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Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email As the civilian death toll in Gaza continues to mount, a number of European Union leaders sought on Friday to use growing concern about Israel’s military offensive against Hamas to convince their partners to rally around a united call for a ceasefire.“The killing of innocent civilians really needs to stop,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said. He said the EU must unite “if we want to play a serious role in that conflict, and I think we have to because we will be wearing the consequences if things go further in a bad direction.”More than 18,700 Palestinians have now been killed, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths, since Hamas rampaged through southern Israel on Oct. 7.Hamas killed about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and took about 240 hostages.The EU is the world’s biggest provider of aid to the Palestinians and has been trying to use its diplomatic leverage as a 27-nation bloc to encourage peace moves. But despite being Israel’s largest trading partner, the EU has mostly been ignored by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Beyond this, the members have long-been divided over Israel and the Palestinians. Austria and Germany are among Israel’s most vocal supporters. Their leaders went to Israel to show solidarity after the assault. Spain and Ireland often focus on the plight of the Palestinian people.Hamas, for its part, is on the EU’s list of terrorist groups.Since its attack, the bloc has struggled to strike a balance between condemning the Hamas attacks, supporting Israel’s right to defend itself and ensuring that the rights of civilians on both sides are protected under international law.At the United Nations on Tuesday, an increasing number of EU members voted for a resolution calling for a ceasefire – a total of 17 – and fewer abstained. Still, Austria and the Czech Republic voted against.“We now have a clear majority of countries here in the European Union calling for a cease fire. I think that’s the view of the people of Europe as well,” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said. “There’s no possible justification or excuse for what’s happening there.”But Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was less categorical. “In (the) U.N. we were not united as a European Union. But we will hear the worries and like we always do try to work out the compromises,” she told reporters at the EU’s summit in Brussels.The EU is more united around what should happen once the fighting stops for good.Mindful that resentment and conflict in the wider Middle East and Gulf regions have been fueled by decades of Israeli-Palestinian tensions, the bloc is exploring ways to realize a long-held EU ideal — two states living peacefully side by side.The EU has for years tried to promote the idea of an Israeli and a Palestinian state with borders set mostly as they were in 1967 — before Israel captured and occupied the West Bank and Gaza — with some land swaps agreed between them. Both would have Jerusalem as their shared capital.Top EU officials concede that their international peace efforts so far haven’t been effective. This is the fifth war between Israel and Hamas, and the number of deaths in Gaza far exceeds the combined tally of those killed in the previous four, which is estimated to be around 4,000.An internal discussion paper on the way ahead – a text seen by The Associated Press – insists that the EU must develop a “comprehensive approach.” Officials believe a “whole of Palestine” approach that has Gaza as part of a future Palestinian state remains the most viable option.The capability of the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank but not Gaza, is “of key importance for the viability and legitimacy” of a two-state solution. It noted that Arab states will only get involved if their efforts lead to “a genuine peace process that results in the two-state solution.”EU efforts, the document said, should focus on support for an international conference, only “not as a singular event but as part of a peace process plan.” Israeli and Palestinian foreign ministers should be separately invited to EU meetings “to maintain the dialogue with both.”But in the region, talk of a two-state solution conjures up images of years of diplomatic failures, and for many in mourning it’s simply too early to talk about peace. