Keir Starmer will hold a “routine meeting” with Labour MPs to discuss the party’s position on the situation in Israel and Gaza, a shadow minister has confirmed.
It follows reports that the Labour leader and his deputy Angela Rayner will meet Muslim MPs and peers after prime minister’s questions on Wednesday.
Starmer attracted criticism last week from the Labour Muslim Network, among others, when, asked in an interview with LBC about Israel cutting off water and electricity, he said “Israel does have that right” while adding that “obviously everything should be done within international law”.
At least 23 Labour councillors have resigned from the party following these comments which they saw as an endorsement for collective punishment.
The shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, asked about suggestions of a meeting on Times Radio, said:
It is perfectly normal for MPs – we all represent different constituencies around the country – to want to speak to the leader of our party.
I’m sure it is the same in other political parties where there are issues that constituents are raising with us. And the meeting this afternoon is another example of that.
And understandably, this is a very sensitive and emotive issue, both for people who have connections and relatives to the Palestinian people as well as the Israeli people, and it is perfectly normal for Keir to sit down and listen to colleagues in the parliamentary party and indeed our councillors and other members from across the country.
So, a routine meeting and this is another example of that.
Welcome to today’s liveblog. I’m Nicola Slawson and I’m covering for Andrew Sparrow today. Do drop me a line if you have any questions or comments. I’m on nicola.slawson@theguardian.com or @Nicola_Slawson on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.
Filters BETA
Migrants moved out of hotels who then seek council help for homelessness could end up in temporary accommodation - including hotels – the organisation representing local authorities has warned, PA News reports.
The Local Government Association (LGA) said the number of asylum seekers presenting as homeless is likely to “dramatically increase” amid government efforts to clear the backlog in the asylum system.
The warning comes after it was announced that the number of hotels used to house migrants will be cut by 50 over the next three months.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick told MPs in Parliament on Tuesday that the process of “exiting” the first tranche of accommodation would begin in the coming days, adding that the plans are possible because of “the progress we’ve made to stop the boats”.
The LGA said councils “share the government’s ambitions to end hotel use for asylum seekers” but added that greater demand combined with an “acute” housing shortage means it will be “extremely challenging” for those leaving Home Office-funded accommodation to find an affordable, long-term place to stay.
In a statement, the association’s chairman Shaun Davies said:
Hotel closures have a direct impact on councils and local government wants to play an active role in working with government on the decisions on which hotels to close. We also need advance engagement on what other alternatives, including large sites, will be opened up both for those leaving hotels and for ongoing new arrivals.
Davies added that councils are “also becoming increasingly concerned over the numbers of asylum seekers presenting as homeless which is likely to dramatically increase when Home Office accommodation is withdrawn as a result of the current clearance of the asylum backlog”.
He called for a “joint and funded approach nationally, regionally and locally to manage the move on from asylum accommodation and avoid risks of destitution and street homelessness throughout the winter”.
Davies told the BBC:
The deep irony is that it might be the same hotels that the government are looking to close down for their purposes are the very same hotels that local authorities will have to stand up and fund for temporary accommodation.
The Refugee Council has also warned that cutting the number of hotels could be a factor in what it described as a developing “homelessness crisis” among migrants.
The environment secretary has suggested the damage done by Storm Babet was harder to predict because the rain came in from the east.
Thérèse Coffey’s remarks to the Commons environment committee prompted the Lib Dems to urge her to “get a grip” and “stop blaming everyone else for her failings”.
At least seven people are thought to have died during Storm Babet, with hundreds of people left homeless and about 1,250 properties in England flooded, according to the Environment Agency.
Coffey told MPs on Tuesday:
One of the things that happened particularly with Storm Babet is that we are very good, with the Met Office and the Environment Agency’s flood forecasting [centre], at predicting weather normally because most of our rain tends to come in from the west. We’ve got that pretty much down to a fine art.
This was rain coming from the other way and we don’t have quite as much experience on that. Therefore, our accuracy of predicting where such heavy rain would fall was not to the same degree as if it had been.
So the Environment Agency had moved assets from parts of the country more towards Yorkshire and the north-east and that way. But I’m conscious that there were still some places that felt they could have done with some more pumps.
The environment secretary, who visited affected residents in Retford, Nottinghamshire, on Monday, said £5.2bn had been allocated to protect homes and businesses from flooding between 2021 and 2017.
But she acknowledged it looked as if her department “may not be hitting” its target of protecting 336,000 properties by 2027.
Read the full story here:
The UK government has said it does not agree with the assessment of the UN secretary general, António Guterres, that there have been “clear violations of international humanitarian law” by Israel in Gaza, where more than 5,700 civilians are reported dead since 7 October.
Minister Robert Jenrick told Sky News:
We don’t agree with that. If he is referring to what has happened over the course of the last two weeks, we don’t believe Israel has broken international law. There is a clear right in international law for a nation to defend itself, and that is what Israel is doing.
We do want to see Israel, wherever practical – and it is immensely difficult to do – to surgically degrade and eradicate Hamas. That is what they are trying to do and we obviously hope they succeed because the world will be a better place … it will be a blessing if we can rid the world of Hamas.
The Israeli military has ordered the civilian population to evacuate south below the Wadi Gaza, and Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip. It has continued to bombard the southern area of Gaza where it has told civilians to relocate to.
