Latest news with #KitMalthouse
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
QUENTIN LETTS: Something ominous was in the air, and possibly soon in your veins...
The assisted dying vote was reported at half past two. 'Unlock!' said Speaker Hoyle, and his voice went all strangulated. Had someone slipped Mr Speaker a lethal dose? It was that sort of a day. Jangling. Something ominous in the air. And possibly soon in your veins. Four hours' talk of death made for an incongruous Friday this flaming June. Outside, the blessings of creation twinkled under a blue sky. Inside the chamber, MPs anguished over death-bed agonies and the prospect, some feared, of disabled or anorexic patients being hastened to their Maker. The state would now 'exercise power over life and death', said Tom Tugendhat (Con, Tonbridge). Supporters of the Bill heckled him. But he was only reflecting the reality if this Bill is passed by the Lords. The Upper House may disagree. The majority of 23 felt slender. Brexit had a majority of over a million and the Lords did its best to kibosh that. Chi Onwurah (Lab, Newcastle C) noted that private companies, as well as the state, would now be able 'to kill citizens'. My dears, we're going private for Grandpa. So much quicker, and they'll play Vivaldi's Four Seasons to muffle the sound of his death rattle. Ms Onwurah's was one of three or four speeches that appeared to start with one position and concluded with the opposite. The debate drifted like seaweed. A strong speech for choice from Kit Malthouse (Con, NW Hants) would be balanced by an affecting plea from Jen Craft (Lab, Thurrock) to think of pressure being placed on disabled people. Ms Craft has a daughter with Down's syndrome. Kim Leadbeater (Lab, Spen Valley) was her usual chirpy self as she moved her private Bill. She bounced about, grinned exhaustingly and said 'this is a robust process!' and 'take back control of your dying days!' Death by exclamation mark. There was a dissonance between her bleak obsession and this Butlin's redcoat persona. Ken Dodd playing an undertaker. One eloquent supporter of her Bill was Peter Prinsley (Lab, Bury St Edmunds), a doctor with 45 years' experience. He and John McDonnell (Ind, Hayes & Harlington) lent welcome age to that side of the argument. Others throbbed with the certitude of youth and, one fears, the naivety of new MPs yet to learn how officialdom mangles noble legislative intent. A former NHS manager, Lewis Atkinson (Lab, Sunderland C), insisted hospitals would cope. They always say that. More persuasive support for the Bill came from an intensive-care nurse, Sittingbourne's Kevin McKenna. He had trust in doctors. Do you? After so many NHS scandals? 'I wouldn't put my life, or the life of someone dear to me, in the hands of a panel of officials,' grunted Diane Abbott (Lab, Hackney N). Three times she spoke of 'the vulnerable and marginalised'. But Hanover-born Wera Hobhouse (Lib Dem, Bath) was indignant that constituents had told her that MPs were too stupid to care for the vulnerable. 'Ve haf to educate people!' fulminated Frau Hobhouse. Sarah Olney (Lib Dem, Richmond Park), shouting like a Sergeant Major, attacked the Bill's workability. Her colleague Luke Taylor (Sutton & Cheam), not the nimblest of orators, gripped a text of his speech tightly with his thick fingers and deplored 'the status crow'. It was a matter of 'how one might exit this earthly realm', he averred, more Mr Pooter than John Betjeman. James Cleverly, in the Man From Del Monte's suit, kept touching his heart as he feared money would be diverted from elsewhere in the NHS. We kept hearing the term 'a fundamental change'. When relations were bumped off, would suspicion be seeded? Mark Garnier (Con, Wyre Forest) was pro the Bill but admitted: 'I'm not the world's greatest legislator.' Oh. The most troubling speech came from a vet, Neil Hudson (Con, Epping Forest). Having killed many animals, he reported that 'the final act doesn't always go smoothly or according to plan'. He 'shuddered to think' what would happen when an assisted death turned messy.