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak is considering a crackdown on social media use for teenagers under the age of 16, with a ban said to be one of the options on the table.Ministers are mulling further action to limit children’s exposure to harmful content, despite bringing in new controls with the Online Safety Act earlier this year.The government is reportedly ready to begin a consultation in January to look at the evidence of harms to young teens from using social media.A ban on use by under-16s and improved parental controls are options under discussion, according to Bloomberg.However, a government spokesperson played down the prospect of anything resembling a full ban. “From our point of view, we’re looking at ways to empower parents rather than crack down on anything in particular,” the spokesperson said.They added: “We’ve identified that there is a gap in research, so we’ll be looking at what more research into it needs to be done, but nothing is yet signed off by ministers.”It comes as schools minister Damian Hinds urged Facebook owner Meta to “rethink its decision” to bring in encrypted messaging amid fears for the safety of children.Government urges Facebook owner to ‘think again’ on encrypted messagingThe National Crime Agency has warned that the encryption move risks making it more difficult to stop paedophiles.Mr Hinds told Times Radio: “It’s not about protecting people’s privacy … This is really a question about ability to intercept and to ultimately investigate, bring to justice people who are engaging in child abuse.”The Online Safety Act means social media platforms will be required to prevent and rapidly remove illegal content, and stop children from seeing harmful material such as bullying or self-harm content by enforcing age limits and using age-checking measures.Those that fail to comply will face fines of up to £18m or 10 per cent of annual global revenue, meaning potentially billions of pounds for the biggest firms.Science minister Andrew Griffith said on Friday that reports that government was considering further action to curb social media use among children was only “speculation”.But Mr Griffith appeared to confirm some more changes to “help parents” were under consideration – while arguing that Mr Sunak’s administration “isn’t a government that philosophically bans things for the sake of it”.Asked whether he could provide more details following reports that restrictions could be placed on under-16s using social media platforms, Mr Griffith told LBC: “At this point, it is about a consultation that is rumoured to happen in the new year.”He added: “It is about getting that balance. I know parents worry about these things, some bad things happen out there on social media – if we can help parents, then we will, but it is always about a balance.”The Conservative minister said it was “right you don’t just charge off and do these things”, and that industry needed to be consulted about any potential new social media restrictions More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak is considering a crackdown on social media use for teenagers under the age of 16, with a ban said to be one of the options on the table.Ministers are mulling further action to limit children’s exposure to harmful content, despite bringing in new controls with the Online Safety Act earlier this year.The government is reportedly ready to begin a consultation in January to look at the evidence of harms to young teens from using social media.A ban on use by under-16s and improved parental controls are options under discussion, according to Bloomberg.However, a government spokesperson played down the prospect of anything resembling a full ban. “From our point of view, we’re looking at ways to empower parents rather than crack down on anything in particular,” the spokesperson said.They added: “We’ve identified that there is a gap in research, so we’ll be looking at what more research into it needs to be done, but nothing is yet signed off by ministers.”It comes as schools minister Damian Hinds urged Facebook owner Meta to “rethink its decision” to bring in encrypted messaging amid fears for the safety of children.Government urges Facebook owner to ‘think again’ on encrypted messagingThe National Crime Agency has warned that the encryption move risks making it more difficult to stop paedophiles.Mr Hinds told Times Radio: “It’s not about protecting people’s privacy … This is really a question about ability to intercept and to ultimately investigate, bring to justice people who are engaging in child abuse.”The Online Safety Act means social media platforms will be required to prevent and rapidly remove illegal content, and stop children from seeing harmful material such as bullying or self-harm content by enforcing age limits and using age-checking measures.Those that fail to comply will face fines of up to £18m or 10 per cent of annual global revenue, meaning potentially billions of pounds for the biggest firms.Science minister Andrew Griffith said on Friday that reports that government was considering further action to curb social media use among children was only “speculation”.But Mr Griffith appeared to confirm some more changes to “help parents” were under consideration – while arguing that Mr Sunak’s administration “isn’t a government that philosophically bans things for the sake of it”.Asked whether he could provide more details following reports that restrictions could be placed on under-16s using social media platforms, Mr Griffith told LBC: “At this point, it is about a consultation that is rumoured to happen in the new year.”He added: “It is about getting that balance. I know parents worry about these things, some bad things happen out there on social media – if we can help parents, then we