Sunak takes aim at Starmer: ‘We expel antisemites, he makes them Labour candidates’
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George Galloway has hit back at “little Rishi Sunak” after the prime minister described his victory in the chaotic Rochdale by-election as alarming and criticised him for having “backed Hezbollah”.
The newly elected Workers Party MP told Sky News: “You talk as if this is God. We’re talking about little Rishi Sunak, in the fag end of his prime ministership. Don’t talk to me as if he’s come down from the Mount with tablets of stone.”
It came after Mr Galloway’s deputy, Chris Williamson, refused to condemn the 7 October Hamas terror attacks on Israel, telling the BBC: “You can’t expect to live in a situation where people have been oppressed for 75 years and not expect a reaction.”
Mr Galloway took 12,335 votes to become the only MP for the party he founded in 2019.
Mr Sunak’s criticisms came in a speech outside No 10 on Friday evening, in which the PM said protests had “descended into intimidation, threats and planned acts of violence” and warned that democracy was being targeted by extremists.
He vowed to back the police in taking action and announced a fresh crackdown on extremism in the UK.
George Galloway claims Rishi Sunak ‘is in office but not in power'
George Galloway has claimed that “British democracy is in danger alright, but not from me”, as he responded to the prime minister’s speech by posting on X/Twitter that “little Rishi Sunak is in office but not in power”.
The newly-elected Rochdale MP pointed to a new survey by the Office for National Statistics which found that the British public’s faith in political parties fell from 20 per cent in 2022 to just 12 per cent last year.
Approximately 68 per cent said they distrusted political parties, which retained their status as the least trusted of any UK public institution.
Lee Anderson greeted with ‘standing ovation’ at Tory fundraiser and ‘hugged’ by Liz Truss, report claims
Lee Anderson was given a standing ovation at a Tory fundraising dinner on Friday, the Daily Express reports, just days after he was suspended from the party over Islamophobic remarks about Sadiq Khan.
The Ashfield MP and GB News host was hugged by guest of honour Lizz Truss – who joked, “who is this de-whipped Tory?” – as he made a surprise appearance at a dinner in Nottinghamshire raising money for Bassetlaw MP Brendan Clarke-Smith’s re-election effort, according to the paper.
Sunak told to ‘look in the mirror’ by pro-Palestine group after extremism speech
Speaking ahead of further planned pro-Palestine protests across the country on Saturday, Ben Jamal, director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, responded to Rishi Sunak’s address by suggesting he “look in the mirror” and expel some senior MPs from his party.
Mr Jamal posted on X saying: “So Rishi Sunak wants to deal with ‘extremists’. Maybe he should start with politicians, political commentators and religious leaders who support a state, on trial for genocide, in its mass slaughter, and deliberate creation of famine. Not those protesting against it.
“As for his ire at those who seek to divide us, does he ever look in the mirror, or around his cabinet table? Come back when you’ve kicked Suella Braverman, Robert Jenrick (and) Michael Gove out. That’s just for starters.”
Further local protests are planned for this weekend before another national march, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, takes place in central London next weekend.
Many of the actions this weekend are directed against Barclays Bank, which it claims holds “substantial financial ties with arms companies supplying weapons and military technology to Israel”. Branches of the bank will be targeted on high streets from Abergavenny, in south Wales, to Worthing, in West Sussex, according to the group.
John Rentoul | A brave speech from Rishi Sunak – but who is he trying to persuade?
Here is The Independent’s chief political commentator John Rentoul’s reaction to the PM’s No 10 speech yesterday evening:
When the prime minister says something is “beyond alarming”, that is hardly a reassuring message. Everything Rishi Sunak said in his surprise statement in Downing Street was brave and right, but that he felt he had to say it at all didn’t inspire confidence that he is in command.
When he said, “I need to speak to you all this evening because this situation has gone on long enough,” he sounded as if he was complaining that the government had been asleep on the job.
It is an extraordinary tone for a prime minister to take, listing all the things that have gone wrong recently that could be grouped under the heading of “extremism”, and implying that the government has been doing nothing about them not just “in recent weeks” but “months”.
Worse than that, he implied that Suella Braverman, the home secretary he sacked for using the term “hate marches” about pro-Palestinian demos, might have had a point. Which is strange from someone who only a few days ago was trying to calm the row about Lee Anderson’s comments that Sadiq Khan was “controlled by Islamists” by urging everyone to “take the heat out” of the debate.
And he criticised the voters of Rochdale for making the wrong decision. I agree with him on that, but if you are making an important, unscheduled speech to warn that “our democracy itself is a target”, you need to recognise that sometimes democracy can throw up results that you don’t like.
Watch: Sunak backs stronger policing of protests in bid to 'tackle extremism'
George Galloway says he ‘despises’ Sunak
George Galloway has said he “despises” Rishi Sunak after being asked about the PM‘s criticism of him during a No 10 speech about tackling extremism.
When asked by Sky News if he respected Mr Sunak, the newly elected Rochdale MP said: “I despise the prime minister. And guess what? Millions and millions and millions of people in this country despise the prime minister. I do not respect the prime minister at all.”
Sunak’s speech welcomed by much of British press
Rishi Sunak’s warning about the forces of extremism has been welcomed by the UK’s right-leaning newspapers – although several felt it was overdue.
The Times described the speech as a “wake-up call” and “a sobering warning of the fragility of democracy”, while the Daily Telegraph said “enough is enough” was the “welcome – albeit belated” – sentiment of Mr Sunak’s address.
Calling Mr Galloway’s victory a “dreadfully dark day for democracy”, the Daily Mail said the prime minister delivered a “crackdown on extremism ... the nation was crying out to hear”.
The Daily Express said Mr Sunak was “right to encourage us to unite against hate” and said his “blunt words will strike a chord with many”. It also focused on policing which it said could partly have been driven by a “laudable desire to protect the right to protest”.
The Sun said “too many people have grown up feeling no love for, or connection to, Britain or our liberal values”. It said turning things around is “a monumental task” but that Mr Sunak must back up his words. “We can only hope it is a turning point,” the paper wrote.
Democracy is under attack from far right and Islamists, warns Sunak
Watch: We’re decent people but forces are trying to tear us apart, says Sunak
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2024-03-02 09:57:19Z
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