Early evening summary
Paul Scully, the former minister for London, has been criticised for saying there are areas in London and Birmingham, “parts of Tower Hamlets, for example” and parts of Birmingham Sparkhill, that have become “no-go areas”. He made the comment in a radio interview where he was talking about the concerns people have about neighbourhoods changing. No 10 said Rishi Sunak did not agree with what Scully said, and Andy Street, the Conservative West Midlands mayor, said on X Scully was talking nonsense.
The idea that Birmingham has a ‘no-go’ zone is news to me, and I suspect the good people of Sparkhill.
— Andy Street (@andy4wm) February 26, 2024
It really is time for those in Westminster to stop the nonsense slurs and experience the real world.
I for one am proud to lead the most diverse place in Britain.
The idea that Birmingham has a ‘no-go’ zone is news to me, and I suspect the good people of Sparkhill.
It really is time for those in Westminster to stop the nonsense slurs and experience the real world.
I for one am proud to lead the most diverse place in Britain.
Shapps tells MPs US/UK airstrikes have 'eroded Houthi capacity', but not their intent to continue attacks on shipping
Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, told the Commons this afternoon that US and UK airstrikes in Yemen had “eroded Houthi capacity” to attack western shipping in the aftermath of a fourth round of attacks on Saturday night.
However, despite the latest round of bombing, the minister conceded in an update for MPs that Houthi “intent to prosecute indiscriminate attacks against innocent vessels remains undiminished” – suggesting further Anglo-American attacks could come in future.
The defence secretary highlighted there were four recent attacks by the Houthis on merchant shipping in the past few days, including an attack on the MV Rubymar, a Belize-flagged, UK-owned bulk carrier that caused an 18-mile oil slick in the Red Sea.
Such Houthi targeting of commercial vessels justified the latest joint US-UK bombing, Shapps said. RAF Typhoons attacked eight times on Saturday knocking out “five one-way attack drones” at a site near Sana’a, the minister said, and hitting three more buildings at Banni, a launch site struck on two previous occasions.
The minister added that “consideration [was] given to minimising any risk of causing civilian casualties” and that previous rounds of RAF bombing are not thought by the UK to have killed any non-combatants. Eighteen targets were struck in Saturday night’s bombing, the last wave in a campaign that began on 11 January
The Green party has joined those criticising Rishi Sunak for refusing to describe Lee Anderson’s comments about Sadiq Khan as Islamophobic. In a statement Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:
It is deeply concerning that neither Rishi Sunak nor his deputy have felt able to condemn the obnoxious Islamophobic remarks made by Lee Anderson, that mirrored remarks made earlier by the former home secretary Suella Braverman.
It is worth noting that the comments made by Anderson came on the same day that Tell MAMA, a national service supporting victims of anti-Muslim hate, announced that there had been a 335% increase in anti-Muslim hate cases since 7 October last year.
Starmer claims Sunak refusing to denounce Islamophobia in Tory party 'because he's so weak'
Keir Starmer has claimed that Rishi Sunak is refusing to denounce Islamophobia in the Conservative party because he’s too weak.
In a clip for broadcasters, he said that
I think this is straightforward. It’s Islamophobia and the prime minister should call it out for what it is.
The reason he won’t is because he is so weak. They are divided, chaotic and if they are re-elected we are going to have five more years of this.
The Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis has said that he hopes Lee Anderson has the Tory whip restored soon. Referring to an incident he raised at Home Office questions (see 3.34pm), Gullis said:
I hope that we will see him return to that party sooner rather than later but of course, he has to, I think, make that apology to Mayor Khan.
I think the point he was making was about Islamist extremism, which sadly does prevail in our community, and I saw that on Friday in Stoke on Trent, where we had former members. At the very least, we know their former of Hizb ut-Tahrir, heckling, intimidating, harassing Stoke on Trent Conservatives at a local fundraiser.
Updated
Sunak says he is sure Liz Truss does not agree with Steve Bannon about Tommy Robinson being a hero
Rishi Sunak has said that he is sure Liz Truss does not regard the far-right activist Tommy Robinson as a hero.
He was speaking in response to video that has circulated widely on social media showing the former prime minister in the US last week failing to challenge Steve Bannon when he described Robinson as a hero because of his response to child grooming scandal.
Instead Truss agreed with the broader point made by Bannon, a far-right political strategist and former adviser to President Trump, which was alarm at the prospect of a pro-Palestinian candidate (George Galloway) winning the Rochdale byelection.
Liz Truss tells Steve Bannon that a "radical Islamic party" could win the Rochdale by-election and and then says nothing as he describes Tommy Robinson as a "hero". pic.twitter.com/dZ8daApupL
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) February 23, 2024
In an interview with 5 News, asked about Truss not challenging Bannon’s description of Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon and who has convictions for fraud, assault, stalking, using threatening behaviour and contempt of court, Sunak replied:
I’m sure Liz Truss does not agree with Steve Bannon on that point … She was on a panel, you know, I don’t know exactly what happened, but obviously I would imagine that she does not agree with those comments that were made.
In his interview Sunak again refused to described what Lee Anderson said about Sadiq Khan as Islamophobic.
Andy Bell from 5 News put it to Sunak that not using the term was part of the problem. He quoted this point made by Sayeeda Warsi, the former Conservative party chair, who said at the weekend:
If you can’t call racism racism, if you can’t call antisemitism antisemitism, and if you can’t call Islamophobia Islamophobia, then how are we going to fix it?
Sunak replied:
I’ve been very clear, that any form of prejudice or racism is completely and utterly unacceptable. That’s not who we are as a country. We’re a proud multi-ethnic democracy, one of the most successful anywhere in the world.
Updated
Chancellor gave Fujitsu executive advice on gaining contracts
Jeremy Hunt gave advice at a Conservative fundraiser to a senior Fujitsu executive who lobbied him in relation to government spending on AI and supercomputers, according to released emails, Ben Quinn reports.