will, but it is always about a balance.”The Conservative minister said it was “right you don’t just charge off and do these things”, and that industry needed to be consulted about any potential new social media restrictions More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailForeign secretary David Cameron is under pressure to “come clean” on the sources of his wealth after the latest government data release revealed little about his personal fortune.Lord Cameron and the Rishi Sunak government were accused of a “cover-up” after transparency documents showed that the cabinet minister holds his financial interests in a so-called blind trust.The former PM has had to declare his interests after a shock return to frontline politics, seven years after quitting No 10 in the wake of the 2016 Brexit referendum.The “blind management arrangement” was mentioned in an updated list of ministers’ interests published on Thursday – the same device deployed by Mr Sunak.It means beneficiaries have no knowledge of their own holdings and investments. The former secretary is also listed as being a “prospective beneficiary of a family trust with no oversight”.The Liberal Democrats said Lord Cameron should reveal far more details “if he has nothing to hide”, while campaigners critical of his previously postive stance on China said it was “starting to look like a cover-up”.The list of ministerial interests states that Lord Cameron “resigned from all previous remunerated roles and a number of unremunerated roles” upon his appointment to the Foreign Office on 13 November.David Cameron handed a peerage by Rishi Sunak to return to cabinet The five paid and unpaid roles judged “relevant” for publication by independent adviser Sir Laurie Magnus include his job as a speaker for the Washington Speakers Bureau.Other roles listed are the Tory peer’s visiting professorship for New York University in Abu Dhabi, and his role as a board member of the ONE charity, and his co-chairmanship of an ocean conservation trust.Conservative China “hawks”, pushing for tougher stance against Beijing, have challenged Lord Cameron to explain his reported links to a Chinese-backed enterprise amid ongoing questions about his post-No 10 lobbying work.They are worried by speeches Mr Cameron gave backing a Chinese-funded Colombo Port City project in Sri Lanka, but the Tory peer’s spokesperson has said he had not “engaged in any way” with the Chinese government or Chinese company behind the project.Steve Goodrich of Transparency International UK said the latest declaration was supposed to show there were no conflicts of interests. “Yet how are we to know whether this is the case when it’s hidden in a trust arrangement?”Luke de Pulford, the executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said Mr Cameron should “come clean”. The campaigner said the latest data release “falls way short of the minimum standards of transparency the people of Britain are entitled to expect”.Mr de Pulford added: “If Cameron has received money to lobby on behalf of foreign states, he must be open about it. This is starting to look like a cover-up, and I’d be surprised if we didn’t see formal complaints to the authorities.”Alicia Kearns, Tory chair of the foreign affairs committee, told The Times that MPs would “expect to see greater detail in these declarations”.Lord Cameron is set to appear in front of Ms Kearns committee on Monday. She said the foreign secretary should expect “parliamentary scrutiny” of his financial interests.Wendy Chamberlain, chief whip for the Lib Dems, said: “This is yet another Conservative cover-up. The public deserves to know the full list of Cameron’s clients and any potential conflict of interest.”She added: “The full list of David Cameron’s financial interests when he took the role needs to be published immediately. If he has nothing to hide, he has nothing to fear.”As Tory prime minister, Mr Cameron hailed a “golden era” of UK-China ties, and even took Chinese premier Xi Jinping for a pint at his local pub during a state visit.Security minister Tom Tugendhat appeared to mock his changed stance this week by re-posting a Foreign Office tweet showing Lord Cameron with Sebastien Laim, father of the leading Hong Kong dissent Jimmy Lai.Mr Tugendhat said on X, formerly known as Twitter: “I guess the golden era is over.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA council in the north west has said it is facing potential bankruptcy – blaming the “devastating” impact of Rishi Sunak’s decision to scrap the HS2’s northern leg.Cheshire East council revealed that it would have to write off £11m spent on preparing for the aborted high-speed rail project.The Independent first revealed in September the radical move by Mr Sunak and his chancellor Jeremy Hunt to ditch the Birmingham to Manchester link.Council bosses and business chiefs had warned the government of the devasting impact on investment, and the danger money already committed to the project would be lost.Cheshire East council revealed that around £8.6m of the money earmarked for phase 2 of HS2 was borrowed, and would have to be found through budget