logo
British public ‘revolted' by Gaza crisis, PM says as Cabinet meeting planned

British public ‘revolted' by Gaza crisis, PM says as Cabinet meeting planned

Rhyl Journal7 days ago
The Prime Minister, appearing alongside Donald Trump at his Turnberry golf course in Scotland, described the situation in the Palestinian territory as an 'absolute catastrophe'.
Sir Keir is expected to urge the US president to apply pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the population is facing starvation.
'It's a humanitarian crisis, it's an absolute catastrophe,' the Prime Minister said of the situation in Gaza as he arrived in Ayrshire.
He added: 'Nobody wants to see that. I think people in Britain are revolted at seeing what they're seeing on their screens, so we've got to get to that ceasefire.'
Israel announced at the weekend that it would suspend fighting in three areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day and open secure routes for aid delivery, while the UK confirmed it was taking part in plans led by Jordan to airdrop aid into the territory.
Sir Keir is expected to present a UK-led plan to bring peace to the Middle East to Mr Trump and other allies in the coming days, Downing Street indicated.
Work on the plan began alongside France and Germany over the weekend after a call with the two countries' leaders, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz.
Writing in the Mirror newspaper on Friday, the Prime Minister likened the plan to the international effort to support Ukraine towards a lasting peace, the coalition of the willing.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said the plan would build 'on the collaboration to date that paves the way to a long-term solution on security in the region'.
He added: 'As I've said, the Prime Minister will be presenting that plan to other key allies, including the USA and Arab states, over the coming days, and indeed convening Cabinet this week. You can expect to see more coming out of that.'
There is no indication yet of which day this week the Cabinet meeting – which gathers together the Government's most senior ministers – will take place.
The Prime Minister is meanwhile facing calls from a growing number of MPs to immediately recognise a Palestinian state.
Palestinians have an 'inalienable right to statehood', and it is a 'question of when, not if' the UK will agree to recognition, No 10 said.
More than 250 cross-party MPs have now signed a letter calling for ministers to take the step, up from 221 on Friday.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds earlier dismissed the idea that there is a split at the top of Government over when to recognise a Palestinian state.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting is among those to have signalled a desire for hastened action calling for recognition 'while there's still a state of Palestine left to recognise', while Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the Government wants to recognise a Palestinian state 'in contribution to a peace process'.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Mr Reynolds said: 'There's no split. The whole of the Labour Party, every Labour MP, was elected on a manifesto of recognition of a Palestinian state, and we all want it to happen.
'It is a case of when, not if.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Lord Kinnock urges Rachel Reeves to launch a VAT raid
Lord Kinnock urges Rachel Reeves to launch a VAT raid

Telegraph

time12 minutes ago

  • Telegraph

Lord Kinnock urges Rachel Reeves to launch a VAT raid

Lord Kinnock has urged Rachel Reeves to launch a VAT raid on private healthcare. The former Labour leader said the move would give the NHS 'vital funding' as it looks to slash waiting lists. It is estimated that removing the VAT exemption for private healthcare firms would raise £2 billion – if work the private sector does for the health service is exempt. The Chancellor is looking to fill a black hole of up to £30 billion in her autumn budget as economic growth remains sluggish and recent u-turns on welfare reform and winter fuel need to be paid for. Labour promised in its manifesto not to raise the headline rate of income tax, national insurance or VAT, but has applied VAT to private school fees. The party has already been accused of breaking the pledge by hiking employers' national insurance in the last budget, but a raid on private healthcare could get the Chancellor around the commitment by not raising the headline rate. Lord Kinnock, who lost two general elections for his party, told the i newspaper: 'Introducing VAT on private health provision could provide vital funding for the NHS and social care. 'After 14 years of underinvestment, many people are turning to private healthcare not out of choice, but because they cannot afford to wait. This has increasingly led to unequal access to care. 'Ending the VAT exemption to generate much-needed revenue is a reasonable and widely supported step.' The former Labour leader's comments come after he used an interview with Sky News last month to back a wealth tax, which led to weeks of speculation over whether such a policy would be implemented. The Chancellor appeared to shut down the speculation last week by saying Labour had already 'got the balance right' on wealth taxes after it increased capital gains tax and abolished non-dom status. It is feared any tax raid on private healthcare would lead to longer NHS waiting lists by making it more expensive for people to skip the queue by going private. Such an effect would echo that of the VAT raid on private schools, which has led or will lead to the closure of 44 schools according to Telegraph analysis. Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has previously said Labour will use the private sector for 'as long as it takes' to get waiting lists down. Data from private healthcare analyst LaingBuisson suggested 4.68 million people now have private medical insurance, the highest proportion since 2008. The raid on private healthcare was backed by the Good Growth Foundation think tank, which was founded by former Labour candidate Praful Nargund. It said private health companies had enjoyed bumper profits as people have turned to them to avoid a lengthy NHS wait, meaning any raid would amount to a windfall tax. Polling of more than 2,000 people for the think tank found 55 per cent of the public backed the raid, with just 17 per cent against the move. Mr Nargund, who stood unsuccessfully for Labour against Jeremy Corbyn at last year's general election, said: 'We are sleepwalking into a two-tier healthcare system, and we have to back our NHS. 'The NHS is in a dire state: from 8am GP scrambles to months-long waits for cancer care, this is simply not good enough. People are being forced to go private for care they should get for free. 'That's not a system in need of tweaks – it's a system on the brink, in need of major reform. A windfall tax on private healthcare would be a bold, fair first step to fund the innovation and change we need in the NHS.' A spokesperson for the Independent Healthcare Providers Network told the i newspaper: 'With record demand for both NHS and privately funded treatment, along with increasing numbers of employers providing medical insurance to keep their staff healthy, we would strongly warn against any changes to the tax system which may dis-incentivise people from accessing the healthcare that they need to live full and productive lives.' A Government spokesperson told the newspaper: 'Thanks to this Government's record investment, reforms and the hard work of NHS staff, we've cut the waiting list by over 260,000 since July 2024, which also fell for the first time in 17 years in April and May outside of the pandemic. On top of this, we have also delivered 4.6 million appointments – more than double the two million we promised.'

