Category Archives: Foreign policy

Netanyahu’s rejection of Palestinian state unacceptable, says David Lammy

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Shadow foreign secretary says Israeli president must explain how post-conflict Gaza will operate

The shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, has described Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state when the war in the Middle East ends as “unacceptable”.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he echoed Keir Starmer’s reaction to Netanyahu’s stance. Lammy said: “We are committed to the recognition of a Palestinian state. We want to work with international partners to achieve that.”

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EU silver filling ban could lead to dental care crisis in Northern Ireland, says BDA

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Dental union says region will be ‘disproportionately’ affected by EU amalgam phase-out as health service is weakest in UK

Concerns have been raised about the future availability of silver dental fillings in Northern Ireland due to an imminent phasing out of the amalgam across the EU.

The plan to phase out amalgam by 1 January next year will apply in Northern Ireland as a result of Brexit trading arrangements and will also affect dental care in other parts of the UK, dentist representatives said.

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Keir Starmer says Netanyahu ‘wrong’ to reject Palestinian state

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Labour leader says Israeli PM’s comments are unacceptable and Palestinian statehood not in his gift

Keir Starmer has criticised Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he is “wrong” to reject moves to establish a Palestinian state.

The Labour leader stepped up criticism of Israel’s government, after Netanyahu told the White House that he rejects any moves to establish a Palestinian state when Israel ends its offensive in Gaza, and that all territory west of the Jordan River would be under Israeli security control.

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Foreign Office lawyers ‘unable to conclude if Israeli bombing was lawful’

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Documents reveal humanitarian law investigation was far more intensive than David Cameron suggested

UK Foreign Office legal advisers were unable to conclude that Israel was in compliance with international humanitarian law (IHL) in its bombardment of Gaza, court documents reveal.

After reviewing specific potential breaches of IHL cited in a report by Amnesty International, the Foreign Office initially concluded it had “serious concerns” about breaches.

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Middle East conflicts and the Rwanda bill – Politics Weekly UK podcast

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As tensions in the Middle East continue to rise, this week John Harris speaks to Niku Jafarnia of Human Rights Watch about the regional conflicts. The Rwanda bill passed its third reading and Pippa Crerar, the Guardian’s political editor, reveals what happened behind the scenes. And the former No 10 adviser Gavin Barwell talks about the increasingly vicious struggles within the Conservative party

Archive: GB News

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Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation bill passes third reading in Commons

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Flagship policy passes committee stage after tense lead-up in which Tory divisions came to the fore

Rishi Sunak has survived a damaging row over his flagship Rwanda bill after a Conservative rebellion melted away and dozens of rightwing MPs balked at further undermining the prime minister’s authority.

After a crucial 11th hour meeting of more than 45 Tory rebels, the group’s leaders concluded that defeating the bill by voting alongside Labour during an election year could risk collapsing the government.

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Rwanda president: efforts to implement asylum plan cannot ‘drag on’

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Paul Kagame also says he would be happy for the scheme to be scrapped

Rwanda’s president has said there are limits to how long attempts to implement an asylum deal with Britain can “drag on”, indicating he would be happy for the scheme to be scrapped.

Paul Kagame’s comments on Wednesday came before Rishi Sunak faced a potentially leadership-ending rebellion by Conservative MPs threatening to vote down his Rwanda deportation bill on Wednesday night.

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Rishi Sunak: UK willing to take further military action against Houthis

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Prime minister addresses MPs hours after Yemen-based group fires on another container ship in Red Sea

Rishi Sunak has said the UK is willing to take military action against Houthi rebels again, hours after the Yemen-based group fired another missile at a container ship in the Red Sea.

The prime minister addressed MPs on Monday for the first time since the UK took part in airstrikes on the Houthis on Friday night, which he said destroyed 13 targets at two sites, including drones, an airfield and a cruise missile launcher.

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UK ‘will wait and see’ before deciding on further Houthi strikes

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Grant Shapps says UK has no interest in wider Yemen conflict as Rishi Sunak prepares to address MPs

The UK has no interest in taking part in any wider conflict in Yemen but is “waiting to see what happens” before deciding whether further military strikes against Houthi forces might be needed, the defence secretary has said.

Discussing the US-led strikes on the Yemen-based rebels in the early hours of Friday, which were aimed at stopping Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, Grant Shapps said the aims of the military operation were always limited.

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Houthi missile targeting US warship intercepted, says US, amid Red Sea tensions

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US Central Command says missile from Houthi-controlled area of Yemen was launched towards USS Laboon before being shot down by fighter jets

US fighter aircraft shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen at one of its warships in the Red Sea, the US military said on Sunday night.

The missile was fired towards the USS Laboon which was operating in the Southern Red Sea, US Central Command said in a statement, in what appears to be the first such attempt on a US destroyer. No injuries or damage were reported, Central Command said.

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Red Sea crisis could shatter hopes of global economic recovery

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World Bank warns of surging energy prices, slower growth and higher inflation as threat rises of disruption to world trade

A prolonged conflict in the Red Sea and escalating tensions across the Middle East risk having devastating effects on the global economy, reigniting inflation and disrupting energy supplies, some of the world’s leading economists warn this weekend.