You can follow our liveblog on the Israel-Hamas war here:
Keir Starmer has been accused of having “gravely misrepresented” a meeting with Muslim leaders in Wales, amid anger among some in Labour over his remarks on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Labour leader visited the South Wales Islamic Centre in Cardiff on Sunday. In a statement on Tuesday evening, the centre apologised “for the hurt and confusion” caused by hosting Starmer, and said the intention was to highlight the suffering of people in Palestine.
It also expressed “dismay” over Starmer’s social media post about the visit, which said:
I was grateful to hear from the Muslim community of the South Wales Islamic Centre. I repeated our calls for all hostages to be released, more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, for the water and power to be switched back on, and a renewed focus on a two-state solution.
In response, the South Wales Islamic Centre said:
We wish to stress Keir Starmer’s social media post and images gravely misrepresented our congregants and the nature of the visit.
We affirm, unequivocally, the need for a free Palestine. We implore all those with political authority to uphold international law, and the end to the occupation of Palestine.
The statement added:
There was a robust and frank conversation which reflected the sentiments Muslim communities are feeling at this time. Members of the community directly challenged Keir on his statements made on the Israeli government’s right to cut food, electricity and water to Gaza, warranting war crimes as well as his failure to call for an immediate ceasefire.
It comes after the Labour leader was forced to clarify remarks he made about Israel’s decision to limit supplies to Gaza.
Read the full story here:
Robert Jenrick said some people had been seen “glorifying” terror activities and “praising Hamas”.
The Home Office minister said he could not get into “specific cases” of visa-holders whose conduct is being reviewed, saying there was a “legal process that must be followed properly”.
Jenrick told Times Radio:
We’ve all seen instances of people glorifying, valorising terrorist activities - we’ve seen people holding deeply antisemitic banners, being interviewed on the media and praising Hamas.
That is disgusting behaviour. I don’t want to see that on our streets. And if that person is just a visitor to our country, they should not be doing that.
I can’t look a British Jewish person in the eye as immigration minister and say I’ve allowed somebody to remain at our pleasure in this country, who is conducting themselves in that manner - that is wrong.
If you come to this country, you abide by British values.
The Immigration minister Robert Jenrick appeared to suggest that he thought UK visa-holders should be expelled for inciting antisemitism even if their conduct falls “below the criminal standard”.
It comes after he told the commons on Tuesday that the process of revoking visas and expelling foreign nationals who spread “hate and division” has already begun “in a small number of cases”.
The Conservative minister, asked on Times Radio whether someone waving a Palestinian flag at a demonstration could see their visa revoked, said:
No, we believe in freedom of speech.
But I disagree with your premise that... somebody who is here as a visitor to the UK has the right to be antisemitic, to threaten British communities and can stay unless that is of criminal standard.
I think there is conduct which is below the criminal standard but which is wrong, would be accepted as wrong by most reasonable people.
If those people are not British citizens, they are just visitors to our country enjoying the privileges of living here, being among fellow British people, then I’m afraid their visas will be revoked and they should leave the country.
Keir Starmer will hold a “routine meeting” with Labour MPs to discuss the party’s position on the situation in Israel and Gaza, a shadow minister has confirmed.
It follows reports that the Labour leader and his deputy Angela Rayner will meet Muslim MPs and peers after prime minister’s questions on Wednesday.
Starmer attracted criticism last week from the Labour Muslim Network, among others, when, asked in an interview with LBC about Israel cutting off water and electricity, he said “Israel does have that right” while adding that “obviously everything should be done within international law”.
At least 23 Labour councillors have resigned from the party following these comments which they saw as an endorsement for collective punishment.
The shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, asked about suggestions of a meeting on Times Radio, said:
It is perfectly normal for MPs – we all represent different constituencies around the country – to want to speak to the leader of our party.
I’m sure it is the same in other political parties where there are issues that constituents are raising with us. And the meeting this afternoon is another example of that.
And understandably, this is a very sensitive and emotive issue, both for people who have connections and relatives to the Palestinian people as well as the Israeli people, and it is perfectly normal for Keir to sit down and listen to colleagues in the parliamentary party and indeed our councillors and other members from across the country.
So, a routine meeting and this is another example of that.
Welcome to today’s liveblog. I’m Nicola Slawson and I’m covering for Andrew Sparrow today. Do drop me a line if you have any questions or comments. I’m on nicola.slawson@theguardian.com or @Nicola_Slawson on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMingFodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVndWFyZGlhbi5jb20vcG9saXRpY3MvbGl2ZS8yMDIzL29jdC8yNS9rZWlyLXN0YXJtZXItbGFib3VyLWlzcmFlbC1nYXphLWFuZ2VsYS1yYXluZXItcG1xcy1yaXNoaS1zdW5hay1jb25zZXJ2YXRpdmVzLXBldGVyLWJvbmUtdWstcG9saXRpY3MtbGl2ZdIBngFodHRwczovL2FtcC50aGVndWFyZGlhbi5jb20vcG9saXRpY3MvbGl2ZS8yMDIzL29jdC8yNS9rZWlyLXN0YXJtZXItbGFib3VyLWlzcmFlbC1nYXphLWFuZ2VsYS1yYXluZXItcG1xcy1yaXNoaS1zdW5hay1jb25zZXJ2YXRpdmVzLXBldGVyLWJvbmUtdWstcG9saXRpY3MtbGl2ZQ?oc=5
2023-10-25 08:33:00Z
2522748775
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar