Starmer turning against Israel risks further conflict with White House
The measures against Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the security minister, reflect dismay at much of their behaviour, but particularly their efforts to frustrate a two-state solution.
Within two hours, however, an interview with Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump 's new ambassador to Israel, sent a different message.
In it, the Republican evangelical pastor (who is close to Mr Smotrich) appeared to all but completely withdraw US support for a Palestinian state.
Asked if the two-state solution remained a US policy goal, as it has been for decades, he said: 'I don't think so.'
He suggested he'd rather see a legal home for the Palestinians carved out of a Muslim country than the West Bank, where the majority currently live.
It is British policy to eventually recognise a Palestinian state, but successive governments have been reluctant to make the move.
Sources stressed as recently as last week that Downing Street had made no decision on this.
Emmanuel Macron, along with Saudi Arabia, is currently embarked on a mission to cajole allies like Britain to, diplomatically speaking, put their money where their mouths are on the issue of recognition.
A much-vaunted France-Saudi conference on the subject is due to take place later this month, about which Israel is extremely nervous.
Gideon Sa'ar, Israel's foreign minister, recently threatened to annex the West Bank in retaliation.
The feeling among diplomats is that – as with Tuesday's announcement of sanctions – recognition of a Palestinian state would have the greatest impact if done in coordination with allies.
Sir Keir and David Lammy will be watching their European partners carefully to see who moves first.
To do so would certainly widen the rift over Israel with Washington DC further.
It is a rift that has been growing for some time. Mr Trump's criticism of Israel's policy in Gaza has been limited, while Sir Keir has been gradually increasing his.
Sanctioning the ministers opens up another potential conflict between the two leaders.
The Trump administration rails against threats to free speech. And yet Britain, in concert with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway, has subjected two elected lawmakers and ministers to harsh restrictions based, in large part, on things they have said.
In the meantime, Mr Smotrich and Mr Ben-Gvir will certainly stay on in their posts despite the allegedly inciting 'extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights'.
Sanctioned or not, they will no doubt continue calling for ever harsher treatment of Gaza and Jewish proliferation in the West Bank.
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The Independent
2 minutes ago
- The Independent
Reform UK's new justice adviser calls for bolstered ‘rehabilitation' in prisons
Reform UK's new justice adviser has called for bolstered prisoner 'rehabilitation' as she accused previous governments of having 'failed and failed miserably' on crime and punishment. Vanessa Frake also warned that criminals 'lose their support systems on the outside' when they are sentenced, and risk having no other choice than to 'get on that crime ladder' after a short time in prison. Nigel Farage, Reform UK's leader, has promised 'the most significant event' of his party's crime campaign later on Monday. Speaking on Times Radio, Ms Frake said: 'I read every week negative press about our prison service and drugs, mobiles, violence, suicide, self-harm, etcetera, etcetera. 'And you know, the time is now for somebody to do something about it. Successive governments have failed and failed miserably and, you know, that's why our prison service now is on its knees.' The former prison governor said: 'I'm not naive in the fact that people don't want to spend money on prisons – they'd rather it went to the NHS, to education – I'm not naive at all about that. 'But actually, if you think about the whole picture, at the moment we're warehousing prisoners and we're turning out better criminals into our society. 'I'd like to see it where we actually do some rehabilitation and make our society safer for our children, and that is going to cost money but at least somebody is listening to others.' Ms Frake, who wrote about her previous work in her book The Governor, also referred to a Government scheme which cut temporarily the proportion of sentences certain inmates must serve behind bars from 50% to 40%. 'In a prison, now they do 40% of a sentence,' she said. 'There's very little you can do with somebody who is addicted to drugs, alcohol, has mental health issues. There is very little you can do within a prison at that time. 'And when people are sentenced to short sentences, they lose their support systems on the outside. 'They lose their home if they had one, they lose family support and we let them out with nothing so their only alternative is to commit crime and get on that crime ladder, and that needs to be addressed. 'What I would like to see is much better community services, much better community and substance misuse services outside of prisons, and much better management of prisoners on the outside.' Asked whether she was willing to have a 'difficult conversation' with party leader Nigel Farage, Ms Frake replied: 'He might have his own views but he will listen far more than any other party has listened in the past.'
