Labour seen as more divided by voters after tension over conflict in Gaza

The latest Opinium poll shows Keir Starmer’s personal rating has slumped but the Tories are also suffering from internal divisions

Labour is perceived by voters as far more divided in the wake of party splits over the conflict in Israel and Gaza, amid concerns that there may be further frontbench resignations on the issue this week.

Keir Starmer has also taken a hit, with the latest Opinium poll for the Observer showing a slump in the proportion of voters who regard him as a strong leader compared with a month ago.

Continue reading...

How pro-Palestinian marches have caused crises for Tories and Labour

While Sunak deals with Braverman’s claims against protesters and police, Starmer faces pressure to support Gaza ceasefire

At midday on Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people will gather outside Hyde Park in London for what organisers say will be the biggest pro-Palestinian march since the Israel-Hamas war broke out just over a month ago.

The marchers will hope their calls for a ceasefire in Gaza put pressure on the British government to do the same. But even before they have taken a step, the protesters have triggered political crises for both of Britain’s largest parties, leaving the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, looking weaker than he has for months and the home secretary, Suella Braverman, facing the sack.

Continue reading...

Energy efficiency scheme for cold homes going at a glacial pace, says Labour

Government’s Energy Company Obligation has managed to upgrade only 65,000 homes since April 2022, figures show

Labour has attacked the Conservatives over the speed of government efforts to upgrade Britain’s draughty housing stock, as analysis showed a leading household energy efficiency initiative was proceeding at what the party called a “glacial pace”.

Just 65,000 homes have been upgraded under the government’s Energy Company Obligation (Eco) scheme since it was relaunched in April last year, according to analysis of statistics released by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak says pro-Palestine march on Saturday is ‘proof of UK’s commitment to freedom’ – as it happened

Prime minister says he finds prospect of march ‘disrespectful’ but says freedom includes ‘right to peacefully protest’

Keith is only now asking about Covid. All the questions so far have been about process.

Sedwill says, when concerns about Covid arose, he did not agree to a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee taking place immediately. He wanted to ensure that the meeting was prepared for. And he was concerned that having a Cobra meeting might alarm people.

I felt that a Cobra which might have been convened primarily for communications purposes wasn’t wise. Two days later I was advised there was a genuine cross-government basis for it and I agreed.

May we be plain please as to what you mean by communications purposes. Were you concerned that the Cobra was being called by the DHSC [the Department of Health and Social Care] for presentation purposes, that is to say to make a splash about the role of DHSC, perhaps its secretary of state [Matt Hancock], and that’s why you initially hesitated.

Continue reading...

Imran Hussain: Labour frontbencher resigns in support of Gaza ceasefire

Shadow minister says he wants to be free to strongly advocate his position on Gaza, contrary to Keir Starmer only calling for humanitarian pauses

The shadow minister Imran Hussain has resigned from Keir Starmer’s Labour frontbench in order to “be able to strongly advocate for a ceasefire” in Gaza.

“Over recent weeks, it has become clear that my view on the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza differs substantially from the position you have adopted,” Hussain said in a resignation letter to Starmer published on social media.

Continue reading...

Keir Starmer dismisses king’s speech as ‘exercise in economic miserabilism’ – politics live

Labour party leader criticises speech as ‘admission that government has no faith in Britain’s ability to avert decline’

Here is Ben Quinn’s guide to what will be in the king’s speech.

In a statement about the king’s speech issued overnight, Keir Starmer said:

Britain is crying out for the long-term change that harnesses the ambition of our young people, the innovative drive of our businesses, and the ordinary hope and optimism that exists around every kitchen table.

A government acting in the national interest would deliver a big build programme to kickstart growth in every region and begin to turn around 13 years of decline with a plan for a decade of national renewal.

Continue reading...

David Lammy urges UK government to press Israel to end West Bank violence

Letter to James Cleverly criticises ‘offensive rhetoric’ by some Israeli ministers and calls for settlers inciting hatred to be banned from UK

Labour has issued its most direct criticism of the Israeli government since the Hamas attacks on 7 October, criticising the remarks of rightwing Israeli ministers over the West Bank and saying they have been responsible for “unacceptable and offensive rhetoric about Palestinians”.

In a letter to the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, that puts policy daylight between the government and Labour on the crisis in the Middle East, David Lammy demanded to know what had been done to press the Israelis to curb the violence in the West Bank by settlers and government forces.

