Galloway hits back at 'little' Rishi Sunak after PM dubs Rochdale win 'alarming' - The Independent

Sunak takes aim at Starmer: ‘We expel antisemites, he makes them Labour candidates’

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox

Get our free View from Westminster email

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.

1709373439

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.

Andy Gregory2 March 2024 09:57

1709372834

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.

Andy Gregory2 March 2024 09:47

1709370279

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.

Andy Gregory2 March 2024 09:04

1709369259

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.

Andy Gregory2 March 2024 08:47

1709368119

Watch: Sunak backs stronger policing of protests in bid to 'tackle extremism'

Sunak backs stronger policing of protests in bid to 'tackle extremism'

Andy Gregory2 March 2024 08:28

1709366570

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.”

Andy Gregory2 March 2024 08:02

1709364283

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.

Andy Gregory2 March 2024 07:24

1709362800

Democracy is under attack from far right and Islamists, warns Sunak

Jane Dalton2 March 2024 07:00

1709357400

Opinion: Someone must put government out of its misery

Jane Dalton2 March 2024 05:30

1709352000

Watch: We’re decent people but forces are trying to tear us apart, says Sunak

Jane Dalton2 March 2024 04:00

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMidWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3MvdWsvcG9saXRpY3MvZ2VvcmdlLWdhbGxvd2F5LXJvY2hkYWxlLWJ5ZWxlY3Rpb24td29ya2Vycy1wYXJ0eS1sYXRlc3QtYjI1MDUzOTYuaHRtbNIBAA?oc=5

2024-03-02 09:57:19Z
CBMidWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3MvdWsvcG9saXRpY3MvZ2VvcmdlLWdhbGxvd2F5LXJvY2hkYWxlLWJ5ZWxlY3Rpb24td29ya2Vycy1wYXJ0eS1sYXRlc3QtYjI1MDUzOTYuaHRtbNIBAA

How it took police 19 years to catch Emma Caldwell's killer - The Telegraph

When police first came to Margaret Caldwell’s door in April 2005 and told her that her daughter, Emma, was missing, her breath caught in her throat. For the next five weeks, Margaret and her husband William existed in a kind of terrible purgatory. “We spent hours and hours every day looking for her. Sometimes you thought you saw her in the distance, but it was someone else. We didn’t know what else to do.” 

Those weeks pale in comparison to what the Caldwells would later be forced to endure. Emma’s body was found on May 8 in Limefield Woods, 44 miles from Glasgow, where she lived. She was naked and had been strangled. Despite early evidence linking her death to one particular man, it would take 19 years to convict him. Nineteen years, a bungled police investigation, and the tenacity of one mother with an army of women behind her, all of them ready to speak up for Emma, for themselves, for the many girls who had suffered at the hands of her killer. 

Iain Packer was convicted this week of murdering her daughter and sexually assaulting 22 women. But Margaret should never have had to endure two decades of purgatory, while Packer lurked in plain sight, free to attack again and again and again, while the police force that should have caught him covered its own tracks. He hadn’t fled the country or gone underground; he was going about his life right under the police’s noses. 

Iain Packer was this week convicted of the murder of Emma Caldwell and the sexual assault of 22 other women Credit: PA Wire/Police Scotland

After a newspaper in Scotland eventually named him as a suspect in 2015, prompting the investigation into Emma’s murder to be reopened, Packer was even arrogant enough to court press attention. He asked the BBC if they’d like to interview him, so confident was he that he would never be found out. 

He maintained his innocence all the way through the trial. Now 51, he has been sentenced to 36 years in prison – the second-longest term in Scottish legal history. You suspect that, for every one of those 36 years, he will claim never to have laid a finger on Emma. 

There was such a clear path leading the police to Packer that their failure to convict him is difficult to comprehend. When she went missing, Emma was living in a hostel in Glasgow. She was 27 and had been living something of a half life. She had grown up in a happy, stable home. She loved horses and had dreams of going to America or Australia to work on a ranch. When her older sister, Karen, died in 1998, Emma turned to drugs to cope with her grief, becoming addicted to heroin. Her parents worried about her day and night, but they still saw her often and spoke constantly. 