Kevin Hollinrake, the postal services minister, is now making a Commons statement about the Post Office Horizon scheme.
He says the government wants to introduce legislation “as soon as possible next month” to exonerate post officer operators believed to have been wrongfully convicted.
In a Commons written statement last week he set out some details of what the legislaton will say.
Tomorrow Henry Staunton, the former Post Office chair, Nick Read, the current chief executive, and Alan Bates, the leader of the group campaigning for justice for post officer operators, are among witnesses giving evidence to the Commons business committee on this topic.
In advance of that hearing, the committee has this afternoon published a tranche of documents it has received from the Post Office in response to its requests for informaton.
Charity Commission boss says he will not let it be 'weaponised' by politicians wanting to fight culture wars
The chair of the Charity Commission, Orlando Fraser, has re-iterated his determination to resist pressure from media and politicians fighting culture wars to crack down on so-called “woke” or “political” charities.
Speaking at the launch of the commission’s new five year strategy in Waterloo, London, this morning he said charities often found themselves in “fierce public battles for the soul of our nation”, finding themselves as a consequence “at the biting edge of what we have come to know as the culture wars.” He added:
I will not allow the commission to be misused or weaponised by any army involved in fighting these wars. Whether it be led by powerful interests in politics, the media, or indeed the sector itself.
It is not the first time Fraser, a lawyer and one-time Tory parliamentary candidate, has insisted that charities have a legal right to campaign and get involved in political (but not party political) issues – and that the commission will defend that right.
In recent years Tory MPs and rightwing media have attacked and demanded the watchdog investigate several high profile charities they have accused of, variously, being woke or leftwing – notably the National Trust, and Barnardo’s. In each case the commission inquired into the claims, and exonerated the charities.
It remains to be seen whether the commission’s determination to take tough stand on this issue will make charity trustees feel any more confident of speaking out or campaigning if they worry they will be targeted by often aggressive and abusive scrutiny of culture-warriors, even if it is their legal right to do so.
Humza Yousaf calls for inquiry into 'structural Islamophobia' in Tory party
Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister, has called for an investigation into “structural Islamophobia” in the Conservative party.
Describing Lee Anderson’s comments about Sadiq Khan as “a further demonstration of the fact that Islamophobia is normalised” in the party, Yousaf said:
You can look at any one of the tweets that I put out, or any one of the social media posts I put out, and you will see streams of Islamophobic abuse.
The fact that an MP thinks it is acceptable to make such Islamophobic comments against anybody, let alone the mayor of London, I think is despicable.
I think the Conservative party should be investigating what, I think, is clearly structural Islamophobia within that party.
Yousaf, who is the first Muslim to lead a country in western Europe, said that Anderson should have been expelled from the Conservative party, not just suspended.
SNP says Hoyle has 'broken his word' by not allowing emergency debate on Gaza
Stephen Flynn, the SNP leader at Westminster, has accused Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, of breaking his promise to allow an emergency debate on Gaza.
In a statement responding to the speaker’s statement (see 3.49pm), Flynn said:
Yet again, Westminster is failing the people of Gaza by blocking a vote on the urgent action the UK government must take to help make an immediate ceasefire happen.
For months, the UK parliament has blocked SNP calls for an immediate ceasefire – and now it’s blocking a vote on the concrete actions the UK government must pursue to make an immediate ceasefire more likely …It’s regrettable that this inexplicable decision will further erode trust in the speaker. The speaker broke the rules last week – and this week he has broken his word. How can MPs have any trust in the speaker when he makes a public commitment one minute, only to rip it up the next. If 30,000 dead Palestinians aren’t worthy of an emergency debate – what is?
Collectively the SNP has decided it no longer has confidence in the speaker because of what happened last week. There are now 77 MPs who have signed the Commons early day motion expressing no confidence in Hoyle, up from 71 at the end of last week.
Updated
Speaker confirms he has turned down application from SNP for emergency debate on Gaza
In the Commons Stephen Flynn, the SNP leader at Westminster, is making a point of order.
He says the SNP tried in good faith to have debate under standing order 24 to have another debate on Gaza. (See 12.11pm.) He says he has been told that request has been refused. Why is that?
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, tells Flynn standing orders say the speaker should not say why he has turned down a request for an SO24 debate.
But in these circumstances he will give an explanation, he says.
He says two factors determine whether an SO24 debate is granted.
First is the extent to which the subject is a matter for ministers. He says that in this case the matter does not relate to areas of ministerial responsibility.
(Hoyle does not explain, but the SNP motion is about the case for a ceasefire in Gaza, which is not directly a matter for the UK government.)
And Hoyle says the second factor is whether or not MPs are likely to discuss this issue by another means. In this case, MPs came to a resolution on Gaza only last week, he says. And he says ministers are expected to make a statement on Gaza to the Commons tomorrow.
He says that is why he is turning the application down.
This does not mean MPs cannot apply for another emergency debate in future, when circumstances may have changed, he says.
Updated
Tory MP Jonathan Gullis claims pro-Palestinian 'hate mob' emboldened by events in Commons during Gaza debate
Earlier during Home Office questions Jonathan Gullis (Con) said a pro-Palestinian hate mob appeared outside a Conservative party fundraising event on Friday. He said a police officer allowed protesters into the building to intimidate people. One of the people involved used to be member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, the now-proscribed Islamist group, he said. And he claimed that what happened in the Commons last week “emboldened these individuals to take the action they did”.
Chris Philp, the policing minister, said no MP should feel they have to change their vote, or change procedure, because of external pressure. What happened in Stoke was unacceptable, he said.
He said he was pleased to be able to tell MPs that four people have now been arrested in connection with the incident in Stoke.
