represents its aims and values. Given that nominations have now closed, Azhar Ali cannot be replaced as the candidate.”Labour’s U-turn has created uncertainty over who will win the Rochdale vote at the end of this month. Also standing are former Labour MP Simon Danczuk, now the Reform Party candidate, and ex-Labour MP George Galloway, of the Workers Party of Britain, who is campaigning against Labour’s stance on Gaza.Polls suggest Labour’s vote could be hit by unhappiness over Labour’s perceived support for Israel.If elected, Mr Ali will sit as an independent MP and will not receive the party whip. A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said Sir Keir had “blotted an otherwise fairly admirable copybook and given the public reason to doubt the earnestness of his promise to tear antisemitism out ‘by its roots’ in Labour. People will have to judge for themselves whether the additional reported comments by Azhar Ali are really any worse than the comments that had already been reported.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour’s former Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali said Benjamin Netenyahu allowed the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel because he was “in political trouble”.In the first audio recording of his controversial comments to be made public, the local councillor said the Israeli prime minister “deliberately took the security off” and “allowed the massacre”.“That gives them the green light to do whatever they bloody want [in Gaza],” Mr Ali said.The audio, made public by Guido Fawkes, was recorded at a meeting of the Lancashire Labour Party.As well as claiming Israel allowed the Hamas terror attack, which killed around 1,200 Israelis, to go ahead, Mr Ali also allegedly said Labour’s suspension of a left-wing MP was driven by “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters”.Labour’s candidate for Rochdale Azhar Ali lost the party’s support on Monday (Peter Byrne/PA)The antisemitic outburst, for which he has apologised, cost Mr Ali Labour’s support in the Rochdale by-election. He will appear on the ballot on February 29 due to electoral rules prohibiting a change of candidate, but Labour is no longer backing Mr Ali and he will not sit as a Labour MP if he is elected.In the recording of his comments, Mr Ali hints that he has expressed the opinion publicly on other occasions, saying “I believe that, and I’ve said it publicly”.It will raise further questions about how he was allowed to be selected to replace the late Sir Tony Lloyd, the veteran former Labour MP whose death last month sparked the contest.When Mr Ali’s comments first came to light, in a report by the Mail on Sunday, Labour publicly stood by their man. Shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds insisted it would be “unfair” to conclude there is a problem with Labour in Rochdale, adding that Mr Ali had simply “fallen for an online conspiracy theory”.Frontbenchers Lisa Nandy and Anneliese Dodds had campaigned for Mr Ali over the weekend, while shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds was defending Labour’s decision to back him on Monday morning.Labour campaign coordinator Pat McFadden criticised Mr Ali but said on Sunday he would remain as Labour’s candidate.Labour blamed his suspension on “new information”, referring to a report in the Daily Mail that he had blamed Andy McDonald’s suspension on “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters”.Mr McDonald was suspended by Labour after he used the phrase “between the river and the sea” in a speech during a rally.Mr Ali is also reported to have claimed Israel planned to “get rid of [Palestinians] from Gaza” and “grab” some of the land.The recording came as a lawyer who led a review into antisemitism in the Labour Party said its handling of the crisis has been “shambolic”.Martin Forde KC said MPs within the party feel there has been a “disparity in treatment” of allegations of antisemitism following the leadership’s rowback in support for Mr Ali.Mr Forde, whose 2022 inquiry found that both left and right wings of the party had used antisemitism as a factional weapon under former leader Jeremy Corbyn, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “If you want a fair and transparent system then it has to deal with people consistently.”He added: “I’m aware from discussions with some of the MPs within the party – who might be described as left-leaning – that they feel that when it comes to disciplinary action taken against them then things move rather slowly, but if you’re in the right faction of the party, as it were, then things are dealt with either more leniently or more swiftly.”A Labour spokesman said: “Following new information about further comments made by Azhar Ali coming to light today, the Labour Party has withdrawn its support for Azhar Ali as our candidate in the Rochdale by-election.“Keir Starmer has changed Labour so that it is unrecognisable from the party of 2019.“We understand that these are highly unusual circumstances, but it is vital that any candidate put forward by Labour fully represents its aims and values. Given that nominations have now closed, Azhar Ali cannot be replaced as the candidate.” More