“She phoned every day, she wanted to know what we were having for dinner, how the family were,” Margaret told journalists this week. “She still kept a certain amount of pride, even though she was in those circumstances and we just lived for her coming home.” 

Grief-stricken by the death of her sister, Emma Caldwell had turned to heroin and sex work Credit: Strathclyde Police/PA Wire

They knew the drugs had a terrible grip on her; they didn’t know she was making money to fund her addiction through sex work. “We just thought she wanted to stay at the hostel till she could get into rehabilitation some way,” said Margaret. Women who knew Emma in the hostel have spoken since of how close she was to getting the help she needed. 

The Caldwells “didn’t know how much [heroin] cost”. “I have heard later it cost hundreds of pounds – maybe even per day in some cases.” 

After her death, Margaret has said she was plagued by guilt. “It was a terrible place to live, Inglefield Street. I wish I’d taken her home.” 

Any guilt, of course, should only lie with one man. 

A rape allegation was first made against Packer as early as 1990. Magdalene Robertson, who has waived her right to anonymity, was his first known victim. He was in a relationship with a relative of hers and raped her when she was just 14, going on to assault her repeatedly over the course of two years, driving her to the brink of suicide. In the trial, she said only one word was applicable to Packer: “incubus – a sex-obsessed demon”. 

By 1993, Packer was soliciting sex workers whenever he could afford it and was known in the community for being a violent client. In the trial, the prosecuting barrister told the jury that at the time police were “dismissive” of reports of assault made on sex workers. Violence was deemed “part and parcel of their job”. 

A witness told the trial how Packer chose girls who were “young, vulnerable and on drugs”. He became obsessed with Emma, following her and attempting to scare away other clients. From the moment her body was discovered, he was an obvious suspect. 

Packer was first spoken to by police six weeks after Emma was found. He denied knowing her – two months later he admitted he did and that he had taken her to Limefield Woods. In the first two years of their investigation, police would interview Packer six times, but never under caution as a suspect. Officers wanted to charge him but somewhere up the chain, the message came: let him go. 

Police interviewed Iain Packer six times, but never under caution as a suspect Credit: Police Scotland/PA Wire

Strathclyde Police were doggedly pursuing a different line of inquiry. The last call on Emma’s phone the night she went missing led them to a Turkish café, which was where the police focused their investigation. 

For two and a half years (and to the tune of £4 million) they went after the wrong men. “They bet the ranch on the Turkish suspects,” says Brendan McGinty, former deputy editor of the Sunday Mail, which eventually exposed Packer as a suspect. 

“Before I even knew the name Iain Packer, this investigation into the Turkish men was a big, big deal. It was going to be the biggest case based on surveillance at the time. So when that collapses you can see the obvious difficulty for the police and for the Crown to then go ‘okay, let’s do plan B, which is Iain Packer, an incredibly viable suspect who has had zero to do with the Turkish case’. It was easier and more expedient for everybody, I think, to forget about it.” 

And so the investigation went quiet. For ten years, Packer’s name never saw the light of day, affording him the protection he needed to go on offending. Gary Holmes, a former Scotland Yard Homicide Senior Investigating Officer, says Strathclyde Police’s failure to not return to the drawing board is unconscionable, particularly given the evidence they already had on Packer. “If you get any evidence or any leads you have a duty to investigate, no matter the reason, it would be undoubtedly wrong to not reexamine lines of inquiry if they’re valid, if nothing else then for public confidence.” 

Not returning to a known suspect after one trail goes cold is “extremely rare, almost to the point of being unheard of”, he says. “If you have a suspect for a homicide investigation you really do make the effort to do all you can to convict that person.” 

“There were police officers possibly at a junior level who were pressing for a revisit on Packer,” says McGinty. “I’d love to know why that revisit didn’t take place. I’d like to know where up the chain this thing ended.” 

In 2015, on the ten-year anniversary of Emma’s death, the Sunday Mail, which had been leaked his name, published a story naming him as a forgotten suspect in the case. McGinty spoke to Packer outside his house. He recalls a man who seemed “a mix of confident and stupid”. “When you’re suspected of a murder that is a very dangerous combination to be.” 