At Home Office question Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, asks if any minister in the department has been willing to say Lee Anderson’s comments were Islamophobic.
Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, is responding. He says Labour should have suspended its Rochdale candidate as quickly over his antisemitism as the government did over Lee Anderson.
Cooper criticises Tugendhat for not being able to identify and speak out against Islamophobia.
Tugendhat says anti-Muslim hatred is wrong, and must be dealt with.
Labour MP Dawn Butler says she's suffered far-right abuse 'inspired in part' by 'hate' peddled by Anderson, Braverman and Truss
It is Home Office questions in the Commons, and Labour’s Dawn Butler said she had had to get extra police support this weekend due to the far-right abuse she had suffered, inspired in party by the “hate” peddled by Lee Anderson, Suella Braverman and Liz Truss. She said:
I’ve had to seek extra police support this weekend due to the far-right abuse that I have suffered, inspired and unleashed in part by the conspiracy theory, the racist Islamophobic, anti-Muslim hate peddled by [Anderson, Braverman and Truss].
The speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, reprimanded her for naming individuals.
Butler referred to members of the governing party, and asked if other government MPs should have the whip withdrawn.
Chris Philp, the policing minister who was responding, said that Anderson had been suspended, and that his party had acted more quickly than Labour did when it emerged its candidate in Rochdale had made antisemitic remarks in private.
UK Green party leaders hold joint press conference to highlight damage caused by Tory/Labour net zero reversals
Conservative and Labour policy shifts on net zero have hit investment and angered voters, leaders of the various Green parties from across the UK have said in a rare joint press event.
Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, the co-leaders of the Greens in England and Wales, Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, their equivalents in Scotland, and Anthony Slaughter, who leads the semi-separate Greens in Wales, gathered in London for an event intended to persuade voters of the benefits of a vote for the party in the general election.
Malachai O’Hara, leader of the Greens in Northern Ireland, was meant to have also spoken but was delayed.
While the Greens nationally remain stuck on about 7% polling, the party has an ambitious target of four MPs, up from the current one, based around highly focused campaigning and the energies of their councillor base, which has doubled since the 2019 election.
The mass event also allows the Greens to stress the experience of their Scottish party in government, with Hervie and Slater serving as ministers in the devolved SNP-led government since 2021.
In his speech, Harvie, whose brief covers zero carbon buildings and active travel, said the shift to net zero “will require serious investment to change the way we travel the way you treat our homes”. He added:
But every time the UK government cuts another scheme or rolls back on net zero, it undermines investor confidence in this country as a place for green investment.
Speaking to the Guardian after the speeches, Denyer said many voters in Bristol, where she is competing against Labour’s Thangam Debbonaire in the new Bristol Central constituency, were upset with Labour for watering down their £28bn a year green investment plan. “They are proactively bringing that up with me on the doorstep before I even mention it,” she said.
The Greens’ best electoral bets appear to be Brighton Pavilion, where Sian Berry is seeking to follow Caroline Lucas as the Green MP; Bristol Central, where local polling shows Labour and the Green neck and neck; and Waveney Valley, straddling Norfolk and Suffolk, a brand new seat where Ramsay hopes to spring a surprise on the Conservatives. They are also targeting the seat of North Herefordshire.
The tendency thus far for both the Conservatives and Labour to stress caution on public spending, green investment and other fiscal matters, had created a vacancy, Denyer said. She explained:
People are looking for hope. That’s what they are saying, either explicitly or implicitly, when they speak to me on the doorstep – neither the Conservatives nor Labour are offering an alternative but neither are they offering hope, or action towards that. And that’s what the Greens offer.
Sunak defends suspending Lee Anderson but not Braverman over their anti-Islamist comments
Rishi Sunak has defended his party’s decision to suspend Lee Anderson for saying Sadiq Khan and London are under the control of Islamists, but not to suspend Suella Braverman for suggesting that Islamists are in charge of the whole of the UK.
In her article for the Telegraph last week Braverman, the former home secretary, said: “The truth is that the Islamists, the extremists and the anti-Semites are in charge now.”
Asked about Braverman’s article, Sunak told broadcasters in Yorkshire:
I think that those comments were not about an individual in particular.
There is a broader point that some of the scenes that we have been witnessing on our streets in recent times are unacceptable.
And we’re now having a situation where, whether it’s private MPs’ meetings, council meetings, or indeed what happened to in parliament last week, where the normal democratic processes that we are used to in this country are being impacted, threatened, disrupted aggressively and in an intimidating fashion.
I don’t think that’s right. I don’t think anyone thinks that that’s right. And I think it’s important that we call out that kind of behaviour as wrong and that we do everything we can to stamp it out.
Although Braverman’s article was about the influence of Islamists in general, it did include a line saying Keir Starmer was “in hock to the Islamists”.
Updated
SNP calls for investigation into Labour's efforts to get speaker to allow vote on its Gaza amendment last week
The SNP has called for an independent investigation into what Labour did to stop the SNP’s Gaza motion being put to a vote in the debate last week. It has already been established that Keir Starmer personally lobbied Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, on this issue, shortly before it started. Under normal rules the SNP motion would have been put to a vote first, but Hoyle broke with precedent and allowed a vote on the Labour amendment, which came first.
Some Labour MPs made interventions in the Commons chamber designed to delay the start of the debate, to allow more time for colleagues to persuade Hoyle to ignore the conventional rules. One of them was Chris Bryant, who gave a speech opposing a 10-minute rule bill motion and called for a vote on it, holding up proceedings for about 20 minutes. In an interview with Channel 4 News yesterday, asked if he was doing at his own initiative or because he had been asked to by the party, Bryant replied: “A bit of both, if I’m honest.”
The SNP’s Kirsty Blackman said:
Starmer’s party has been caught red handed following the admission by Chris Bryant. There must now be a full, independent investigation into the appalling behaviour of Keir Starmer and his colleagues, who are no better than the Tories when it comes to manipulating the broken Westminster system.