Sunak accuses Starmer of ‘standing by’ Azhar Ali after Israel remarks Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has accused Sir Keir Starmer of having “no principles at all” over the Labour Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali in a live TV grilling by undecided and swing voters.Just minutes before the Prime Minister faced questions on GB News in County Durham on Monday evening, Labour withdrew its support for Mr Ali, who had claimed Israel deliberately relaxed security to allow Hamas to carry out their 7 October attack, to provide grounds to invade Gaza.Mr Ali apologised for his “deeply offensive” remarks, made in a recording obtained by the Mail on Sunday– yet the controversy has prompted questions about the Labour leader’s claim the party has changed since the antisemitism crisis that engulfed Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.It comes as Mr Sunak is facing one of the most challenging weeks of his premiership, with two tricky by-elections, opposition to his Rwanda Bill currently under scrutiny in the House of Lords, and the release of official figures revealing whether the country has slipped into a recession.Show latest update 1707782460Why a parliamentary candidate can’t be removed by a party in the weeks up to an electionAlexander Butler13 February 2024 00:011707778829Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill comes under fire from Tory and Labour peersAlexander Butler12 February 2024 23:001707777822‘We haven’t made enough of a dent in NHS waiting lists,’ admits PMAn issue that has blighted the entirety of Mr Sunak’s premiership is worsening NHS waiting lists.In response to a question posed on the matter by an audience of voters on GB News, Mr Sunak cited investments in the health service that might only reap benefits in years to come but that he is still making because they are “the right thing to do”.However, Mr Sunak admitted: “We haven’t made enough of a dent in the waiting list.”Although he went on to blame Covid and now ongoing strikes over pay, insisting: “I know that we can get them down if we can get the strikes behind us.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has defended his under-fire Rwanda policy as the UK public grilled the prime minister live on TV.Mr Sunak faced questions from an audience of undecided and swing voters in County Durham on Monday night, including over his flagship deportation scheme.He argued illegal migration is “profoundly unfair” and is putting a strain on the country’s public services, while he cited “compassion” for vulnerable migrants who are being “exploited by criminal gangs” as another reason for implementing his plan.Speaking on GB News, Mr Sunak said: “In order to fully solve this problem, we need a deterrent… That’s what Rwanda is all about. That is why I am absolutely committed to getting this bill through parliament and getting this scheme up and running.”It comes as the Safety of Rwanda Bill came under scrutiny in the House of Lords earlier on Monday, facing opposition from both Labour and Conservative peers, who warned of their belief that the legislation would set a dangerous precedent for Britain.The PM’s bill, which aims to overcome a Supreme Court ruling blocking the government from deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda, is currently making its way through the upper chamber, with Mr Sunak on Monday night blaming the Labour Party for its slow progress.Mr Sunak faced questions from an audience of undecided and swing voters in County Durham on Monday night, including over his flagship deportation schemeDescribing the legislation as “the toughest anyone has seen”, he vowed: “I will keep going.”The Tory leader is facing one of the most challenging weeks of his premiership, as the opposition to his Rwanda Bill comes ahead of the release on Thursday of official figures revealing whether the country has slipped into a recession and two tricky by-elections.The PM used his platform on Monday night to take a swipe at Sir Keir Starmer who has become embroiled in a storm over remarks made about Israel by his party’s Rochdaleby-election candidate Azhar Ali.Just minutes before Mr Sunak went on air, Labour withdrew its support for Mr Ali after he claimed Israel deliberately relaxed security to allow Hamas to carry out their 7 October attack, to provide grounds to invade Gaza, in a recording obtained by the Mail on Sunday.The PM accused the Labour leader of standing by the politician and having “no principles at all”.Sir Keir Starmer has claimed the Labour party has changed since the antisemitism crisis that engulfed Jeremy Corbyn’s leadershipMr Ali has apologised for his “deeply offensive” remarks – yet the controversy has prompted questions about Labour leader Sir Keir’s claim the party has changed since the antisemitism crisis that engulfed Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.Mr Sunak himself faced a backlash earlier this week after he accused the Labour leader in the Commons of being incapable of “defining a woman” while Esther Ghey, the mother of murdered transgender teenager Brianna Ghey, was visiting Parliament.A member of Monday night’s audience asked the prime minister why LGBT+ people should vote Conservative, pressing him on the trans community in particular.Azhar Ali has apologised for his ‘deeply offensive’ remarks The Tory leader replied: “For people that are going through that, particularly children, we have to be sensitive, tolerant and understanding…“But I also think in that issue that, particularly when it comes to questions over women’s safety, that biological sex is important.”He added: “I really don’t think that anything I just said is controversial.”An issue that has blighted the entirety of Mr Sunak’s premiership is worsening NHS waiting lists.The PM used his platform on Monday night to take a swipe at Sir Keir StarmerIn response to a question posed on the matter, Mr Sunak cited investments in the health service that might only reap benefits in years to come but that he is still making because they are “the right thing to do”.However, Mr Sunak admitted: “We haven’t made enough of a dent in the waiting list.”Although he went on to blame Covid and now ongoing strikes over pay, insisting: “I know that we can get them down if we can get the strikes behind us.”Acknowledging the tough times the country has faced in recent years, Mr Sunak encouraged the voters to “stick with the plan” of the Conservative party, insisting, “The plan’s working.” Conversely, he said: “The alternative is going back to square one with the Labour Party.