More electricity pylons 'crucial' despite cost to bill payers
More electricity pylons 'crucial' despite cost to bill payers

BBC News

time12 minutes ago

  • BBC News

More electricity pylons 'crucial' despite cost to bill payers

A £34bn investment in Scotland's electricity network is crucial for clean energy targets despite the increased cost on bills, a transmission operator energy regulator Ofgem is consulting on plans to reinforce and expand the network of high-voltage pylons and Power Energy Networks (SPEN) says the plan will add an extra £12 per year to the average bill but will pay back in the longer extra 310 miles (500km) of lines is needed over the next five years in central and southern Scotland to support an expansion in artificial intelligence (AI) and demand for heat pumps and electric vehicles. A growth in renewables generation will also need to be shifted to large population centres in England and 30 gigawatts (GW) of new offshore wind is expected to be built in the seas around Scotland which is ten times more than the 3 GW currently demanded at peak times. While demand is expected to double by 2050, that still leaves huge amounts of excess electricity which will need to be which export that electricity south of the border will need to increase from a current capacity of 6.6 GW to 40 GW by transmission network in England and Wales is owned and operated by National Grid but in Scotland is split between two Power runs it in central and southern Scotland while SSE provides the northern on grid infrastructure is added onto bills but is regulated by Ofgem and operators have to make a case for what is necessary every five years.A consultation on spending plans up to 2031 runs until 26 August. SPEN chief executive Nicola Connelly says the way we use electricity has changed enormously since the current network was built, with more change on the says the £12bn investment they are planning will see the workforce almost double, with the supply chain also benefitting."Ultimately we've got a responsibility to make sure that we can get the electricity to where it's needed, that we've got that safe and resilient network and we do it at a cost that's reasonable for customers," she electricity sector is often criticised for the amount of "constraint payments" that are received for not generating payments are a compensation for the grid not being capable of shifting the electricity to where it is is hoped the investment will save billions by increasing the size of the grid and reducing those constraint payments.

Monday briefing: ​Why opponents of the Online Safety Act aren't ‘on Jimmy Savile's side'
Monday briefing: ​Why opponents of the Online Safety Act aren't ‘on Jimmy Savile's side'

The Guardian

time12 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

Monday briefing: ​Why opponents of the Online Safety Act aren't ‘on Jimmy Savile's side'