Labour has accepted that it did make a case to Hoyle as to why he should make an exception to the normal procedure last Wednesday. But it has denied threatening the speaker, and what Bryant was doing last week was within the rules. In a post on X the SNP Alison Thewliss says Bryant criticised filibustering in his recent book on parliament, but the extract she quotes is about filibustering being used to block private members’ bills, which is not what Bryant was doing.
When Hoyle decided to ignore precedent in this case, he clearly expected that there would be a vote on the SNP motion after the vote on the Labour amendment, which he expected to fail. But the SNP motion was never put to a vote because the government chose not to vote against the Labour proposal, reportedly because government whips feared if there was a division, they would lose.
Richard Tice urges Lee Anderson to join Reform UK, saying he speaks for millions 'appalled by what's happening' to Britain
Richard Tice, leader of Reform UK, has said that Lee Anderson was speaking for millions of people “appalled by what is happening to our country” in what he said about Islamists and Sadiq Khan.
In a statement suggesting he hopes Anderson will join Reform UK, Tice said:
Lee speaks for millions of people who are appalled by what is happening to our country. Between them, this gutless government and the Mayor of London appear to have lost control of our streets. The projecting of a vile antisemitic slogan on our Houses of Parliament last week is a shocking illustration of the breakdown of law and order.
In his role as London’s police and crime commissioner, Sadiq Khan is responsible for London’s security. Along with Sir Mark Rowley, he has totally failed in that capacity. Week in week out, he and the police have allowed pro-Hamas, hate-filled antisemitic marches to continue …
Lee Anderson may have been clumsy in his precise choice of words, but his sentiments are supported by millions of British citizens, including myself. Never has Westminster and the craven left leaning establishment been so out of touch with ordinary people.
I do not and will not give a running commentary on any discussions I have with any MPs, but those MPs have my number.
Reform UK, which used to be the Brexit party, was founded by Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, and he remains its honorary president (and owner – it’s a company, and he reportedly owns a majority of the shares). At the weekend Farage said that Anderson would be “a massive help to the cause” and that he would “probably feel happier” in Reform UK than in the Conservative party.
But Farage was not so complimentary when interviewed by Decca Aitkenhead for the Sunday Times for an interview published earlier this month. Referring to Anderson resigning as deputy Tory chair to vote against the government on Rwanda bill amendments, but not voting against the bill at third reading, Aitkenhead writes:
Farage wouldn’t vote for a single serving Tory MP. “A bunch of charlatans and liars.” What about his friend and GB News colleague Jacob Rees-Mogg? “Oh, he’s a very nice bloke, but he’ll always do the wrong thing in the end.” Lee Anderson’s vote for the Rwanda Bill provokes a snort of contempt. “I thought he was a miner. I thought miners were tough.”
No 10 urges politicians not to 'inflame debate', but won't criticise Braverman over Telegraph article saying Starmer 'in hock to Islamists'
The Downing Street lobby briefing was largely taken up with questions about Lee Anderson. Given that this row strays into party politics (the PM’s spokesperson is a civil servant, and leaves the party political briefing to a special adviser), and given that Rishi Sunak has already spoken about this himself (see 8.26am), the No 10 comments did not add a lot to what is already on the record. But here are the newish lines.
No 10 restated Sunak’s belief that what Lee Anderson said was “wrong”, but was reluctant to explain what aspect of his statement was objectionable. Asked to say specifically what it was that Anderson did that was wrong, the spokesperson replied:
As the PM said this morning, he made comments which were wrong.
Asked to say which parts of Anderson’s comments were wrong, and why, the spokesperson replied:
You’ve got the language that he used. His comments were wrong in their entirety …
He made comments which you will have seen, and obviously there has been significant reaction to. The choice of those words were wrong, particularly in the current climate, where tensions are heightened. As the PM said this morning, it’s really important … that people in public office do not seek to inflame debates in a harmful way.
Sunak and other ministers have been reluctant to say that Anderson’s comments were racist.
The spokesperson did not explicitly criticise Suella Braverman for what she said in her Telegraph article last week. When it was put to him that Lee Anderson was asked to apologise for saying Sadiq Khan was being controlled by Islamists, but Braverman has not been asked to apologise for saying Keir Starmer was “in hock” to them”, the spokesperson said he did not have anything to add to what Oliver Dowden, the deputy PM, said about Braverman at the weekend. (Dowden said her language did not require an apology because it did not cross a line.) But the spokesperson went on:
More broadly, the PM urge all politicians in public life to seek to take the heat out of the tension and not to inflame the debate.
In her article Braverman said:
On a day when Keir Starmer should have shown strength of character, he bowed to the mob, abused his position, and undermined the integrity of parliament. Conventions cast aside, the speaker’s legitimacy destroyed, and democracy denied. Trust was shattered by Starmer’s grubby backroom deal. The mask has slipped: in hock to the Islamists, he is responsible for one of the most shameful days of our democracy.
The spokesperson said the government is not happy with the APPG definition of Islamophobia that Labour says it should accept (see 10.14am) because it “conflates race with religion”. The spokesperson said:
As the government has stated previously, there are issues in relation to the APPG’s definition of Islamophobia, which conflates race with religion, does not address sectarianism within Islam, and may unintentionally undermine freedom of speech.
But as I’ve said, we have always been clear that this government does not and will not tolerate anti-Muslim hatred.
Lee Anderson defends anti-Khan diatribe, saying 'when you're right, you should never apologise', but accepts wording 'clumsy'
Lee Anderson has suggested that he won’t be apologising to Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London for saying he is under the control of Islamists (see 8.01am) because the comment is accurate.
In an interview with GB News (where he works as a presenter), the former Conservative party deputy chair said:
If you are wrong, apologising is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength.