An April 2015 investigation in Scotland's Sunday Mail named Iain Packer as a forgotten suspect in the case

Sources who knew Packer told the paper he was unlikely to be confrontational when approached. “They said his violence was towards women. That he would react differently to a man.” 

On the doorstep, he refused to answer questions. That was surely a job for the police and the justice system. “There was a feeling among people who knew him that if you could get this guy into the dock he would trip himself up,” says McGinty. 

“That’s why there was a lot of frustration over the failure of the police and the criminal office in Scotland to get him into the dock over so many years. The thought was he is delusional, he’s confident – possibly over confident – he’s stupid and he tells lies. And that combination may be eventually what trips him up.” 

Rather than go back to the case, the police attempted to hunt down whoever had leaked to the paper. “They didn’t reopen the murder case, they opened an investigation into finding out who the leak was in the police,” says McGinty. 

“It was utterly farcical. It wasn’t until several weeks later that the case was reopened and it wasn’t reopened by the police, it was reopened by the Lord Advocate who ordered the police to reopen it.” 

McGinty met with senior officers, who said Packer’s name constantly being in the paper while they pursued the case “might not be that helpful”. By this point, the story had had the desired effect. “We took them on trust at that point that there wasn’t any real point in us doing story after story after story on Packer. The case had reopened, the police had appealed to us to allow them the space to investigate and we thought it was only fair that we should allow them to do that.” 

Police were eventually found to have conducted an illegal spying probe on officers and journalists involved in the Packer leak. “They unlawfully accessed my colleague Jim’s phone,” says McGinty, now a communications consultant. “Of course we were incredulous at it. It surprised us but it didn’t surprise us. If you knew the policing culture at the time, it wasn’t a huge shock when it emerged that it had happened. I think there was a paranoia in the very upper echelons of the police about the Press.” 

Deputy Chief Constable Neil Richardson was forced to step down over the probe in March 2016. 

By 2018, Packer seems to have become almost giddy with power. At this point, his name was still attached to Emma’s murder, but no one has arrested him. He contacts the BBC saying he wants to clear his name. Samantha Poling interviews him, investigates him, and interviews him again. In the first he looks flushed, his thick neck sunken into hunched shoulders. He is braced, but confident. “Ask me anything,” he tells her, arrogantly assuming she won’t then go and do the job of an investigative journalist and find out what he has done. 

“After months of investigating him I knew that he was an incredibly sexually violent man,” Poling said. “I started to find out that Iain Packer had been taking women down to remote woods where he would force them to strip, where he would sexually assault them, where he would terrify them. And just metres away from where this was taking place is where Emma’s body was found and she was naked and she was strangled.” 

When she tells Packer this on camera in the second interview, you can see his face change. A former partner told the trial he was “white as a sheet” after that second interview. “You could see something had gone badly wrong. It was as if it was all closing in on him,” she said. 

BBC journalist Sam Poling at Glasgow High Court. She had interviewed Iain Packer twice in connection with Emma Caldwell's murder Credit: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

Two days after the BBC’s programme airs, Packer is charged with attacking a former partner and in February 2020 he is jailed after pleading guilty. In 2021, soil in the footwell of his van is found to be a 97 per cent match for the soil found at the exact spot Emma was found. In February 2022, Packer is arrested on suspicion of her murder; by December, additional charges have been brought. 

Sixteen women were attacked after Emma was killed and after Packer was first on the police’s radar. This week’s victory is theirs, and that of Margaret Caldwell, who paid tribute to those women “who spoke up not just for Emma but for the many unknown victims of Iain Packer”. Outside court, her lawyer said: “Margaret also wishes to acknowledge those who have been lost due to illness, overdose and other forms of harm. Those women were a part of our communities. They were important to their loved ones, to their families, and should have been important to the police.” 