Good morning. Any readers who have tried to visit a pornography site in the past week (don't worry, I won't tell anyone) will have come into contact with the Online Safety Act. One of the most controversial elements is that there are now firm checks to ensure those who access these sites from the UK are over 18. But it goes much further than regulating porn. This legislation is an overhaul of how we live online in the UK, and a growing list of sites – including gaming platforms and social networks – will verify people's ages before letting them through the digital gates. For years people have been raising alarms about the damage the online world does to our kids. The act beefs up hate speech laws and gives regulators greater powers to hold tech platforms accountable for failing to act on abusive or threatening content. It seems like an obvious win. Peter Kyle, the science and technology secretary, said anyone who wants to overturn the act is on the side of predators. 'It's as simple as that', he wrote on X. But is it? On Saturday human rights organisations warned about censorship of Gaza-related content. Smearing all critics is shortsighted, and legitimate criticisms from human rights groups should be taken seriously, says Madeleine Stone, senior advocacy officer at Big Brother Watch, which campaigns for civil liberties and privacy. I spoke to her about concerns around data collection and free speech. That's after the headlines. Israel-Gaza war | At least 27 people were killed by Israeli forces while trying to get food and six others died from starvation or malnutrition in Gaza on Sunday, Palestinian officials said. UK news | Millions of drivers could be handed a share of up to £18bn in compensation, after the ​F​inancial Conduct Authority said it would open a redress scheme for consumers affected by the car finance scandal. Gaza | The ​government ​has announced it will evacuate seriously ill and injured children from Gaza to the UK for NHS treatment under a scheme to be announced within weeks. Immigration | Ministers will spend an extra £100m on measures to deter Channel crossings, including on the planned 'one in, one out' returns agreement with France, the Home Office has said. Plastics | Plastics are a 'grave, growing and under-recognised danger' to human and planetary health, a new expert review has warned. The world is in a 'plastics crisis', it concluded, which is causing disease and death from infancy to old age and is responsible for at least $1.5tn (£1.1tn) a year in health-related damages. As of 25 July, websites and apps are required to protect children by filtering out harmful content and verifying ages. Failing to regulate content could lead to hefty fines, criminal charges or even being entirely blocked in the UK. In case you missed it, Aamna did a great explainer about this last week. Kyle said it was 'the biggest step forward for a young person's experience online since the internet was created' and that a whole generation of children had been exposed to 'torrid toxic material' because of the failure of politicians. He took aim at politicians like Reform leader, Nigel Farage, who oppose the law: 'Make no mistake if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today he would be perpetrating his crimes online - and Nigel Farage is saying he is on their side.' Inevitably, there was a backlash to Kyle's comments. 'I don't want it to be framed like we're in opposition to the children's rights group, or that we don't think that there are risks to children online. Of course, there are,' says Stone. 'I don't think anyone would deny that there are good intentions behind this bill.' However, Stone believes that there are ways to keep children safe online that don't require uploading scans of our faces or IDs to potentially porous tech companies, thus triggering legitimate privacy concerns. She said it was disappointing the main calls from Labour and the opposition have been for it to be as comprehensive as possible – and that there wasn't much discussion about civil liberties. Meanwhile, Reform UK has promised to repeal the act if it gets into office, describing it as 'borderline dystopian', as it becomes a rallying point for the right in both Britain and the US. What are the data concerns with the act? Much of the focus has been on porn sites but social media, forums, gaming platforms and other sites that could show content considered harmful for children are also now required to verify that users are aged 18 or older. Using methods such as photo-ID matching, AI facial age estimation, credit and debit card checks, mobile operator verification, open banking and digital ID wallets, this is a massive undertaking. Already 5m extra online age checks a day (yes, every day) are being carried out in the UK since the introduction of age-gating for pornography sites alone, according to new data from the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA). This legislation, which applies to more than 100,000 companies, includes major platforms like Facebook, Google, X, Reddit, OnlyFans (and other less established sites that you might not wish to trust with your personal data). The public is having to choose between 'not being able to freely access the internet, or handing over huge troves of personal data to a series of third party companies, which is open to hacking, to data breaches and data theft,' says Stone. What are the risks of companies having this data? Big Brother Watch is concerned that taking this additional data from people creates databases of sensitive information that would be devastating for individuals if it was hacked, leaked or stolen. Stone says: 'This broad spectrum of third party companies will be holding some of the most personal data about you, and then that will be linked to your internet browsing. And that can be very dangerous.' She highlights particular concerns for LGBTQ+ people – with commonly used dating sites like Grindr and Scruff requiring checks – people who are victims of domestic violence or stalking, whistleblowers, and journalists. There is an ecosystem of companies involved in getting access to people's data – companies that are being forced to undertake the checks, and then the companies that are providing the technology to do those checks. 'It only takes one dodgy age verification website to leak someone's data,' says Stone. Some have suggested that the government could regulate age, instead of outsourcing this regulation to third-party companies. 