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation bill faced fresh opposition from Conservatives and Labour in the House of Lords.Tory and Labour peers warned of their belief that the Safety of Rwanda Bill would set a dangerous precedent for Britain.The PM’s bill, which aims to overcome a Supreme Court ruling blocking the government from deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda, is making its way through the upper chamber.After Mr Sunak’s deportation scheme with the east African nation was ruled unlawful, based on judges’ assessment that Rwanda is not a safe country for asylum seekers, the prime minister introduced a bill deeming the country safe in British law.Sunak visits a bus depot in Harrogate, North Yorkshire on MondayIt has passed the House of Commons, but is likely to face amendments in the Lords which could threaten the government’s ability to put asylum seekers on planes before the general election expected this autumn.On Monday Lord Cameron, the foreign secretary, warned peers it would be “wrong” to frustrate the bill, arguing that “we need to get this Bill through Parliament”.But, debating the bill on Monday evening, peers from across the upper chamber tore into the bill’s implications.Tory peer Lord Tugendhat said: “I have been a member of Parliament for a very long time on and off, and I have been a member of the Conservative party for some 66 years when I counted it up, and I do have to say that I find it quite extraordinary that the party of Margaret Thatcher should be introducing a Bill of this kind.”The Conservative grandee, whose nephew is security minister Tom Tugendhat, claimed the Bill could have an impact on the UK’s perception as a “marvellous place to do business because of our great respect for the rule of law”.Lord Tugendhat added: “What we are being asked to do really represents the sort of behaviour that the world associates with despots and autocracies, not with an established democracy, not with the Mother of Parliaments. It is a Bill we should not even be asked to confront, let alone pass.”Meanwhile Tory peer Viscount Hailsham said it was “manifestly untrue” to claim parliament believes Rwanda is a safe country for asylum seekers.“It is simply untrue to state that it is the judgement of Parliament that Rwanda is a safe country. That maybe the opinion of the House of Commons”, the peer said, noting MPs can come under pressure from party whips, and adding “but what is absolutely certain is that it is not the opinion of this House.”It came as peers debated the merits of amendments to the asylum bill. Those put forward include measures that would include a “sunset clause” into the bill and require the government to restate that Rwanda is a safe country every six months.It is likely that if the bill returns to the House of Commons with any amendments attached, the government will seek to strip them out. The bill would then be sent back to the House of Lords in a process known as ping-pong.During the debate, Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti warned the bill “threatens both the domestic rule of law, especially the separation of powers, and the international rules-based order”.The barrister and human rights activist led calls for the Government to heed advice from the UN about whether Rwanda is safe before beginning deportations, adding: “I will assume that the Government does not want to put the executive of the United Kingdom on a collision course with our Supreme Court or our international legal obligations.”So amendments in this group seek to offer a way through the stalemate for people of good will from all sides of your Lordships House.”Former justice secretary Lord Falconer told peers that the bill, in its current form, could open the door to corrupt prime ministers overruling the courts to help their cronies.He said: “Suppose the prime minister has a friend or a crony in the House of Commons who is convicted in a court of corruption of some sort, and then the prime minister presents a bill to Parliament saying it it the judgment of Parliament that ‘Snooks MP’ actually wasn’t able to present this new evidence to the criminal court that convicted him, so it is the judgment of Parliament that Snooks MP is innocent.”That is the route that this particular Bill takes Parliament down.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch live as members of the House of Lords debate Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda asylum bill on Monday, 12 February, after MPs and peers warned it is “fundamentally incompatible” with the UK’s human rights obligations and would flout international law.The government’s Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill “risks untold damage” to the UK’s hard-won reputation as a proponent of human rights internationally, Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights said.Following a Supreme Court ruling against the plan, the controversial draft legislation and a treaty with Rwanda are intended to prevent further legal challenges to the stalled deportation scheme.The bill seeks to limit asylum seekers’ ability to appeal against being put on a flight to the east African country.Under the proposed legislation, judges would be compelled to regard Rwanda as safe and people could therefore be deported there.However, the crossbench committee of MPs and Lords said they were “not persuaded that Parliament can be confident that Rwanda is now safe. In any event, we consider that the courts are best placed to resolve such contested issues of fact.