Lauren Sánchez's wedding dress missing after Bezos's star-studded $20m nuptials
Reeves in tears at PMQs after 'altercations with Starmer and Speaker'
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The National
an hour ago
- The National
Anas Sarwar 'must cut ties' to Tony Blair Institute amid Gaza plan row
The Financial Times has revealed that the Tony Blair Institute (TBI), a non-profit organisation founded in 2016, is involved in a project led by Israeli businessmen which used financial models developed inside the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to envision Gaza as a trading hub. Plans outlined in a slide deck, titled the 'Great Trust', were shared with US president Donald Trump and included a proposal to pay half a million Palestinians to leave the area and replace them with private investors to develop Gaza. According to the newspaper, the TBI did not author or endorse the final slide deck, but two members of its staff were involved in message groups and calls as the project developed. READ MORE: Wes Streeting calls John Swinney an 'analogue politician' amid NHS row This has led to backlash, with the SNP saying the Scottish Labour leader and the Prime Minister have 'real and urgent questions to answer'. SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said it was 'common knowledge' that Starmer's Downing Street political operation and Scottish Labour are 'inextricably linked and influenced' by the Tony Blair Institute. We previously reported on how Scottish Labour are reportedly consulting with TBI, which has previously called for more private involvement in the NHS, on its health policies ahead of the Holyrood 2026 election. (Image: PA) 'The Tony Blair Institute has been involved with a group who were developing a plan which amounts to ethnic cleansing in the Gaza strip. It is one more awful stain on Tony Blair's shameful legacy in the Middle East,' Flynn (above) said. 'Given their close co-operation and ties to the Tony Blair Institute, real and urgent questions now need to be answered by both Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar. It is common knowledge that their senior teams are inextricably linked and influenced by this Institute which, we now know, was present when a plan to steal Palestinian land and livelihoods was being developed.' The SNP MP added: 'Both Starmer and Sarwar have at least three urgent questions to answer - will they come out and publicly condemn the former Labour Party Leader, Tony Blair, whose Institute has been part of this sickening plan? Will they fully reveal their own dealings with this Institute and their team's involvement with the staff who were aware of this sickening plan? And will they now commit to cut all ties and all funding to the Tony Blair Institute? "If the Labour Party fails to immediately cut ties to the Tony Blair Institute, it will also severely undermine their credibility in achieving a two state-solution in the region. 'The Labour Party were shamefully slow in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the UK Labour Government is still authorising the sale of arms to an Israeli Government that is engaged in the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. These revelations are another part of that shameful story for the Labour Party and their neglect for the plight of the Palestinian people.' Scottish Labour and Labour have been approached for comment.
Spectator
4 hours ago
- Spectator
Has Labour abandoned the steel industry?
We will no doubt hear lots of familiar excuses if later this week, as seems increasingly likely, the British steel industry faces 50 per cent tariffs on its exports to the United States. There hasn't been enough time. The White House has been too busy, and so has the Prime Minister. The trouble is, none of them make sense. And so when these tariffs kick in, the Labour government, which we might expect to defend a traditional heavy industry, will have abandoned steel to its fate. When the 9 July deadline for the suspension of President Trump's tariffs expires, we can expect chaos in the global trading system. The EU's over-confident and arrogant negotiators have failed to reach a deal, leaving every exporter in the bloc facing huge tariffs from Thursday onwards. Amid all that, it might be easy to miss a small but still significant problem. The suspension of full tariffs on British-made steel will also come to an end, and, without an agreement, the industry will also face huge levies. This could be catastrophic for the industry. 'Every day of delay costs our steelmakers dearly,' argued UK Steel, the trade body for the industry. 'Contracts slip away, investment plans stall and uncertainty freezes business decisions'. It could hardly come at a worse time. The industry has already been hit by a barrage of green levies and targets. It has to face some of the highest industrial electricity prices in the world. The Budget last year imposed higher National Insurance charges on every person it employs. The list goes on and on. British Steel has already been taken under emergency control by the government after its Chinese owners gave up on it, and with 50 per cent tariffs the rest of the industry may give up as well. And yet, despite that, the government has not had the energy or commitment to negotiate an exemption for the UK, even though other exporters will face just 10 per cent tariffs in the US. There is a bigger point than just steel. The UK's industrial base is being wiped out, with almost every week bringing news of yet another closure. Last week it was the Prax Lindsey oil refinery and in the week before, Nippon Electric Glass announced the closure of the UK's largest fibreglass factory. Starmer's Labour government should be defending the interests of the people who worked in these kinds of jobs. Instead, it is complacently allowing the steel industry to be wiped out – and doesn't appear to care much about any other manufacturers either.
The National
9 hours ago
- The National
Keir Starmer told to 'stop cosying up' to Donald Trump
It comes after the Prime Minister said last week that he understood what the president cares about and that they had bonded over shared family values. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Political Thinking programme on Friday, Starmer said: "For both of us, we really care about family and there's a point of connection there. "I think I do understand what anchors the president, what he really cares about." Keir Starmer and Donald Trump (Image: PA) Starmer has been criticised by the Scottish Greens, who accused him of "glamorising" his relationship with Trump. The party pointed towards Donald Trump's hush money conviction in 2023, as well as the US president's policies on healthcare and immigration, as they urged the Prime Minister to instead stand for "the values of democracy and human rights". READ MORE: SNP left wing push back against internal 'inertia' over indy strategy Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman said that under Donald Trump, the US "is in turmoil". She said: 'His administration is sending innocent people to be tortured in foreign countries, he's just passed a bill that will strip 17 million Americans of their healthcare, he's begun an unprecedented transfer of wealth from the poor to his billionaire supporters, and he has openly called for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. Maggie Chapman (Image: Christian Gamauf) 'For a UK Prime Minister to sit there and talk about his shared values with this President should set off alarm bells in every institution and every voter in this country. "Cosying up to a racist, misogynistic, climate-wrecking authoritarian like Donald Trump is the last thing we should be doing." Chapman said that "if we don't have our values, we have nothing", as she added: 'While values may be a flexible concept to Keir Starmer – if you don't like his values he, opportunistically, has others – it must not be for our country." The Scottish Greens MSP said Downing Street is "copying Trump's homework" by attempting to push through cuts to disability benefits to boost "spending on war and defence". READ MORE: Details emerge of Scottish arm of new Corbyn project 'Rather than working to overcome 14 years of Tory austerity and rebuild the country, Starmer is doubling down on the same disastrous policies that got us into the mess we're in," she added. Chapman went on to say that Labour were continuing to "echo the White House by refusing to end their active participation in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza". She continued: "We see the death-toll mounting daily. We watch as innocent civilians are shot or blown up while waiting for food inside barbed wire enclosures. "Keir Starmer can't even bring himself to call out these atrocities, never mind end the UK's training and arming of those perpetrating them." Chapman asked: 'Are these the family values he speaks of so fondly? Is this really the path we want to follow? "Starmer must end this pathetic grovelling to the US President and begin standing up for real values – democracy, human rights, and a fair economy that improves living standards for everyone.'
