Latest news with #DianeAbbott
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Rebel Labour MPs back Corbyn over Gaza
Labour rebels have backed Jeremy Corbyn over a campaign to launch an inquiry into the UK's involvement in the war in Gaza. Eight of the party's MPs have joined its former leader to call for a Chilcot-style hearing, held to examine Britain's involvement in the 2003 war in Iraq, into the role of the UK Government in the conflict. Mr Corbyn, who now sits as an independent MP, said history was 'repeating itself' and that Britain had 'played a highly influential role in Israel's military operations'. He made the call in a parliamentary motion, backed by figures including veteran Labour MPs Diane Abbott and Jon Trickett, demanding a 'comprehensive inquiry with the legal power to establish the truth'. Only around 35 members of the Commons and the Lords have signed the motion, making it extremely unlikely to pass. However, it demonstrates the continued frustration among some backbenchers about what they perceive as an insufficiently tough stance on the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, in the war. Israel is under growing pressure from the international community to end its war against Hamas, which was launched after the terror group massacred around 1,200 Israelis on Oct 7 2023. Last month, David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, suspended trade negotiations with Israel in protest at the expansion of its military's ground operation in Gaza, which he called 'an affront to the values of British people'. In a speech to MPs, he said Israel's 'egregious' policies in Gaza and the West Bank were 'damaging' Britain's relationship with the country. Some Labour MPs have demanded a complete arms embargo, an idea ruled out by Mr Lammy in the past, as well as sanctions on Mr Netanyahu and his ministers. More than 40 MPs have signed a letter urging the Foreign Secretary to address allegations that the UK has continued to export military equipment to Israel, despite suspending some arms export licences. A Foreign Office spokesman said that the 'relevant licences for the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] that might be used to commit or facilitate violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza' had been suspended. They added that the 'vast majority' of the remaining licences for Israel were for 'civilian purposes or re-export', other than the F-35 fighter jet programme 'due to its strategic role in Nato and wider implications for international peace and security'. New military tactics by Israeli forces involving massive air strikes, along with food and aid shortages, have sapped goodwill from European allies. Mr Corbyn said an inquiry was needed to 'establish exactly what decisions have been taken, how these decisions have been made, and what consequences they have had'. His motion added: 'Many people believe that the Government has taken decisions that have implicated officials in the gravest breaches of international law '.
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Abbott voices support for Oxford student Gaza protestors
Diane Abbott MP has voiced her support for pro-Palestinian campaigners facing disciplinary action after a protest at the University of than a dozen Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P) protesters were arrested after the group occupied university offices on Wellington Square in May group, who were later released without charge, are currently the subject of university disciplinary procedures - with hearings expected to take place this a letter, former shadow Home Secretary Abbot said it was "neither fair nor reasonable" to treat such protests as misconduct. The university has yet to respond to a BBC request for comment. "Subjecting students to formal sanctions for their involvements risks undermining the core values of freedom of expression and academic freedom that universities ought to uphold," she wrote in the letter to the university that has been seen by the BBC. The Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington said any potential disciplinary action against the students, including suspensions, could have "long-lasting consequences on a young person's future" and were "particularly disproportionate"."It is neither fair nor reasonable for a university to treat principled protest on urgent moral and humanitarian issues as misconduct warranting punitive measures.""To do so risks chilling the very civic engagement and moral leadership that we should be encouraging in the next generation," she university has failed to respond to a BBC request for comment, but in a statement following last