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBritain has imposed sanctions on four Israeli individuals, saying they “threatened and perpetrated acts of aggression and violence” against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.It follows a similar move by the US, which recently imposed sanctions on several Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinians.The news comes as the foreign secretary and prime minister called on Israel to “stop and think seriously” before taking further action in Rafah in the south of Gaza.Speaking to reporters in East Kilbride, Scotland, Lord David Cameron said that the government are “very concerned” about the situation in Rafah and wants “Israel to stop and think seriously before it takes any further action.”The government notice said that the most recent sanctions will target extremist Israeli settlers who have “violently attacked Palestinians” in the occupied West Bank.The sanctions will impose financial and travel restrictions in a bid to tackle continued settler violence which threatens West Bank stability. The government notice said those sactioned have used “physical aggression, threatened families at gunpoint, and destroyed property as part of a targeted and calculated effort to displace Palestinian communities.”The foreign secretary has called for Israel to stop and think before it takes further military action Foreign secretary Lord Cameron said: “Today’s sanctions place restrictions on those involved in some of the most egregious abuses of human rights. We should be clear about what is happening here. Extremist Israeli settlers are threatening Palestinians, often at gunpoint, and forcing them off land that is rightfully theirs. “This behaviour is illegal and unacceptable. Israel must also take stronger action and put a stop to settler violence. Too often, we see commitments made and undertakings given, but not followed through.He added: “Extremist settlers, by targeting and attacking Palestinian civilians, are undermining security and stability for both Israelis and Palestinians.”Downing Street has echoed the foreign secretary’s calls for Israel to “stop and think seriously” before carrying out military action against Hamas in Rafah, southern Gaza.The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We are obviously deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah.“Over half of Gaza’s population are sheltering there and that crossing is vital to ensuring aid can reach the people who desperately need it“The priority in Gaza must be an immediate pause in the fighting to get aid in and hostages out, such that we can then make progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe housing secretary Michael Gove has insisted that the government will follow through with its plan to ban no-fault evictions before the next election, despite repeated delays to the legislation.The Conservative party‘s 2019 manifesto pledged to outlaw Section 21 – a provision that allows landlords to evict tenants without having to give a reason outside of a tenancy agreement. But the legislation has been continuously delayed, leading housing campaigners to question the government’s commitment.The renters reform bill, which contains provisions to outlaw the practice, has been going through parliament, but is now not expected to be debated again until next month.The Renters Reform Bill has been continually delayed A further 30,230 landlords started no-fault eviction court proceedings in 2023 – a 28 per cent rise in one year.On BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Gove guaranteed that no-fault evictions will be banned by the time of the general election later this year.Asked whether the practice will have ended by the time Britain goes to the polls, despite his previous concerns that the courts may not be able to cope, Mr Gove said: “We will have outlawed it, and we will put the money into the courts in order to ensure that they can enforce it.”Mr Gove’s legislation has faced significant opposition from within his own party, as nearly one in five Conservative MPs are also landlords.Late last year, a series of Conservative MPs voiced their opposition to the Renters Reform Bill, saying it would add “to the burden of landlords”.In the Commons, Conservative former minister Sir Edward Leigh told MPs: “Banning no-fault evictions will make the rental market even more stagnant and will lead to a further drying up of it.”He added: “And apart from adding to the burden of landlords, we don’t want a situation that happened in Ireland, where the regulatory burdens on landlords is such that the rental sector has shrunk massively and governments have paid the price in terms of popularity.”Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown also said the bill would have a “disastrous effect” on areas including his constituency “in reducing the number of rental properties, and therefore increasing the price of rent, and for youngsters this is really serious”.The housing secretary also said he is doing everything he can “short of laying siege” to the Chancellor’s home to persuade him to put more money into housing in the spring Budget.Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said the bill would reduce the number of rental properties in The Cotswolds Mr Gove said: “I’m doing everything I can, I mean short of laying siege to his own home.“Every day I send him a note or a message emphasising the importance of doing more to unlock housing supply.He added: “And he gets it. So Jeremy Hunt is someone who absolutely appreciates the importance of supporting the next generation.” Responding to Michael Gove’s comments this morning, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper MP said:“It is shocking that this Conservative government has repeatedly chosen to delay their promised ban on no-fault evictions.“Michael Gove’s words will ring hollow for those who have waited for so long for this urgently needed reform.She added: “This government has turned a blind eye to the housing crisis in this country, 16 housing ministers later, people are still facing the same problems.“Renters shouldn’t have to face losing their homes through no fault of their own any longer. Rishi Sunak and Michael Gove must stick to their promise before more and more families get caught up in these devastating consequences.” More