She believes police “systematically sabotaged an investigation into Packer for a decade and have blood on their hands”. Police Scotland has apologised to the victims, saying they were all “let down by policing in 2005”. “It is clear that further investigations should have been carried out into Emma’s murder following the initial inquiry in 2005. The lack of investigation until 2015 caused unnecessary distress to her family and all those women who had come forward to report sexual violence.” 

Emma’s father never lived to see his daughter’s killer brought to justice. For her mother, at least, 19 years after her breath first caught in her throat, it was finally safe to exhale. “Now I feel as if I can breathe again.” 

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiaGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRlbGVncmFwaC5jby51ay9uZXdzLzIwMjQvMDMvMDIvZW1tYS1jYWxkd2VsbC1raWxsZXItaWFpbi1wYWNrZXItcG9saWNlLTE5LXllYXJzLTIyLXZpY3RpbXMv0gEA?oc=5

2024-03-02 07:00:00Z
CBMiaGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRlbGVncmFwaC5jby51ay9uZXdzLzIwMjQvMDMvMDIvZW1tYS1jYWxkd2VsbC1raWxsZXItaWFpbi1wYWNrZXItcG9saWNlLTE5LXllYXJzLTIyLXZpY3RpbXMv0gEA

George Galloway wins Rochdale by-election as Labour condemns new MP - live - The Independent

Sunak takes aim at Starmer: ‘We expel antisemites, he makes them Labour candidates’

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox

Get our free View from Westminster email

Residents in Rochdale are voting in the 22nd by-election this parliament, in a closely watched contest where political arguments have centred on Gaza and the Israel-Hamas war.

Alleged death threats, candidates wearing stab vests and vandalism have been reported during campaigning to win the seat following the death last month of sitting MP Sir Tony Lloyd.

Labour withdrew its support from its candidate, Azhar Ali, over his suggestion Israel was complicit in the massacre of its own people on 7 October. His name could not be removed from ballot papers but the party no longer has a candidate.

Former Labour MP and Celebrity Big Brother contestant George Galloway is a candidate for the Workers Party of Britain.

Simon Danczuk, an ex-Labour MP for Rochdale is standing for the right-wing challenger party Reform UK.

Other candidates are Iain Donaldson (Liberal Democrats), Paul Ellison (Conservatives), Michael Howarth (Independent), William Howarth (Independent), Ravin Rodent Subortna (Official Monster Raving Loony Party) and David Tully (Independent).

1709233206

Home Office to publish 13 reports left over by sacked borders watchdog

The Home Office is due to publish 13 of the 15 outstanding reports submitted by sacked borders and immigration watchdog David Neal on Thursday afternoon, the PA news agency understands.

During his tenure, Mr Neal repeatedly raised concerns that the department was too slow to publish his reports.

Full story:

Matt Mathers29 February 2024 19:00

1709231443

All the by-elections in this parliament

Since the start of the current parliament in December 2019, there has been a total of 21 by-elections across the UK:

Jane Dalton29 February 2024 18:30

1709229606

‘Restricting audiences on basis of race wrong and divisive’, says Downing Street

Downing Street has said the idea of black-only audiences for some nights of a West End theatrical production is “wrong and divisive”.

Slave Play at the Noel Coward Theatre, which features Game Of Thrones star Kit Harington among the cast, will have two performances aimed at an “all-black-identifying audience” that is “free from the white gaze”.

Full report:

Matt Mathers29 February 2024 18:00

1709226006

Freedom of press ‘in danger’ if foreign government buys UK newspaper – Jenrick

Freedom of the press is “in danger” in the UK if a foreign government is allowed to buy a national newspaper, a Tory former cabinet minister has warned.

Robert Jenrick urged ministers to support plans for legal protections against such a move, amid concerns over a proposed UAE-backed takeover of the Telegraph newspapers and The Spectator.

Speaking at business questions, Mr Jenrick told Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt: “If freedom of press means anything, it means the freedom to criticise and to oppose. And that freedom is in danger if we become the first democracy in the world to allow a foreign government to buy a national newspaper and media organisation.

“(Ms Mordaunt) may be aware that the noble Baroness Stowell (of Beeston) has laid an amendment with cross-party support to the digital markets Bill in the House of Lords that would prevent this happening.