The Guardian
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
A moment of judgment has come at last: not just for Netanyahu but for his enablers
Suddenly, something is shifting. Last week, a stunning parliamentary intervention was delivered by the Tory backbencher Kit Malthouse. In a question to Hamish Falconer, Labour's Middle East minister, he noted that 'it's becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with the slaughter in Gaza', adding that 'crimes come daily'. Given Britain was signatory to various conventions imposing a 'positive obligation to act to prevent genocide' and other crimes, Malthouse asked what advice the government had taken as to the liability of the prime minister, the foreign secretary, Falconer himself and previous ministers 'when the reckoning comes'. The idea of a 'reckoning' is clearly playing on the minds of western politicians. Perhaps it is even keeping them up at night. This week, Britain joined France and Canada in denouncing the suffering in Gaza as 'intolerable', threatening an unspecified 'concrete' response if Israel's current onslaught into the Gaza Strip continues. Speaking in the Commons today, the foreign secretary, David Lammy, announced the UK was suspending trade talks with Israel, summoning its ambassador to the UK and imposing sanctions on a few extremist settlers. 'The world is judging. History will judge them,' he said, in reference to Benjamin Netanyahu's government. Lammy is right. But the problem for him is that this 'judgment' will extend far beyond the direct perpetrators. It will also include Israel's enablers. The foreign secretary might have announced his measures with great pomp and gravity, but they amounted to tokenistic nonsense. Even David Cameron tried to go further a year ago when he was foreign secretary, before abandoning plans to directly sanction two senior Israeli government ministers, the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, and the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir. With the international criminal court having issued arrest warrants against the Israeli leadership six months ago, panic is clearly breaking out in government. And yet it is still not doing all it can to stop Israel. Just last week, the UK was in court defending Britain's continued export of F-35 fighter jet parts that end up in Israel. This is about much more than just a failure to act now. It is about what led us to this moment. Keir Starmer, you see, once agreed that it was appropriate for Israel to impose a siege on Gaza cutting off power and water. ('I think that Israel does have that right. It is an ongoing situation.' He added: 'Obviously, everything should be done within international law.') He later claimed to have said no such thing, despite having said it. He then presided over an exodus of disgusted predominantly Muslim councillors – an adviser briefed that this was Labour 'shaking off the fleas' – and took disciplinary action against pro-Palestine MPs. His government has suspended just 8% of arms deals to Israel under immense legal pressure, and approved more military equipment in the three months that followed than had been approved by the Tories in the three years between 2020 and 2023. Nothing the government now does can scrub these facts from the coming reckoning. Another Tory MP, Edward Leigh, stood up last week, declaring himself a member of Conservative Friends of Israel 'for over 40 years, longer than anyone here'. His question was direct: 'When is genocide not genocide?' He has been joined by his Tory colleague Mark Pritchard, who noted he had backed Israel for 20 years 'pretty much at all costs, quite frankly'. Withdrawing that support, he too alluded to the coming reckoning: 'I'm really concerned that this is a moment in history when people look back, where we've got it wrong as a country.' The scale of that reckoning must be proportionate to the scale of the crime. A month into Israel's onslaught – after which at least 5,139 civilians had been killed, according to conservative baseline figures by the NGO Airwars – the Economist published an editorial headlined 'Why Israel must fight on'. A more recent offering, long after the territory has been essentially wiped from the Earth, is titled 'The war in Gaza must end'. Or look at Rupert Murdoch's Times. Usually a reliable supporter of Israel, it now runs opinion pieces asking why we are 'closing our eyes to Gaza's horror'. A truth is dawning: that this will be remembered as one of history's great crimes. Right now, the UN warns that 14,000 babies could perish in the next 48 hours without aid. The Israeli opposition leader and former general Yair Golan – who earlier this year declared, 'We'd all like to wake up one spring morning and find that 7 million Palestinians who live between the sea and the river have simply disappeared' – now declares his country is 'killing babies as a hobby'. Still, Israel acts with impunity. Having imposed a total siege since the beginning of March, Netanyahu yesterday declared 'minimal humanitarian aid' would be allowed in. Why? Not to alleviate Palestinian suffering, but because even zealous pro-Israel politicians 'have warned that they cannot support us if images of mass starvation emerge'. A pinprick, in other words, for cosmetic purposes. Meanwhile, Smotrich declares: 'We are disassembling Gaza, and leaving it as piles of rubble, with total destruction [which has] no precedent globally. And the world isn't stopping us.' Zvi Sukkot, a parliamentarian in Smotrich's party, boasts: 'Everyone got used to the idea that you can kill 100 Gazans in one night … And nobody in the world cares.' On 24 October 2023, I wrote a column on these pages with the headline 'Israel is clear about its intentions in Gaza – world leaders cannot plead ignorance of what is coming'. Why? Because Israel's leaders and officials made devastatingly clear what they would do from day one. 'As the calamity of Israel's onslaught against Gaza becomes apparent, those who cheered it on will panic about reputational damage and plead their earlier ignorance,' I wrote. 'Do not let them get away with it this time.' As the people of Gaza now prepare for the worst, being right has never felt so bitter. But it took no special insight or powers of prophecy, for here was a catastrophe foretold from the start. Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist
The National
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Tories break ranks to demand UK recognises Palestine