year's protest it said it was "not a 'peaceful sit-in', but a violent action designed to escalate tensions"."It is clear that the actions of some of the protesters involved in the encampment have created a deeply intimidating environment for many members of our community, including our Jewish students and staff and members of the local Jewish community," it added. Abbott has been vocal in her support of Gaza during the on-going conflict with Israel, that began more than a year and a half launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas' cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken least 54,470 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 4,201 since Israel resumed its offensive on 18 March, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Telegraph
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Winter fuel cuts could be Starmer's poll tax moment, warns Diane Abbott
Sir Keir Starmer's winter fuel raid risks becoming his poll tax moment, Diane Abbott has warned. The veteran Labour MP said the decision to remove the benefit from 10 million pensioners could prove as politically damaging as Margaret Thatcher's most controversial policy. It comes as Sir Keir faces a potential rebellion from more than 100 of his own backbenchers over separate cuts to the welfare budget. The poll tax was a forebear of council tax and proved catastrophic for Thatcher, sparking widespread rioting as well as dissent from her own cabinet ministers. Ms Abbott, the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, said in an interview on Wednesday that the winter fuel cuts introduced by Sir Keir and Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, could not be justified. She told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'Everybody knows an old person, people think of old people as a vulnerable group, and it just wasn't worth it for the money that Rachel got out of it.' She added: 'I don't know you if you remember the poll tax with Mrs Thatcher. Mrs Thatcher did a lot of things which people didn't like but it's the poll tax that upset people.' Asked whether the winter fuel raid amounted to Sir Keir's own poll tax, she replied: 'It could be Keir Starmer's poll tax. And, you know, [Thatcher] tried to drive through the poll tax and she was gone within the year.' Pressed on whether the political damage had already been done, she replied: 'I think in some ways the damage has already been done.' Senior Labour figures have acknowledged the unpopularity of the winter fuel raid but insisted that the Chancellor had to take difficult decisions. Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, admitted the policy cost Labour support in this month's Runcorn and Helsby by-election, which the party lost to Reform UK by six votes. Earlier this week, Ms Reeves appeared to open the door to reversing the controversial cuts, although Treasury sources later insisted that the current policy stands. The Telegraph understands that about 100 Labour MPs have put their name to a letter saying they cannot support the separate welfare reforms being pushed by Sir Keir and his Chancellor in their current form. Ms Abbott, one of the most prominent figures on the Left of the Labour Party, went on to suggest Sir Keir did not appear to believe in anything. 'He's done quite well with international stuff but basically he's a manager rather than a politician,' she said. 'And he's very good at being a manager but being a politician has got to be something else. And it doesn't seem quite to have the 'something else'. I could be wrong.' Noting that Sir Keir had only joined the party in 2014, she continued: 'He was director of public prosecutions, and then the next year he became an MP. 'So he hasn't come through the Labour movement and maybe that's why he doesn't appear to have a set of beliefs.' Sir Keir's recent crackdown on immigration, widely seen as a response to the rise of Reform, has prompted further criticism from Left-wing MPs such as Ms Abbott. Much of this has been focused on a speech in which the Prime Minister said recent levels of net migration were unsustainable and that Britain risked becoming an 'island of strangers'. Ms Abbott said the remarks had proven highly damaging for Sir Keir, arguing that while immigration was an issue his use of language had not been appropriate. She went on to claim it was 'very, very unwise' for Labour to attempt to 'steal Reform's clothes' as Sir Keir seeks to win over voters who have fallen in behind Nigel Farage's party. 'If you like Reform's type of hardline, anti-immigrant policies, you're going to vote Reform,' she said. 'Why are you going to vote for a second-rate copy?'