“Will the Government be supporting, or at least not opposing, that amendment in the House of Lords?

“Were it to come to the Commons, I certainly will be supporting it and I would encourage all MPs to do the same because we must prize freedom of the press in this country and this amendment is our opportunity to do so.”

File photo: Robert Jenrick

(PA Media)

Matt Mathers29 February 2024 17:00

1709225152

All 21 by-elections in this parliament

Jane Dalton29 February 2024 16:45

1709224206

Drakeford thought UK Government would control pandemic response, inquiry told

The First Minister of Wales believed the UK Government would be in charge of the country’s pandemic response until just days before the first lockdown, an inquiry has heard.

Mark Drakeford, the outgoing leader of the Senedd, was under the impression the Welsh Government would not be making decisions to prevent the spread of coronavirus itself due to the type of legislation being used in Parliament.

Full report:

Matt Mathers29 February 2024 16:30

1709222406

Watch: Sadiq Khan reveals heartbreak at Rishi Sunak’s lack of leadership over ‘Islamist’ rant

Sadiq Khan reveals heartbreak at Sunak’s lack of leadership over ‘Islamist’ rant

Sadiq Khan has said he is “heartbroken” at Rishi Sunak’s lack of “leadership” over Lee Anderson’s comments, in which he claimed the London mayor was controlled by “Islamists”. The former deputy chair of the Conservatives was suspended by the party after refusing to apologise for the remarks. “I’ve had a number of emotions over the last six days. Sad, angry, frustrated, appalled, heartbroken,” Mr Khan told LBC on Thursday 29 February. “My sadness and my heartbreak is because people who we look to for leadership haven’t provided it. I mean Sunak, I mean the deputy prime minister, I mean the cabinet.”

Matt Mathers29 February 2024 16:00

1709220967

Nigel Farage calls on Suella Braverman to ditch the Tories and join Reform UK

Full report:

Matt Mathers29 February 2024 15:36

1709215253

ICYMI | Rochdale by-election - candidates list in full

Here’s your guide to all eleven candidates standing in Rochdale:

Matt Mathers29 February 2024 14:00

1709214353

Covid conspiracy MP suggests return of capital punishment in bizarre speech

In a bizarre speech Independent MP Andrew Bridgen, who was expelled from the Tories after appearing to compare Covid-19 vaccines to the Holocaust, told business questions: “I’ve always opposed capital punishment on the principle that it’s wrong to take a life so it can’t be right for the state to take a life in revenge.

Full report:

Matt Mathers29 February 2024 13:45

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMieGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3MvdWsvcG9saXRpY3Mvcm9jaGRhbGUtYnllbGVjdGlvbi1wb2xscy1nZW9yZ2UtZ2FsbG93YXktY2FuZGlkYXRlcy1sYXRlc3QtYjI1MDQ1MTYuaHRtbNIBAA?oc=5

2024-03-01 10:06:05Z
CBMieGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3MvdWsvcG9saXRpY3Mvcm9jaGRhbGUtYnllbGVjdGlvbi1wb2xscy1nZW9yZ2UtZ2FsbG93YXktY2FuZGlkYXRlcy1sYXRlc3QtYjI1MDQ1MTYuaHRtbNIBAA

South Kensington fire: 11 people taken to hospital - BBC

London Fire Brigade

By Samantha Jagger & PA Media & Harry Low

BBC News

Eleven people have been taken to hospital after a fire broke out at a five-storey building in London.

About 160 people were evacuated from Emperor's Gate, in South Kensington, after the fire spread from a ground-floor flat just after midnight.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) said the blaze, which had spread to the roof of the building, was now under control.

It said the people taken to hospital were treated for the effects of smoke inhalation.

'Incredibly challenging'

Fifteen fire engines and about 100 firefighters arrived at the scene to find half of the ground floor of the building was alight, LFB said.

Two people were rescued from a second-floor flat, one person was helped from a first-floor flat and another two were rescued from a flat on the fourth floor.

Borough commander Ben King said the blaze had started at 00:31 GMT and described it as "incredibly challenging".