cuts.A report cited the “direct and devastating impacts” of the end of the rail project, and said it was seeking “fair and equitable deal to compensate for the losses to the council and the opportunity cost to the borough”.Huw Merriman has agreed that a “dialogue between the council and government would continue” after meeting the Labour leader of the council Sam Corcoran.HS2 site at Birmingham, where the project will now end The Tory party’s group leader on the council Janet Clowes said there was “very much a cross-party Cheshire East remonstration with government” about the impact of the move.The council has outlined a £18.7m budget black hole, and announced moves to shut its HQ, slash library opening hours and bring in new bin charges.It comes as councils have warned Mr Sunak of a surge in effective bankruptcies across the country, unless he makes a last-minute intervention to boost next year’s financial settlement for local government.A letter from council leaders to the PM, highlights an imminent threat to financial sustainability and support for the most vulnerable adults and children.The Special Interest Group of Metropolitan Authorities (Sigoma) – which represents 47 councils in some of England’s most deprived areas – criticised the government’s proposals.Sigoma said the overall allocation of £64bn from Michael Gove’s levelling up department will add about £4bn to budgets in 2024/25. This annual rise of 6 per cent “is not nearly enough to fix the financial situation councils find themselves in”, it added.The group identified a funding gap of at least £1.5bn in adult social care next year if support is maintained at current levels, meaning the overall extra £1bn allocated for these services “will do little in the face of rising demand”.The letter said it is crucial that funding elements increased in line with inflation must be based on the consumer price index figure for September of 6.7 per cent.The letter, signed by Sigoma chair and Labour leader of Barnsley Council Stephen Houghton, added: “Without this support, as we head into next year, the current proposals by the government will see a surge of S114 [bankruptcy] notices.”A total of seven councils have issued at least one such notice since 2020, three of which were issued this year. Nottingham City Council issued its second declaration of bankruptcy last month. The council has proposed cutting more than 500 jobs as it faces a £50m budget gap.A levelling up department spokesperson said it estimated that £64bn will be made available and said councils “will see, on average, an above-inflation increase in the funding available to them next year”.The government added: “Councils are ultimately responsible for the management of their own finances, but we stand ready to talk to any council that is concerned about its financial position.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has insisted he is not “tetchy” as he battles to turn around his plummeting poll ratings.The prime minister mounted a defence against claims he is irritable and bad-tempered, suggesting instead that he is “passionate” and gets “frustrated” when things do not work the way he wants them to.After his popularity slumped to the lowest point since he took over as PM, Mr Sunak hit back to say “I am fighting for the things I believe in”.He developed a reputation as tetchy due to his sometimes defensive style when questioned by journalists.On a visit to Japan this year, the PM snapped at the BBC’s political editor for asking questions about former home secretary Suella Braverman instead of the G7 summit.And last month he became embroiled in a spat with the Greek prime minister, cancelling a planned meeting after Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke about the Elgin Marbles.But in an interview with The Spectator, Mr Sunak was asked about claims he is tetchy, and said: “I don’t understand that.”The PM said: “I am fighting for the things I believe in. There’s nothing tetchy. But I am passionate. When things are not working the way I want them to work, of course I’m going to be frustrated.”Mr Sunak is battling rebellions on both sides of the Conservative Party over his Rwanda deportation plan and has seen his personal popularity plummet.The PM’s approval rating now sits below Boris Johnson’s before he was forced out of office and is falling toward lows plumbed by his predecessor Liz Truss during her disastrous stint in Downing Street.The Tories as a whole also trail Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party by around 20 points in the polls, adding to the headache for Mr Sunak.Elsewhere in the interview, Mr Sunak stood by his pledge to “stop the boats”, insisting it is a “straightforward phrase” and there is “no acceptable amount of illegal migration”.In a bid to quell the rebellion, led by right-wingers including Brexiteer Mark Francois, Mr Sunak said: “What the country wants is a practical government that is making a difference to their lives and changing things for the better, not a debating society.“People are frustrated that the pace of change is not fast enough. I get that. I am working night and day, tirelessly, to keep making a difference.” 