But when you think you are right you should never apologise because to do so would be a sign of weakness.
Anderson also released a statement he drafted on Saturday accepting that some of his wording may have been “clumsy” but defending the substance of what he said. According to GB News, the statement was not released at the weekend because Anderson refused a request from the Tory chief whip, Simon Hart, to apologise for what he said.
In his statement Anderson said:
Hundreds of people had been arrested for racist abuse on these marches and we barely hear a peep from the mayor. If these marches were about something less fashionable Sadiq Khan would have been the first to call for them to be cancelled. It’s double standards for political benefit …
Seeing the words ‘From the river to the sea’ on Elizabeth Tower made me feel sick to the pit of my stomach.
Khan has stood by and allowed our police to turn a blind eye to the disgusting scenes around parliament. I
It is not my intention to upset anyone, I believe in free speech and have 100 per cent respect for people of all backgrounds.
The vast majority of Muslims are not Islamists in the same way the vast majority of Christians are not conservatives or socialists.
The vast majority of our Muslim friends in the UK are decent, hardworking citizens who make an amazing contribution to our society and their religion should not be blamed for the actions of a tiny minority of extremists.
My words may have been clumsy but my words were borne out of sheer frustration at what is happening to our beautiful capital city.
SNP calls for fresh Commons Gaza vote, on motion to mandate government to push for immediate ceasefire at UN
As Libby Brooks reports, the SNP is pushing for another Commons vote on a Gaza ceasefire this week – but this time one that would actually mandate the government to act.
In a statement explaining what the party wants, Stephen Flynn, the SNP leader at Westminster, said:
The SNP wants to move the debate forward with a fresh motion that focuses on the specific, practical, concrete steps the UK government must now take to help make an immediate ceasefire happen.
As a key ally and defence trading partner of Israel, and a member of the UN security council, the UK has an important role to play - but the UK government, which still opposes even calling for an immediate ceasefire, is not doing anywhere near enough to secure one.
The SNP has a plan to change that. We’ve reached out to the other parties offering talks on a fresh SNP motion, so parliament can finally mandate the UK government to act.SNP and public pressure forced Sir Keir Starmer to U-turn on his opposition to calling for an immediate ceasefire – and now MPs across parties must work together to get Rishi Sunak to do the same.
The SNP wants parliament to mandate the UK government to use its position on the UN security council to vote for an immediate ceasefire, and follow the advice of independent UN experts to halt all transfers of military equipment and technology, including components, to Israel, and to suspend the issuing of new licences.
The SNP is very unlikely to get its way on this. Partly that is because foreign policy is generally viewed as a matter for government, not for parliament, and there are relatively view votes in the Commons that “mandate” the government on foreign policy. And partly its because, in so far as there is a consensus on parliament, it is probably lined up more behind the Labour position, as set out in its motion last week, than behind the SNP position.
The speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, has offered the SNP an emergency debate under standing order 24. Another problem for the SNP is that SO24 debates are normally held on neutral motions, not substantive ones that could mandate government. As Sam Blewett points out in this morning’s London Playbook briefing for Politico, there is an exception to this rule – but not on that Hoyle is likely to want to follow. Blewett explains:
There is, of course, one big exception to this norm — one that will be distinctly unappealing to Hoyle. His predecessor John Bercow, in his precedent-shredding pomp of September 2019, broke with convention to grant MPs a vote on a substantive motion under SO24 rules. This allowed backbench MPs to take control of Commons business in order to push through legislation blocking a no-deal Brexit. And we all remember how smoothly that went…
What are the chances? The Sunday Times reported that Hoyle has already been warned by senior Tories that granting the SNP a substantive vote would be another, unwelcome departure from protocol. And Hoyle has long vowed not to permit the sort of Commons chicanery allowed under Bercow. Further riling the SNP therefore seems the most likely outcome of today’s negotiations — unless a third way can be found to give the nationalists a chance to re-run their botched debate.
Updated
Under Tories buying a home has turned into 'fantasy' option for many people, Starmer claims
Keir Starmer is doing an event today to promote Labour’s plans to encourage housebuilding, which are part of the party’s growth mission. In a statement released in advice, Starmer said that under the Tories the prospect of being able to buy their own home has become “a fantasy” for many people. He said:
Britain’s workers and Britain’s interests have been failed. Living standards have plummeted, as has the traditional British belief that if you work hard, it pays. For too many people a higher wage is beyond reach, and buying a home has become a fantasy.
My mum and dad enjoyed the stability of a home they owned and a faith that their kids would have more opportunity than they did. And it wasn’t just them, its engrained in the British psyche – you work hard, you can get on. Work will pay. Life will give you chances.
The Conservative party’s economic choices run completely against those values. Meanwhile, their promises on levelling up are empty. The Tories aren’t just betting the house, they’re betting yours.
It’s time for change. My Labour government will be different. We’ll run a patriotic economy where Britain’s interest is centre stage, and Britain’s hard working families reap the rewards.
Some Conservatives condemned Lee Anderson after his claim on Friday about Sadiq Khan being under the control of Islamists, and welcomed the party’s decision to withdraw the whip from him. But other Tories have privately expressed concern about the party’s decision to discipline him, and the Daily Telegraph this morning has splashed on a story about the backlash being articulated in a WhatsApp group for MPs from the 2019 intake.
The Daily Telegraph: Red Wall revolt over Anderson sacking #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/LmUSSEoaKz
— George Mann (@sgfmann) February 25, 2024
In their story, which takes in material revealed by Sky’s Sam Coates, Genevieve Holl-Allen and Ben Riley-Smith report:
Some of the messages were posted on Saturday on “The 109”, the name of a WhatsApp group for Tory MPs first elected in 2019, although it also includes a few MPs from other intakes.