"Our crews have acted with, as you would expect and as London rightfully deserves, utmost professionalism as they have conducted a number of rescues," he said.

The flames became "very significant" and it was a "dynamic incident" for the service to deal with, Mr King explained.

Station commander Steve Collins added that crews worked extremely hard to stop the fire spreading to adjacent buildings.

At about 05:30, the fire service said the blaze had been brought under control.

Mr King said the roof of the building was "significantly damaged" and the ground floor and an adjoining property had suffered damage too.

The service said some residents had been let back into their homes.

The cause of the fire is not yet known and the service said it would remain at the scene until at least Friday afternoon.

Arnis Altens, who was one of the people evacuated, described the fire as "pretty scary".

The 58-year-old said he saw a "small fire" on the ground floor, which people were trying to put out using extinguishers.

"They broke the window and after that the fire spread rapidly... the blaze came out of the window," Mr Altens explained.

"In 14 minutes the whole building was ablaze," he added.

London Fire Brigade

At the scene

Harry Low, BBC News

It's bucketing it down with rain here in south Kensington.

Firefighters using a turntable ladder continue to battle the blaze which is now under control.

There's a heavy police presence too with road closures in every direction and buses on diversion.

Dozens of tired looking firefighters have been accepting hot drinks from a Salvation Army van a street away.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea said council staff were providing assistance and shelter at a nearby hotel for those affected.

Deputy leader councillor Kim Taylor-Smith thanked the emergency services for "the incredible job they have done in very challenging conditions" and council staff "who have sprung into action in the middle of the night".

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk

Related Topics

• London Fire Brigade
• London
• South Kensington

Related Internet Links

• London Fire Brigade

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiNWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3VrLWVuZ2xhbmQtbG9uZG9uLTY4NDQzOTY40gEA?oc=5

2024-03-01 09:59:41Z
CBMiNWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3VrLWVuZ2xhbmQtbG9uZG9uLTY4NDQzOTY40gEA

George Galloway wins sweeping victory in Rochdale byelection, saying ‘this is for Gaza’ - The Guardian

The veteran political agitator George Galloway declared “a shifting of the tectonic plates” away from Labour after claiming a stunning victory in the Rochdale byelection.

Galloway, one of the most divisive politicians in Britain, won almost 40% of the vote in a contest beset by chaos and controversy and dominated by the conflict in Gaza.

He took aim at Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak in a victory speech that was interrupted by hecklers after a dramatic count at Rochdale leisure centre.

“Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza,” he said. “You will pay a high price for the role that you have played in enabling, encouraging and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Gaza, in the Gaza Strip.”

Galloway won 12,335 votes – 39.7% of the total – in a much more sweeping victory than anyone had predicted, giving him a 5,697-vote majority.

Labour, which abandoned its candidate over inflammatory comments he made about Israel, finished in fourth place with just 7.7%, having held a near-10,000 vote majority in the constituency.

Galloway, an ex-Labour MP, has now unseated his former party in three elections and will return to parliament representing a fourth constituency in 37 years.

Addressing Starmer from the podium, Galloway said: “This is going to spark a movement, a landslide, a shifting of the tectonic plates, a score of parliamentary constituencies, beginning here in the north-west, in the West Midlands, in London, from Ilford to Bethnal Green & Bow.

“Labour is on notice that they have lost the confidence of millions of their voters who loyally and traditionally voted for them generation after generation.”

Azhar Ali, Labour’s former candidate, did not attend the count and the Guardian understands that other Labour campaigners were told to stay away.

Despite a campaign dominated by events in the Middle East, Galloway said he hoped to put together a “grand alliance” with Rochdale councillors to work on local issues.

Dozens of Galloway supporters had gathered outside the leisure centre shortly after the polls closed, when it quickly became apparent that he was set for a decisive victory.

Inside the count, however, the mood was less hospitable. A family member of a rival candidate muttered “terrorist sympathiser” while another shouting “woe to Rochdale” after he was declared the winner.

Another heckler, who gave her name as Jane Twill, was removed by security after interrupting the victory speech by accusing Galloway of failing to address the climate emergency.