Continue reading...

Burnley council leader quits over Starmer’s failure to call for Gaza ceasefire

Afrasiab Anwar, one of 11 councillors to resign, was among those who earlier asked party leader to step down

The leader of Burnley borough council has resigned along with 10 other councillors in protest at Keir Starmer’s refusal to call for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.

Afrasiab Anwar, who has been a member of the party for a decade, was among those who called for the Labour leader to step down last week.

Continue reading...

Labour promises rapid housing action after ‘years of Tory paper promises’

Angela Rayner says party’s housing recovery plan will enact reforms delayed by Tories since 2019 manifesto commitments

Labour will deliver more action on housing in the first six months of office than the Conservatives have delivered in the past six years, Angela Rayner has pledged.

Downing Street has confirmed the renters reform bill will be in the king’s speech, allowing it to continue its passage through parliament when the next session opens on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

Keir Starmer defends his call for humanitarian pause in Gaza, saying it is quickest way to provide help – UK politics live

Labour leader says he thinks most practical way to get aid into Gaza is to have a humanitarian pause

Keir Starmer is delivering his speech to the North East Chamber of Commerce now.

He starts by saying they are near the A1, where there is a stretch of road that Rishi Sunak recently promised to upgrade.

It’s a story you see right across Britain. Infrastructure projects, some with billions already committed, businesses planning around the structures developed in rooms like this.

But the projects and investment get blocked by objections, consultations, legal challenges, ballooning costs delays, delays, delays – until it’s easier just to give up and move on.

Continue reading...

Thursday briefing: The Labour councillors quitting over Keir Starmer’s Israel-Hamas ceasefire stance

In today’s newsletter: More than 30 councillors have resigned from the party in protest against Starmer’s position – here’s why, in their own words

Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition

Good morning. Today, we’re going to Bradford to meet city councillor and bus driver Taj Salam. He is one more than 30 Labour councillors who have resigned from the party in anger at Sir Keir Starmer’s refusal to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

They are part of a growing rebellion within the party over Starmer’s refusal to publicly advocate for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. Instead, he has called for “humanitarian pauses” to allow the “urgent alleviation of Palestinian suffering”.

Israel-Hamas war | Joe Biden has said there should be a “pause” in the fighting in Gaza to enable the release of hostages, as Hamas said nearly 200 people had been killed in two days of Israeli airstrikes on the enclave’s Jabalia refugee camp.

AI | The UK, US, EU and China have all agreed that artificial intelligence poses a potentially catastrophic risk to humanity, in the first international declaration to deal with the fast-emerging technology.

UK news | Northumbria police have said that two more people have been arrested over the deliberate felling of the Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland.

Media | Noel Clarke’s legal action against the Guardian has suffered a setback after a high court judge rejected his lawyers’ arguments on the meaning of eight articles that he says unfairly defamed him.

Covid-19 | The pandemic has caused sustained harm to the brain health of people aged 50 or over, rapidly speeding up cognitive decline regardless of whether or not they caught Covid, researchers have discovered.

Continue reading...

Dominic Cummings tells Covid inquiry foul-mouthed messages about colleague weren’t misogynistic – UK politics live

Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser denies contributing to an atmosphere of misogyny at No 10, saying he was ‘much ruder about men’

Heather Hallett, the chair, intervenes at this point. She asks Cain if he is defending the 10-day gap. She says she finds that curious if he is.

Cain says locking down the country is a huge, huge undertaking. In government terms, that is government acting at speed. But it was “longer than you would hope”, he says.

Do I understand from what you said earlier that you would defend the 10-day gap between the decision taken that there had to be a national lockdown and actually implementing that decision? Because I find that curious.

As I said, I think it is longer than you would like, but I think it’s important just to emphasise the amount of things that had to be done and the amount of people we had to take with us to deliver a nationwide lockdown.

It’s a huge, huge undertaking and to be honest, from my understanding of government, that is government moving at a tremendous speed – which maybe says more about government than other things.

Continue reading...

Keir Starmer cautions Israel but refuses to back calls for ceasefire

Labour leader criticises Israeli bombardment but says ceasefire is not ‘the correct position now’

Keir Starmer has urged Israel to obey international law but refused to back calls for a ceasefire, as he seeks to heal increasingly bitter divisions within his own party over the conflict in Gaza.