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 is questioned for the first time as foreign secretary in front of a Lords committee on Thursday, 14 December.Lord Cameron will be questioned on the UK-EU relationship by the House of Lords European Affairs Committee, chaired by Lord Ricketts.Possible questions could focus on the overall state of UK – EU relations after the Windsor Framework agreement, whether Ukraine becoming a member of the EU would be in the strategic interests of the UK, and UK-EU foreign and security policy cooperation.It comes after Lord Cameron’s comments on post-Brexit trading arrangements, which were deemed likely to infuriate unionist politicians in Northern Ireland, in which he hailed the revamped deal as “a superb negotiation”.Critics of the Windsor Framework, which reformed the Northern Ireland Protocol, argue that it retains a border in the Irish Sea and disrupts trade with the mainland. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak is set for a fresh by-election headache as a former Tory MP faces a 35-day suspension from the Commons.Scott Benton had the Tory whip suspended after a sting exposed him offering to lobby for gambling industry investors.Mr Benton was prepared to leak market-sensitive information to an investment fund and ask parliamentary questions on its behalf, in breach of parliamentary lobbying rules, an undercover investigation for The Times found.After a lengthy investigation, Parliament’s standards committee said he had repeatedly indicated “his willingness to disregard the House’s rules”.It said a “serious sanction” was needed, recommending he be suspended from Parliament for 35 days.Any suspension of at least 10 days triggers a recall election in a member’s constituency. If more than a tenth of the voters in an MP’s constituency then sign the petition, a by-election is called.Mr Benton has a majority of just 3,690 in his Blackpool South constituency, won in the 2019 Tory landslide. Polls show Labour would be expected to regain the seat if a contest were held.A contest in Mr Benton’s seat would be the latest challenge for Mr Sunak, who has faced a slew of brutal by-election defeats this year. With a 20-point lead in the polls, Labour has overturned historic majorities in seats across the country such as Mid Bedfordshire, Tamworth and Selby and Ainsty.There is also an ongoing recall petition in Wellingborough after Tory MP Peter Bone after he was found to have exposed himself to an aide.The petition closes on Tuesday, setting up yet another potentially tricky by-election for the PM. In a damning verdict on Mr Benton’s behaviour, the Committee on Standards found he had given a “false impression of the morality of MPs”. The committee said if the public were to accept Mr Benton’s comments as accurate, it would be “corrosive to respect for Parliament and undermine the foundations of our democracy”. Mr Benton was caught on camera telling undercover reporters posing as investors how he was willing to take actions which would break Parliament’s lobbying rules.In a meeting in early March, Mr Benton described how he could support a fake investment fund, which he believed was set up by an Indian businessman looking to make investments in the UK betting and gaming sector, by attempting to water down proposed gambling reforms.offered a “guarantee” to provide a copy of an upcoming gambling White Paper to the business at least two days before publication, potentially allowing it to benefit from market-sensitive information.He also said he could table parliamentary written questions and said he had previously done it on behalf of a company.Mr Benton said he could offer “the direct ear of a minister who is actually going to make these decisions” and speak to them outside the Commons voting lobby.The MP agreed with a fee proposed by the reporters in the range of £2,000 to £4,000 a month for two days’ work.Parliamentary commissioner for standards Daniel Greenberg said that during his investigation Mr Benton admitted he had breached House of Commons rules in the past, said would do so again and claimed that other MPs had done the same. Labour said the report was “damning” and said Blackpool South deserves a “fresh start”. Shadow leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell said: “This is not an isolated case, but comes off the back of a wave of Tory sleaze and scandal.“In Chris Webb [Labour’s candidate for the seat] Blackpool South has an opportunity to elect its first ever Blackpool born MP, they deserve an MP they can be proud of, and a fresh start.”Mr Benton apologised “profusely” for his behaviour during the meeting, but said no parliamentary rules were broken. “Representing my constituents is a profound honour in my life and it is a responsibility I hold in the highest regard. The meeting was a lapse in judgment and I deeply regret my comments,” Mr Benton said. He added: “My sincere hope is that I will be granted the opportunity to make amends for it throughout the remainder of my time in Parliament and I can continue representing my constituents effectively.” More