His victory comes after one of the most controversial and chaotic byelections in recent memory.

So confident was Galloway’s team that they briefed reporters within an hour of the polls closing that he had won “comfortably” and announced plans for a “mass rally” immediately after the declaration at his election headquarters, a former Suzuki showroom.

Labour, defending a near-10,000-vote majority and riding high in the polls, had expected a straightforward contest to replace the sitting MP, Tony Lloyd, who died on 17 January from leukaemia. But its campaign was thrown into disarray when it emerged its candidate, Azhar Ali, had repeated anti-Israel conspiracy theories about the 7 October attack by Hamas.

Labour was eventually forced to disown Ali and abandoned its campaign barely a week into the contest. Although Ali’s name was on the ballot paper – it was too late to select another candidate – Labour stopped all electioneering in the town nearly three weeks ago.

Galloway, on the other hand, was galvanised. The fedora-sporting politician toured Rochdale with a megaphone, calling the byelection “a referendum on Gaza” and a chance to stage a protest against Labour.

His team, backed by an army of volunteers from across the country, managed to capture the vote of a significant number of Muslim people, who make up about 30% of the town’s population, with many angry about Labour’s position on Gaza.

Starmer’s party also faced a challenge from another former Labour MP in the form of Simon Danczuk, who was suspended from the party in 2015 after sending inappropriate messages to a teenager. Danczuk, Rochdale’s MP from 2010 to 2017, was standing for Reform UK, the anti-immigration party founded by Nigel Farage.

Danczuk’s new party did poorly, finishing in sixth place with only 6.3% of the vote. A Reform UK source said the party had under-performed due to logistics: the Rochdale contest was the third byelection it had fought in three weeks and it had been focusing on its party conference in Doncaster last weekend.

Galloway, 69, previously unseated his former party in Bethnal Green and Bow in 2005 and Bradford West in 2012, both following campaigns based heavily on events in the Middle East.

Like Galloway’s previous campaigns, the Rochdale contest was mired in controversy. In the week when MPs were raising concerns over their safety, Galloway said the names of Labour MPs were “dripping in blood” after the party’s ceasefire amendment, which did not go as far as pro-Palestinian supporters wanted.

Earlier this week a 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of sending a death threat to Danczuk, who hired security guards for the final two days of campaigning.

Galloway’s team said its banners and garden posts had been ripped down in an effort to stop it getting the word out.

There were allegations of dirty tricks on polling day too, as Reform UK lodged a formal complaint about Galloway activists distributing leaflets outside polling stations.

Richard Tice, the leader of Reform, claimed the contest had not been “free or fair” and made unspecified suggestions that the postal vote had been rigged.

“This byelection and result should act as a serious wake-up call to those in power and indeed to the entire electorate,” he said.

“We are supposed to be a beacon of democracy, this shameful contest has been more characteristic of a failed state.”

Galloway’s team had earlier accused Labour canvassers of speaking to voters inside polling stations.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiWWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWd1YXJkaWFuLmNvbS9wb2xpdGljcy8yMDI0L21hci8wMS9nZW9yZ2UtZ2FsbG93YXktd2lucy1yb2NoZGFsZS1ieWVsZWN0aW9u0gFZaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAudGhlZ3VhcmRpYW4uY29tL3BvbGl0aWNzLzIwMjQvbWFyLzAxL2dlb3JnZS1nYWxsb3dheS13aW5zLXJvY2hkYWxlLWJ5ZWxlY3Rpb24?oc=5

2024-03-01 08:08:00Z
CBMiWWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWd1YXJkaWFuLmNvbS9wb2xpdGljcy8yMDI0L21hci8wMS9nZW9yZ2UtZ2FsbG93YXktd2lucy1yb2NoZGFsZS1ieWVsZWN0aW9u0gFZaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAudGhlZ3VhcmRpYW4uY29tL3BvbGl0aWNzLzIwMjQvbWFyLzAxL2dlb3JnZS1nYWxsb3dheS13aW5zLXJvY2hkYWxlLWJ5ZWxlY3Rpb24