'I think the flip side of that is, do you want the government to have a record of who's using porn sites … As we know the government is not great with data leaks and breaches. I think there's not really a good option here if you're thinking about collecting that deeply personal data.' What are key concerns about free speech? Human rights organisations have warned that the Online Safety Act together with the proscription of Palestine Action could result in platforms censoring Palestinian-related content. Open Rights Group, Index on Censorship and others wrote to Ofcom calling on it to provide clear guidance to platforms on distinguishing lawful expression from content deemed to be in support of terrorism. Their concern is that crucial public debate is threatened by vague laws that could lead to content about Palestine being removed or hidden online. Stone argues that the act has been drafted in an 'overly broad way' which means that legitimate political, cultural and societal discussions could be restricted. 'We're seeing political speech being taken down, as with content related to Gaza. We're seeing support groups, sites for people with alcohol problems or people who've been sexually assaulted being blocked as well,' she says. Blocking children from accessing support groups like this is a major unintended consequence, and the very opposite of the Jimmy Savile comparisons that Peter Kyle leveled at opponents of the act. 'It's so important that we're able to have those discussions,' Stone says. 'You know, the internet has become our new kind of town square,' describing attempts to control these discussions as a 'dark place for a democracy to be in'. She adds: 'That content might not always be super pleasant, but it is still legally protected free speech. There is real importance in being able to have those discussions and change people's minds.' What alternatives are there? Stone describes the Online Safety Act as a 'failure of imagination', saying that it fails to 'properly get to grips with the problems at the heart of social media companies'. She says a big part of the problem is children spending hours online looking at content that is not healthy for them. By taking data, social media platforms can create more highly personalised predictions about what we're interested in. 'You're sucked into dangerous loopholes. And that is a big part of the problem here - spending hours and hours and hours online,' says Stone. Earlier this year a study found almost half of young people would rather live in a world where the internet does not exist. The research found nearly 70% of 16- to 21-year-olds feel worse about themselves after spending time on social media. A quarter of respondents spent four or more hours a day on social media. 'At Big Brother Watch, we've called for a ban on micro targeted advertising and the proper enforcement of data protection law that would really cut off at the knees some of these really intrusive business models,' says Stone. 'If we're not paying for something, then we are the product.' Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion This Today In Focus episode features Pulitzer-winning Caroline Fraser, who discusses her investigation into whether lead-polluted air triggered a surge in male serial killers in the US. Anandita Abraham, newsletters team Fascinating Sunday read by Robyn Vinter on the men who received prison sentences for their role in last summer's riots after the Southport murders. Many talk about mistrust in authority and the media, but each has their own story to tell. Phoebe Simon Jenkins thinks that Trump's soft spot for beauty and classical architecture is worth appreciating. The argument that 'aesthetic sensitivity' in politicians should be welcomed was an enjoyable take. Anandita A heartwarming read about a mountaineering project in Switzerland that brings refugees together to climb 4,000-metre peaks. It started with just a handful of people and now 200 are involved. Phoebe ​Dr Lina Qasem-Hassan, a Palestinian doctor and protagonist of the latest Guardian documentary film The Oath​, writes in this powerful opinion piece, 'the situation in Gaza, and the position we are in as doctors, has only worsened – day by day, hour by hour'. Katy Vans, newsletters team Cricket | ​The fifth test heads into the fifth day, after rain brought the proceedings to a halt on day four, with England still needing 35 runs to claim the series. Formula One | Lando Norris won the Hungarian Grand Prix after ​a strategic battle to beat his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri into second​. Golf | The final round of the Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl has delivered one of the most extraordinary moments in modern major history after the English golfer Mimi Rhodes produced a hole-in-one. 'Millions in line for payouts over car finance mis-selling scandal,' is the splash on the Guardian today, while the Times has similar with: 'Millions of drivers in line for £950 payout over car finance scandal.' 'Asbestos kills more troops than Taliban,' writes the Mail, while the Telegraph leads with, 'Palestine Action plot to swamp police.' ''An extra £100m will NOT stop the boats'' is the focus over at the Express. At the FT, the splash is 'US data row builds as poorest workers take hardest hit from wages slowdown.' 'Charge VAT on private health schemes to fund NHS, Kinnock tells Reeves,' says the i, while the Mirror runs with: 'You are all heroes,' in reference to the end of a blood donor crisis. The Tesla whistleblower and the cost of taking on Elon Musk Investigative journalist Sönke Iwersen describes his years-long investigation into Tesla, aided by a whistleblower, exposing serious safety concerns over the company's cars. Cartoon of the day | Edith Pritchett A bit of good news to remind you that the world's not all bad A new UK civil service internship is open only to working-class students, which is about time for the enormous bureaucratic industry, in which only one in ten successful applicants come from the lowest income backgrounds. Hopefully the program will go some way to fix this disparity, with 200 undergraduates being offered the opportunity to work in a civil service department. Applications open this October. Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday And finally, the Guardian's puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store