Seven Conservative MPs and six members of the House of Lords have signed a letter to Keir Starmer urging him to give formal recognition to Palestine ahead of key talks at a United Nations (UN) conference next month. The Guardian reports that the letter was written in late March, soon after Israel broke its ceasefire agreement with Hamas and launched airstrikes on Gaza. READ MORE: A new poll puts Reform second at Holyrood. Here's why this is far from certain It comes as Israeli ministers approved plans on Monday to capture the entire Gaza Strip and remain in the territory for an unspecified amount of time. The move, if implemented, would vastly expand Israel's operations in the Palestinian territory and would push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, likely exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis. The letter, organised by former minister Kit Malthouse, states: 'For decades, the Palestinian people have endured occupation, displacement and systemic restrictions on their basic freedoms. 'Recognising Palestine would affirm our nation's commitment to upholding the principles of justice, self-determination and equal rights. It would send a clear message that Britain stands against indefinite occupation and supports the Palestinian people's legitimate aspirations.' The letter continues: 'Recognition should not be treated as a distant bargaining chip but as a necessary step to reinforce international law and diplomacy. Prime minister, we stand ready to offer our public support for this decision. 'This is an opportunity for Britain to show leadership, to be on the right side of history and to uphold the principles we claim to champion. More than 140 UN member states have already recognised Palestine – it is time for the United Kingdom to do the same.' The letter was signed by several MPs considered to be on the right of the party, including John Hayes and Desmond Swayne. Malthouse also signed, as did Simon Hoare, Edward Leigh – the father of the house – and peers including Hugo Swire, Nicholas Soames and Patricia Morris, the party's deputy speaker in the Lords. READ MORE: Humza Yousaf and Leo Varadkar write to India and Pakistan leaders urging peace The Prime Minister is understood not to have replied to the letter. While most UN countries formally recognise a Palestinian state, the US and most European nations do not. A UN conference co-hosted by France and Saudia Arabia will take place next month and is intended to boost support for a two-state solution. French president Emmanuel Macron has already indicated he plans to recognise a Palestinian state, with the UK's Foreign Secretary David Lammy confirming that a discussion around the recognition process is under way. A Conservative spokesperson said: 'Our longstanding position has been that we will recognise a Palestinian state at a time that is most conducive to the peace process. 'We are not at that point now and we are clear that recognition cannot be the start of the process.' A Downing Street spokesperson told The Guardian that the Government remained committed to a two-state solution, as highlighted by the recent meeting between Starmer and Mohammad Mustafa, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.
Spectator
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Senior Tory MPs and peers call for recognition of Palestine
Well, well, well. The conflict in the Middle East has caused splits among the Labour lot and now it seems serious divides are forming in the Conservative party over the issue. As reported by the Guardian, it transpires that more than a dozen senior Tory MPs and peers have broken ranks and written to Sir Keir Starmer calling for the UK to immediately recognise Palestine as a state. The seven MPs and six House of Lords grandees have signed a letter that insists 'recognising Palestine would affirm our nation's commitment to upholding the principles of justice, self-determination and equal rights'. Yet this is very much not the stance of the Conservative party leadership… The letter was signed by several senior Tory figures on the moderate side of the party, including MPs Kit Malthouse, Simon Hoare and father of the house Sir Edward Leigh alongside peers such as Nicholas Soames and Hugo Swire.
Arab News
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
EU takes Hungary to top court in migrant smuggler case
Senior Tories urge Palestinian recognition in letter to UK PM LONDON: A group of senior Conservative MPs and peers in the UK have broken ranks with their own party and called on the government to immediately recognize Palestine as a state. In a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer drafted in late March, seven MPs and six House of Lords peers urged the government to give formal recognition to Palestine, The Guardian reported. It comes ahead of critical UN talks on the issue next month. The letter, seen by The Guardian, was authored just after Israel broke its tenuous peace agreement with Hamas in March. The breakdown in negotiations and peace efforts worsened this week after the Israeli cabinet approved plans to 'conquer' and occupy almost all of the Gaza Strip. Former government minister Kit Malthouse, from the moderate wing of the opposition Conservative Party, organized the letter. It said: 'For decades, the Palestinian people have endured occupation, displacement and systemic restrictions on their basic freedoms. 'Recognising Palestine would affirm our nation's commitment to upholding the principles of justice, self-determination and equal rights. It would send a clear message that Britain stands against indefinite occupation and supports the Palestinian people's legitimate aspirations.' The letter was also signed by Conservatives associated with the right of the party, including John Hayes and Desmond Swayne. Most countries with UN membership formally recognize Palestine as a state, but the US and the majority of European countries do not. Saudi Arabia and France next month will host a conference to rally support for a two-state solution to the conflict. French President Emmanuel Macron has suggested that France could grant formal recognition to Palestine at the conference. David Lammy, the British foreign secretary, said last week that the government was discussing its plans with France for the event in June. Starmer is understood to not have replied to the Conservative letter. Last year, David Cameron, the former prime minister, said that he wanted Palestinian recognition as part of peace negotiations with Israel, and not as a reward for the reaching of a two-state solution. The letter sent to Starmer added: 'Recognition should not be treated as a distant bargaining chip but as a necessary step to reinforce international law and diplomacy. Prime minister, we stand ready to offer our public support for this decision. 'This is an opportunity for Britain to show leadership, to be on the right side of history and to uphold the principles we claim to champion. More than 140 UN member states have already recognised Palestine — it is time for the United Kingdom to do the same.' A government spokesperson told The Guardian that the UK remains committed to a two-state solution, highlighting recent talks between Starmer and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa.