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Diane Abbott warns Keir Starmer winter fuel payment like Thatcher's poll tax and 'she was gone in a year'
Reductions to winter fuel payments are cutting through to the public like Margaret Thatcher's poll tax, veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott is warning. She argued that the political damage of the deeply controversial policy was not worth the savings to rebuild Britain's dire public finances. Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves are believed to be now reconsidering the policy, and whether the restrictions on the payments could be made less stringent. 'Remember Mrs Thatcher, the poll tax, it just cut through, it wasn't the worse thing she ever did in my cut through,' Ms Abbott, who was first elected to Parliament in 1987, told ITV's Good Morning Britain. 'I think winter fuel is like that. 'It could be Keir Starmer's poll tax and you know she tried to drive through the poll tax and she was gone within the year.' Labour MP Diane Abbott believes the winter fuel allowance must be restored in tells @susannareid100 and Richard how the winter fuel allowance cuts has been the issue that 'has been raised on every doorstep.' — Good Morning Britain (@GMB) May 21, 2025 She added: 'For the money that Rachel got out of it, it wasn't worth it.' Labour suffered heavy losses in the May 1 local elections, and lost the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, as Nigel Farage's Reform UK surged amid anger at the cuts to winter fuel payments. Ms Abbott, Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington who party chiefs tried to stop from standing at the last election, also slammed Sir Keir's 'island of strangers' speech on immigration as 'very damaging' to the PM, claiming it had a 'little hint of Enoch Powell'. No10 rejects this claim. She praised the PM for his international achievements but warned that Labour MPs and voters were 'worried that Keir is moving away from Labour values'. Dozens of Labour MPs are pushing for the cuts to winter fuel payments to at least be partially reversed, rather than them being restricted to people getting Pension Credit or similar benefits. Meanwhile, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall will press on with Labour's £5 billion plans for welfare cuts on Wednesday, arguing that reform is needed to make sure the system survives. She is expected to say there is a 'risk' the welfare state would collapse without the proposed changes, which include tightening the eligibility criteria for the main disability benefit in England, the personal independence payment (Pip). Restricting Pip would slash benefits for about 800,000 people, while the sickness-related element of universal credit is also set to be cut. The package of measures is aimed at reducing the number of working-age people on sickness benefits, which grew during the pandemic and has remained high since. The Government hopes the proposals can save £5 billion a year by the end of the decade. 'Unless we ensure public money is focused on those with the greatest need and is spent in ways that have the best chance of improving people's lives, the risk is the welfare state won't be there for people who really need it in the future,' Ms Kendall was expected to say in a speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank. But some 100 Labour MPs, more than a quarter of the party's parliamentary numbers, are reported to have signed a letter urging ministers to scale back welfare cuts under consideration. In a separate, earlier letter, 42 MPs said the cuts were 'impossible to support'.
Sky News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Politics latest: Starmer says EU deal shows 'Britain is back'; Badenoch brands it a 'betrayal'
Labour MPs criticise Starmer's handling of Gaza, following joint statement A little earlier this morning, we reported that the PM had issued a joint statement along with French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian PM Mark Carney regarding the situation in Gaza. In it, the trio addressed the Israeli administration and warned that "suffering in Gaza is intolerable" and the Netanyahu administration's plans to allow some aid in - for the first time in almost two months - was "inadequate". They also said Israeli actions are "wholly disproportionate" to the "heinous attack" in October 2023, and called for an immediate ceasefire and the return of all remaining hostages. They went on to warn that if Israel does not change strategy, "we will take further concrete actions in response". Benjamin Netanyahu responded that the trio are "offering a huge prize" to Hamas and "inviting more such atrocities". The Israeli PM doubled down that the IDF will not back down and called it a "war of civilisation over barbarism", committing to a "total victory". Watch: Priti Patel criticises the government for inaction over Gaza this morning 'Statements needs to be backed up with actions' Now, Labour MPs have criticised the government's overall response to Israel's war this morning. Diane Abbott said that Starmer had previously defended Israel's "right to cut off food and water to people living in Gaza". The mother of the House said this means that "any condemnation now is always going to ring hollow." Fellow Labour MP Richard Burgon similarly said that Israel will "carry on ignoring the statements from Western governments while it's just words". He added: "To get Israel to stop the genocide, statements needs to be backed up by actions." The MP for Leeds East called for Starmer to end all arms sales to Israel, to impose economic sanctions and ban Israeli settlement goods. Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader and now independent MP, also hit out at Starmer. He said: "World leaders can make as many statements as they like opposing Israel's actions in Gaza. "Until they end the sale of weapons to Israel, they remain complicit in the mass murder of Palestinians." He concluded: "Stop arming genocide, now." These four MPs are (or were in Corbyn's case) to the left of the Labour Party. But expect more of these calls following the foreign secretary's statement in the Commons this afternoon.