Jill Mortimer, the Tory MP for Hartlepool – a seat won from Labour in 2021 – shared a voter email that said: “Today’s news of Lee Anderson’s suspension has been the final nail in your party’s coffin.” The MP asked colleagues: “Anyone else getting these in?”
Sarah Dines, the MP for the Derbyshire Dales, said: “Loads. From random constituents, not known supporters. Interesting.”
Sarah Atherton, the MP for Wrexham, won by the Tories from Labour in 2019, said: “I’ve lodged my concerns due to an instant backlash from members.” Peter Gibson, the Tory MP for Darlington, wrote: “Inbox very positive for Lee.”
On a separate Tory WhatsApp group, Mr Gibson wrote that the Tories “are a broad church and Lee has been a huge asset to our party”.
Some 290 people were detected crossing the English Channel on Sunday, the highest number on a single day for more than a month, PA Media reports. PA says:
According to the Home Office, the cumulative number of arrivals by small boats in 2024 now stands at a provisional total of 2,006.
This is 32% lower than the total at this point last year, which was 2,953, but 49% higher than the total at this stage in 2022, which was 1,482.
The 290 arrivals on Sunday represents the highest daily number since 358 arrivals on 17 January.
Five boats were detected on Sunday, which suggests an average of around 58 people per boat.
There were 29,437 arrivals across the whole of 2023, down 36% on a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.
Today’s announcement from No 10 about how £4.7bn will be spent on transport projects in the north of England and the Midlands using some of the money saved from the cancellation of phase two of HS2 has been criticised as little more than a re-announcement of money already pledged.
In an interview with the Today programme this morning, Henri Murison, chief executive of business group the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said:
I’m still kind of happy to receive this money in place of nothing, but it is also coming alongside the fact that many of these same communities will not benefit from HS2 and we still haven’t got enough clarity on Northern Powerhouse Rail, which is still a very important and fundamental part of the north transport system.
We haven’t got the clarity out of the route that was supposed to be announced imminently and instead the government, rather than going to the north-west, which I would have liked them to do and announced that they are definitely going to do Northern Powerhouse Rail, that it’s going to go from Manchester to Manchester airport, through towards Liverpool, instead they come and re-announce something here in Yorkshire.
I don’t fundamentally understand why on earth the cabinet is coming to simply announce something that they already told us about.
Badenoch claims definition of Islamophobia favoured by Labour is flawed
Anneliese Dodds, the Labour party chair and shadow secretary for state for women and equalities, told the Today progamme this morning that the government should adopt the definition of Islamophobia used by Labour and other major parties. This is the definition produced by the all-party parliamentar group on British Muslims, which describes Islamophobia as “rooted in racism and .. a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”.
But in posts on X last night Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary and minister for women and equalities, said “anti-Muslim hatred” was a better term. She explained:
We use the term “Anti-Muslim hatred”. It makes clear the law protects Muslims. In this country, we have a proud tradition of religious freedom AND the freedom to criticise religion.
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) February 25, 2024
The definition of “Islamophobia” she uses creates a blasphemy law via the back door if adopted. https://t.co/lhHdSbs6Kz
We use the term “Anti-Muslim hatred”. It makes clear the law protects Muslims. In this country, we have a proud tradition of religious freedom AND the freedom to criticise religion.
The definition of “Islamophobia” she [Dodds] uses creates a blasphemy law via the back door if adopted
As the minister for the Equality Act, I also know the definition of Islamophobia that @AnnelieseDodds and Labour have adopted is not in line with law as written. Anti-Muslim hatred is more precise and better reflects the UK’s laws, as others have noted: https://civitas.org.uk/content/files/islamophobiaopenletter.pdf
UPDATE: This is what Dodds posted on X last night in response.
Strange that numerous parties in the UK - including the Scottish Conservatives - have adopted this definition then.🤔
— Anneliese Dodds (@AnnelieseDodds) February 25, 2024
The first step towards dealing with a problem is accepting that it exists. https://t.co/mUhz0HfgGZ
Strange that numerous parties in the UK - including the Scottish Conservatives - have adopted this definition then.🤔
The first step towards dealing with a problem is accepting that it exists.
Updated
Lee Anderson could have Tory whip restored if he apologises, transport secretary Mark Harper suggests
Mark Harper, the transport secretary, has suggested that Lee Anderson could have the Conservative party whip restored if he apologises for what he said about Sadiq Khan. In an interview on Sky News this morning, asked what Anderson would have to do to be readmitted to the party, Harper replied:
I hope he will reflect on what he said and he will retract those comments and apologise … But I’m not going to tell the chief whip how to do his job, that’s for him …
[Anderson has] contributed a lot in the past. I’d like to see him be able to contribute to the Conservative party in the future.
Harper said Anderson’s comments were wrong but, despite being asked repeatedly, he refused to say if he considered them racist.
Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrats’ deputy leader, says Rishi Sunak should have condemned Lee Anderson’s comments as racist and Islamophobic in his interviews this morning. In a statement she says:
The refusal of Rishi Sunak and his ministers to properly call out Lee Anderson’s extreme comments shows just how low the Conservative party has fallen.
Rishi Sunak needs to condemn Anderson’s comments for what they are, Islamophobic and racist, and make clear he won’t be let back into the Conservative party.
While the Lee Anderson row has been dominating the national news this morning, arguably the most interesting exchange in Rishi Sunak’s morning interview round came this morning when he was asked about the state of the NHS by Georgey Spanswick on Radio York. I have beefed up the earlier post at 8.16am with the full quote from the PM (although you might need to refresh the page to get the update to appear.) But the most memorable comment did not come from Sunak, but from the presenter. She said she had a friend who keeled over at the doctors’ surgery last week, but was told by the GP they would not send her to A&E because they would have to wait for nine hours.
This does not count as news, because news is normally thought of was what we don’t know, or what comes as a surprise, and almost everyone now can tell a story about themselves or someone they know having to wait hours and hours at A&E.
