The Home Secretary Suella Braverman caused controversy this week when she wrote an apparently unauthorised article for the Times accusing the police of bias ahead of Armistice Day and the planned pro-Palestine rally. That march went ahead despite the wishes of some members of parliament. The police had to deal with violence from what was described as ‘far-right groups’ who converged on the Cenotaph as well as disorder from some of the pro-Palestine marchers.
Trevor Phillips asked Defence Secretary Grant Shapps if Braverman’s actions might have made it harder for the police to maintain peace. Shapps paid tribute to the police, but claimed that far-right groups had already announced they were going to be there before Braverman’s article and drew attention to people on the pro-Palestine march ‘celebrating what terrorists have done’.
Yvette Cooper – ‘highly irresponsible’ Home Secretary should be removed
The shadow home secretary had a rather different point of view, arguing that Braverman had undermined the police and inflamed tensions. She told Laura Kuenssberg that Rishi Sunak was ‘weak’ in allowing her to act in such a way and that she shouldn’t be allowed to carry on in her role. Cooper also pointed out that Braverman had previously broken the ministerial code under Liz Truss and suggested she should never have been appointed in the first place.
Upcoming SNP ceasefire motion causing further Labour division
The upcoming vote on a Scottish National party King’s Speech amendment, which calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, is causing further division in the Labour party. Some shadow ministers are reportedly ready to resign rather than vote against a ceasefire. Kuenssberg asked Yvette Cooper whether an anonymous Labour briefing which described resignations from the party as ‘shaking off the fleas’ was racist. Cooper agreed that it was a disgraceful comment and said it didn’t come from anyone close to the Labour leadership. Kuenssberg then asked whether Keir Starmer would sack any MPs who vote in favour of the ceasefire. Cooper repeatedly evaded the question, saying she couldn’t ‘preempt the processes around the Speaker selecting amendments’.
Israeli President – ‘of course we listen to our allies, but first… we defend ourselves’
Some of Israel’s allies have begun calling for a ceasefire. French President Emmanuel Macron this week asked Israel to stop bombing women and children and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said too many Palestinians are being killed. Kuenssberg asked the President of Israel Isaac Herzog if they were listening to their allies. Herzog said they were listening but first needed to defend themselves. He claimed Israel’s military is behaving ‘exactly according to the rules of international humanitarian law’ and that many of the tragedies affecting Palestinian civilians are caused by Hamas. Herzog said he was a ‘huge supporter of peace in the Middle East’.
Shapps – ‘we’ve forgotten that in war, very sadly, people lose their lives’
Grant Shapps defended Israel’s military action, claiming that civilian deaths are inevitable in war and comparing the bombardment of Gaza to Britain’s bombing of Dresden (which took place before the Geneva Conventions established modern international humanitarian law‚. Shapps supported Herzog’s claims that Israel was going out of its way to protect civilians, mentioning reports of Israeli military contacting civilians and telling them to move on before advancing. Shapps said Hamas needed to stop using civilians as human shields and mentioned that the UK was working hard to try to secure the release of British hostages in Gaza.
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