Before a statement expected on Monday by Rishi Sunak in the House of Commons about UK and US airstrikes on Houthi sites in Yemen, economists at the World Bank say the crisis now threatens to feed through into higher interest rates, lower growth, persistent inflation and greater geopolitical uncertainty.

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Rishi Sunak says UK acted in ‘self-defence’ with Yemen airstrikes

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PM defends lawfulness of military action against Houthis as MPs call for parliamentary scrutiny

The prime minister has said the UK acted in “self-defence” with military strikes in Yemen intended to “de-escalate tensions and restore stability to the region”, as he faced calls for greater parliamentary scrutiny.

Speaking from Ukraine, Rishi Sunak said that in the face of this aggression “we will always stand up for the rule of law” after a series of attacks by Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea.

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Sunak seeks stature on the global stage – and to keep trouble away from home

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Foreign policy displays in Yemen and Ukraine may win PM reflected glory – but capping inflationary pressures will be his foremost wish

Returning from an overseas trip last year that had been broadly seen as a success, Rishi Sunak was heard privately observing that a truism of foreign policy is that even when you get things right, voters tend to not especially notice or care.

Time will tell whether Sunak’s decision to throw in the UK’s lot with US-led attacks on Houthi forces will stem a spate of attacks on international shipping. But for now, the strike has won support from the bulk of British MPs, despite a few qualms about a lack of prior parliamentary consultation.

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Yemen strikes: Commons speaker calls for MPs to be urgently updated

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Lindsay Hoyle says he will recall parliament if necessary as minister says no immediate plans for more attacks

The Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, has called for MPs to be updated on military strikes in Yemen “at the earliest possible opportunity”, saying he would recall parliament before Monday if needed for this to happen.

In a statement released by his office following UK involvement in attacks against Houthi forces, Hoyle said: “I was invited to a meeting at the Cabinet Office last night to be briefed about the airstrikes on Houthi rebel bases. I made representations to the deputy prime minister [Oliver Dowden] about the need for the house to be informed at the earliest possible opportunity and that I would be happy to facilitate a recall at any time.”

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Hezbollah and Iran condemn US and UK strikes against Houthis

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Tehran-backed Lebanese group says ‘aggression confirms that US is a full partner’ in Israel’s actions in Gaza

The Iran-backed Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah has condemned the US and UK’s overnight strikes against Yemen’s Houthis, as countries across the Middle East express fears over the latest escalation of the conflict in the region.

Although anxiety was widespread, most vocal were countries and militant groups backed by Tehran, which accused the US and the UK of destabilising the region.

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Rishi Sunak visits Kyiv after announcing rise in UK military aid to Ukraine to £2.5bn

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Friday’s trip comes as PM stresses Britain’s continued backing for Kyiv before meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskiy

The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, is visiting Ukraine on Friday to meet his counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, as the UK announced it would provide further military aid to the country over the coming year.

The UK has been one of Kyiv’s staunchest supporters since Russia’s invasion and Sunak said Britain would boost its support in the next financial year to £2.5bn, an increase of £200m on the previous two years.

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UK accused of hypocrisy in not backing claim of genocide in Gaza before ICJ

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Experts say submission to international court of justice on Myanmar six weeks ago makes stance ‘wholly disingenuous’

The UK is facing accusations of double standards after formally submitting detailed legal arguments to the international court of justice in The Hague six weeks ago to support claims that Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya ethnic group through its mass mistreatment of children and systematically depriving people of their homes and food.

The UK made its 21-page “declaration of intervention” jointly with five other countries, but it is not supporting South Africa as it prepares to try to convince the ICJ on Thursday that Israel is at risk of committing genocide against the Palestinian people.

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Spanish woman removed from UK after returning from Christmas holiday

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Woman was detained overnight and removed despite presenting Home Office documents showing her right to work and live in UK

A 34-year-old Spanish woman was forcibly removed from the UK after returning from a Christmas holiday near Málaga despite presenting Brexit paperwork to border officials showing she has a right to live and work in the country.

She was flown back to Spain after being detained overnight in Luton airport on 26 December and told she was “wasting her time” if she thought the Home Office documentation she had showing her right to live in the UK was valid.

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Key Covid inquiry report creates election date headache for PM

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Heather Hallett’s first findings are to be published before the summer and will show how austerity and Brexit hit pandemic planning

An explosive report spelling out how the Conservative government failed to prepare the country for the Covid-19 pandemic as it obsessed about Brexit is to be released before the likely date of the next general election, the Observer has been told.

In a move that will cause alarm in Downing Street, Heather Hallett’s independent Covid-19 inquiry will issue a detailed interim report “before the summer” on the first batch of public hearings held last June and July, which revealed a catalogue of errors, including the lack of PPE and failures to act on recommendations of previous pandemic planning exercises.

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Students find Erasmus replacement scheme inadequate, analysis finds

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Some UK applicants forced to quit Turing scheme when places not confirmed or they failed to receive funds in time

Students taking part in the government’s post-Brexit replacement for the EU’s Erasmus+ student exchange scheme were forced to drop out because places were confirmed too late, while others failed to receive funding until after their return, according to analysis.

The first official analysis of the Turing scheme, which was announced by the then prime minister Boris Johnson and launched in 2021, found that four out of five universities (79%) had difficulties with the application process, which was overly complex, repetitive and “tedious”.

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