But the fact that something is no longer news does not stop it mattering, and at the election health will be a more important issue than Lee Anderson. In a campaign that will involve constant contact with the public and the media, Sunak may be hearing stories like Spanswick’s all the time. He will need a better answer than the one he gave this morning.
The Rishi Sunak interviews are over. They have not taken us forward very much, but Henry Zeffman from the BBC thinks Sunak hardened the Conservative party’s line on Lee Anderson marginally, compared with what Oliver Dowden was saying yesterday.
PM is hardening the Conservatives' line a little on Lee Anderson this morning. Before, the position was he was suspended because he didn't apologise.
— Henry Zeffman (@hzeffman) February 26, 2024
Today Sunak said the comments were unacceptable and wrong "and that's why he had the whip suspended". No mention of an apology
PM is hardening the Conservatives’ line a little on Lee Anderson this morning. Before, the position was he was suspended because he didn’t apologise.
Today Sunak said the comments were unacceptable and wrong “and that’s why he had the whip suspended”. No mention of an apology
But saying Anderson should apologise was an implicit acceptance that the original remark was unacceptable, and so broadly the Dowden and Sunak talking points have been the same.
It is understandable why radio presenters with only a very short interview slot, and under pressure to ask Sunak about local issues which never get addressed by the national media, did not interrogate Sunak at more length on this issue. As Jon Sopel from the News Agents podcast points out, if they had, they might have pressed him to explain properly what it was about what Anderson said that was unacceptable.
Just listened to the PM and Mark Harper - both saying Lee Anderson’s comments were ‘wrong’ and whip withdrawn for not apologising.
— Jon Sopel (@jonsopel) February 26, 2024
They refuse to say that he was racist or Islamophobic. So my question is this:
What exactly do they want Lee Anderson to apologise for?
Bewildering
Just listened to the PM and Mark Harper - both saying Lee Anderson’s comments were ‘wrong’ and whip withdrawn for not apologising.
They refuse to say that he was racist or Islamophobic. So my question is this:
What exactly do they want Lee Anderson to apologise for?
Bewildering
The Tories have said that Anderson was suspended because he would not apologise to Sadiq Khan for saying that he was under the control of Islamists. (See 8.01am.) But the party has not said whether or not it believes that this remark was Islamaphobic, and it has not said whether or not it thinks it is acceptable for people to make wider claims about “Islamists” having undue influence. In his comment Anderson was actually distancing himself from an even more provocative and extreme comment made by Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, who wrote an article in the Daily Telegraph last week claiming:
The truth is that the Islamists, the extremists and the anti-Semites are in charge now. They have bullied the Labour Party, they have bullied our institutions, and now they have bullied our country into submission.
Anderson was saying he thought Braverman was wrong because, in his view, the Islamist take-over has only extended to the capital, not to the UK as a whole.
As my colleague Peter Walker points out, Sunak’s reluctance to talk directly and specifically about Islamaophobia has echoes of Jeremy Corbyn’s reluctance to talk directly and specifically about antisemitism.
Asked on BBC Humberside if he is refusing to engage with Islamophobia, Rishi Sunak says “prejudice of any kind is unacceptable” - a presumably unconscious if nonetheless direct echo of Jeremy Corbyn's much-used form of words over antisemitism.
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) February 26, 2024
Asked on BBC Humberside if he is refusing to engage with Islamophobia, Rishi Sunak says “prejudice of any kind is unacceptable” - a presumably unconscious if nonetheless direct echo of Jeremy Corbyn’s much-used form of words over antisemitism.
It is increasingly notable that Sunak and his ministers seem almost pathologically unable to mention the idea of anti-Islam prejudice (beyond, in a few cases, arguing that ‘Islamophobia’ is a term that shouldn’t be used).
At the start of the Radio Lincolnshire interview, Scott Dalton put it to Rishi Sunak that the transport money for the county being announced today just replaced money that had been previously taken away. He said the county council says it needs £400m just to bring roads in Lincolnshire up to the national standard. Today’s announcement promises just half of that sum, spread over seven years, he said. He said that was only £37m a year.
In response, Sunak said overall funding for the council was going up by 8%.
Updated
Rishi Sunak is now on BBC Radio Lincolnshire. Scott Dalton is interviewing him, and asks why it is taking so long for the HS2 money to go to transport projects in the north.
Sunak says he thinks the money has been redirected quite quickly.
Q: In Lincolnshire the redevelopment project for RAF Scampton has been put in jeopardy by the plans for a camp for asylum seekers there.
Sunak says the plan for a camp for asylum seekers is only temporary.
Q: It is for three years. Will the developers wait three years to invest the £300m in the site?
Sunak says he needs to act to stop the boats. The plan is working, he says.
Q: You say are listening to people’s frustrations on RAF Scampton. But you have ignored the local MP, Sir Edward Leigh, the council and the residents. It is a heritage site.
Sunak says the heritage aspects are being respected. He says he wishes he did not have to house illegal migrants.
He says his returns agreement with Albania has largely stopped arrivals from that country. He says he thinks the Rwanda policy can have the same impact on. a bigger scale.
Sunak claims UK is 'most successful multi-ethnic democracy in world' and says racism and prejudice 'completely unacceptable'
Q: Is there a hierachy of hate? You condemn antisemitism, but you have been accused of overlooking Islamophobia in your own party?
Sunak says he does not accept that characterisation. He goes on:
I believe racism or prejudice of any kind is completely unacceptable, and we must stamp it out.
Asked to give a commitment that he will not tolerate hate of any kind, Sunak repeats this phrase. He says he is proud of the fact that, when he became the first British Asian prime minister, that was not a big deal. He goes on:
And that’s because we’re the most successful multi-ethnic democracy in the world. And that’s because we have a way of doing these things, of respecting everyone, and at the same time ensuring that everyone integrates into our community and subscribes to a common set of British values. That’s not an easy thing to do. But I think we do it better than any other country, and we need to work hard to protect that.