The Labour leader spelled out his position on the crisis in detail on Tuesday after days of criticism from many of his own members and MPs that he appeared oblivious to the suffering of Palestinians.

Continue reading...

Labour will not punish calls for Israel-Hamas ceasefire, shadow minister suggests

Keir Starmer has ‘listened’ to rebels and will ‘continue engaging’, says Peter Kyle, amid mounting pressure from senior party figures

Members of Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet will not be punished if they break party ranks by demanding a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, because Labour is a “diverse party”, Peter Kyle has suggested.

The shadow science, innovation and technology minister also rejected claims that Labour was taking Muslim votes for granted, and said the party was not basing its policy on the conflict around what might win votes.

Continue reading...

UK politicians lack humanity, says son of doctor trapped in Gaza

People with families in Gaza call on British government to help get them out and to join calls for ceasefire

On Friday evening, as Israeli air and ground forces ramped up their operations in the Gaza Strip and a communications blackout fell across the embattled territory, Salim Hammad received a text from the UK Foreign Office notifying him of a possible increase in attacks and violence.

“What are we supposed to do with that information?” said Salim, a 34-year-old doctor in Oxford whose father, Abdel, is stuck at the Rafah border crossing.

Continue reading...

Rachel Reeves admits mistakes after being accused of plagiarism in new book

Shadow chancellor says she holds her ‘hands up’ in response to FT piece on seemingly copied passages in work on female economists

Rachel Reeves has said she holds her hands up and acknowledges making mistakes in her new book about female economists after she faced allegations of plagiarism.

The shadow chancellor admitted on Thursday that some sentences in her book, The Women Who Made Modern Economics, were “not properly referenced in the bibliography”.

Continue reading...

PMQs live: Rishi Sunak to face questions from Keir Starmer

Labour leader will also meet MPs today to discuss party’s position on Israel and Gaza

Rishi Sunak will be taking PMQs shortly. It will be his first prime minister’s questions with Keir Starmer since his visit to Israel and the Middle East.

Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.

When Rishi Sunak became prime minister a year ago today, he took immediate action to support families with the cost of living, paying half their energy bills. Since then we have made good progress towards halving inflation, growing the economy, reducing debt, cutting NHS waiting lists, and stopping the boats.

But for the last 30 years, the prime minister recognises that there has been too much short-term political decision making, politicians taking the easy way out, ducking the hard choices, rather than fixing the underlying problems.

The prime minister has proven he is the only person who is determined to change that.

Continue reading...

Labour prepares to force byelection if Tory MP Peter Bone suspended

Party to encourage Wellingborough voters to sign petition if Commons votes to suspend Bone on Wednesday

Labour is ramping up plans to force another byelection ahead of a vote on Wednesday to suspend Peter Bone from parliament for six weeks.

Bone was stripped of the Conservative whip after being found by a watchdog to have bullied and harassed a member of staff and exposed his genitals near their face.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak dodges ceasefire questions as he cosplays global statesman | John Crace

The PM, just back in the Commons after meeting Netanyahu, had only vain hopes to offer in the search for peace between Israel and Hamas

Call it war fatigue. So soon. Last week it was standing room only on both sides of the house for Rishi Sunak’s statement on Israel and Gaza. For the update on Monday there were plenty of gaps on the green benches. Especially on the Tory side. Already the Middle East has been filed under something too difficult, too unbearable and too far away. Most Conservatives no longer have the bandwidth for the conflict. They are too busy contemplating their own more immediate eternity. Losing the next general election.

Many of Sunak’s opening remarks were more or less a reprise of what he had said last week. Horror at the 7 October attacks on Israel by Hamas. A commitment to stand with Israel and a reaffirmation of its right to defend itself and to retrieve its hostages. An acknowledgment that the Palestinians are also victims of Hamas. Their need for humanitarian aid and for Israel to respond within international law. Hard to argue with any of that.

Continue reading...

UK politicians and campaigners call for reparative justice for African slave trade

Cross-party MPs host inaugural conference to agree on common statement to put to parliament

Politicians, campaigners and community groups are uniting for the first time to make “a very distinct and clear call for reparative justice” at an inaugural reparations conference this weekend.

The all-party parliamentary group for Afrikan reparations (APPG-AR), a group of cross-party MPs, is hosting its first reparations conference in Euston in north London to collectively agree on a common statement with stakeholders and grassroots campaigners that can be used by MPs to push forward a policy for reparative justice in the House of Commons.

Continue reading...