Sunak ends by saying for a third time that racism of any kind is completely unacceptable.
Kofi Smiles is interviewing Rishi Sunak on Radio Humberside.
They have covered the transport announcement, and Sunak is now talking about support for the steel industry.
What Sunak said about Lee Anderson
Rishi Sunak was asked four questions about Lee Anderson on Radio York. Here are the questions and answers.
As you can see, all four answers were essentially the same (a standard Sunak technique).
Q: Has the Conservative Party got Islamophobic tendencies?
No, of course it doesn’t. And I think it’s incumbent on all of us, especially those elected to parliament, not to inflame our debates in a way that’s harmful to others.
Lee’s comments weren’t acceptable. They were wrong, and that’s why he’s had the whip suspended.
Q: How do you account for Lee Anderson’s comments and your decision to suspend him?
His choice of words wasn’t acceptable, it was wrong. That’s why the whip was suspended. And words matter, especially in the current environment where tensions are running high, and I think it’s incumbent on all of us to choose them carefully.
Q: How frustrating is it that he hasn’t apologised for those comments?
The most important thing is that people realise that the words they use in a situation that we’re in now, where tensions are running higher than I think any of us would like, and my priority is to try and take the heat out of this situation and that’s what everyone wants to see. And that’s why words matter. And his words weren’t acceptable. They were wrong, and that’s why the whip was suspended.
Q: How much of a blow is this to your election chances in red wall seats?
It’s not about that. I think in a situation like this, it’s important that we maintain high standards. That’s why the whip was suspended.
Updated
Sunak is now due on BBC Radio Humberside. You can listen here.
Sunak claims NHS improving, but accepts it's 'not where we want to be'
Spanswick now turns to the NHS.
She says she was involved in an accident last year, when she was due to interview Sunak, and asked the paramedic with her what he would ask Sunak if he had the chance. She said he wanted to know “why are you running down the NHS”.
Sunak claims performance in A&E departments is getting better. He says the strikes have made it harder to tackle waiting lists.
Spanswick says a friend was at the doctor’s last week, and was told the doctor would not send them to A&E because they would have to wait nine hours.
Sunak says of course that is not right.
But the use of community diagnostic hubs will make thing better, he says.
UPDATE: Sunak said:
I come from an NHS family, of course I don’t want to run it down.
We’re putting a record amount of investment in, more funding, so that’s never been higher – more doctors, more nurses, and we’re making improvements.
Now, look, that’s not going to happen overnight. But if you look at the performance of ambulances and emergency departments this winter, it’s better than it was last winter. So that is progress.
And when it comes to the waiting lists, in the last few months actually we’ve seen the waiting lists start to fall. And that’s because we haven’t had as much industrial action. Obviously there is once again industrial action, but at the end of last year we had no industrial action in October or November and the waiting list fell by about 150,000.”
Are we where we want to be? Not yet. Are we making progress? Yes, the plan is working. If we stick with it, I know that things will get better.
Updated
Sunak’s line on Lee Anderson was broadly the same as Oliver Dowden’s yesterday. He did not get pressed on some of outstanding questions relating to this as yet unanswered, and is now being asked about the transport announcement for the north of England – the main reason for the interview.
Sunak says Lee Anderson's comments were 'not acceptable', but denies claim Tory party has Islamophobic tendencies
Georgey Spanswick is interviewing Rishi Sunak on Radio York.
She says Sunak is on the programme to talk about transport. But she is going to start with the Lee Anderson row, she says.
Q: Has the Conservative party got Islamophobic tendencies?
“No, of course it hasn’t”, Sunak says.
He says people should not be inflaming tensions in this situation.
Words matter. Anderson did not apologise. His words were not acceptable, and he was suspended.
He says it is important to maintain high standards.
Anderson’s words were “not acceptable”, and wrong, he says.
He says he is sure the interviewer will now want to ask transport, and the “compelling offer” that the Conservative party has.
Rishi Sunak is about to be interviewed on BBC Radio York. You can listen here.
Rishi Sunak expected to face questions on Lee Anderson Islamophobia row in radio interviews
Good morning. Rishi Sunak is set to break his silence on the Lee Anderson Islamophobia row shortly. Anderson, a former deputy chair of the Conservative party, told GB News on Friday:
I don’t actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of [Sadiq] Khan, and they’ve got control of London.
After initially defending him, the Conservative party suspended him about 24 hours, on the grounds that he had refused to apologise to the offence given to Khan, the Labour mayor of London, who is a Muslim. But in interviews yesterday Oliver Dowden, the deputy PM, refused to rule out Anderson being allow to rejoin the parliamentary Conservative party, and declined to describe what Anderson said as clearly Islamophobic.
We’ll hear from Sunak himself shortly. He is about to give interviews to local radio stations in Yorkshire, where he is chairing a cabinet meeting this morning.
Here is Eleni Courea’s overnight story about the row.
All parties have to discipline MPs who say offensive things from time to time, but Anderson is not just a random backbencher. When Sunak made the surprise decision to make him Conservative party chair a year ago, it was not despite the fact that he was best know for saying provocative things likely to appeal to elderly, white, male reactionaries. It was precisely because of his popularity with this group, which is also what secured Anderson his presenting job with GB News.
Here is the agenda for the day.
After 8am: Rishi Sunak gives interviews to three BBC local radio stations
Morning: Sunak chairs a cabinet meeting in Yorkshire.
Morning: Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner visit the West Midlands, where they will be promoting Labour’s plans for housebuilding.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
2.30pm: James Cleverly, the home secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
If you want to contact me, do try the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a laptop or a desktop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting, too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line; privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate); or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.
Updated