Sky News
27 minutes ago
- Sky News
Gaza latest: Hamas sets condition for getting aid to hostages after 'appalling' video sparks international outcry
08:24:02 US ambassador claims 'massive amounts of food' going into Gaza US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has said that the "real story of starvation in Gaza" is of "hostages being held by Hamas". In a disputed claim on X, the US ambassador questioned why the "massive amounts of food" going into Gaza was not being shared by the "very well fed" Hamas members. He shared a graphic that stated "there is no policy of starvation in Gaza," and that "Israel does not limit the amount of aid entering Gaza" and has, in the past, facilitated the entry of up to 700 aid trucks per day, depending on UN and NGO supply. It should be noted here that humanitarian organisations have said the amount of aid that has entered the enclave is not enough. Some have said the hunger crisis in Gaza worsened in March after Israel imposed a blockade barring the entry of aid into Gaza - this came during its ceasefire with Hamas. In May, Israel lifted the blockade, but for months, only a limited amount of aid has been entering the enclave. 07:55:57 Trump insists 'we want the people fed' in Gaza As he touched down in Pennsylvania yesterday after a weekend break, Donald Trump spoke to reporters about Gaza and its food crisis. Asked if he had an update on Gaza, the US president said: "Only we want the people fed. And we're the only country that's really doing that. "We're putting up money to get the people fed." Trump said he wanted Israel "to get them fed" and the US was "giving some pretty big contributions" to purchase food. Last week US special envoy Steve Witkoff visited a food distribution site in the Gaza Strip operated by an Israeli-backed American contractor. Witkoff and the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, toured a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution site in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, which has been almost completely destroyed and is now a largely depopulated Israeli military zone. The envoy said he had spent more than five hours inside Gaza in order to gain "a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza". 07:48:14 Hamas 'ready to deliver aid to hostages' if Israel opens humanitarian corridors As we just reported Hamas has said it is ready to deliver Red Cross aid to the hostages it is holding in Gaza if Israel opens humanitarian corridors permanently and halts "all forms of air traffic" during the delivery of packages to the hostages. Abu Obeidah, the military spokesman for the Al-Qassam brigades - an armed wing of Hamas- said yesterday the militant group "do not deliberately starve the captives" and "they eat from what our fighters and all our people eat". He said in order to respond to any request from the Red Cross to bring food and medicine to hostages humanitarian corridors would need to be opened "in a normal and permanent manner". Obeidah also said the group required "the cessation of enemy aerial sorties of all kinds during the times when the parcels for the captives are being received". "The Al-Qassam brigades do not deliberately starve the captives, but they eat from what our fighters and all our people eat, and they will not receive any special privileges amid the crime of starvation and siege," he said in a statement. Prior to the statement, Benjamin Netanyahu said he had spoken with the Red Cross's regional head, Julien Lerisson, and requested his involvement in providing food and medical care to hostages held in Gaza. Netanyahu said he told Lerisson that the "lie of starvation propagated by Hamas is spreading worldwide", adding that "systematic starvation" is being carried out against Israeli hostages. 07:39:49 Welcome back to our coverage We're back with our coverage of the war in Gaza this morning. Yesterday, Hamas said it was ready to cooperate with any requests from the Red Cross to deliver food to Israeli hostages in Gaza. It came after Benjamin Netanyahu accused the militant group of carrying out "systematic starvation" against Israeli captives after Hamas released a video of an emaciated hostage being held in a concrete tunnel. Netanyahu said he had spoken with the regional head of the Red Cross and requested his involvement in providing food and medical care to hostages held in Gaza. Here are the other key lines from the last 24 hours: Hospitals in Gaza said 33 more Palestinians seeking food aid were killed by Israeli fire; The United Nations Security Council said it will hold a special discussion on the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza on Tuesday morning; Efforts to bring Gazan children to the UK for urgent medical treatment are set to be accelerated under new UK government plans. The scheme is reportedly set to be announced within weeks. You can read more on that story here... 22:50:01 We're pausing our live coverage Thanks for following our live coverage of the war in Gaza. We'll be back tomorrow with all the latest updates, but until then, here's a rundown of the key stories from the last 24 hours: Hamas says it'll allow the Red Cross to bring aid to Israeli hostages in Gaza if Israel permanently opens up humanitarian corridors in the enclave; It comes after Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Red Cross to deliver aid to hostage s after seeing videos of emaciated hostages over the weekend; Those videos drew sharp international condemnation, including from France's Emmanuel Macron, David Lammy and others; Meanwhile, deliveries of aid continued to be airdropped into Gaza. Israel's military said 136 packages were parachuted in by six different countries today; But, on the ground, hospital officials said at least 33 more Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire while seeking foo d in Gaza; And the Hamas-run health ministry said six adults had died of malnutrition-related causes over the past 24 hours; Elsewhere, Israel's far-right security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, drew criticism from Arab nations for violating a decades-old arrangement by praying at a holy site in Jerusalem; While the IDF says it's looking into reports that an Israeli attack on the Gaza HQ of the Palestinian Red Crescent killed one staff member and injured others. 22:40:01 Hamas official: October 7 attacks 'forced the world' into recognising Palestinian statehood A senior member of Hamas's political bureau says the wave of Western nations moving to recognise a Palestinian state is the "overall outcome" of the group's October 7 terror attack on Israel. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Ghazi Hamad said the deadly attack, which saw Hamas and other militant groups kill over 1,200 people and take hostages back to Gaza, "forced the world to open its eyes to the Palestinian cause". He added: "Why are all these countries recognising Palestine now? Had any country dared to recognise the state of Palestine prior to October 7?" France, the UK and Canada have all recently announced plans to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly next month. The Israeli government has rejected the calls, describing them as tantamount to rewarding terrorism. 22:15:01 Watch: Doctor describes 'carnage' at Gaza hospital Plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr Waseem Saeed had told Sky News that the plans to bring injured Gaza children to the UK for treatment are a "mere drop in the ocean". Under the scheme, reportedly set to be announced within weeks, up to 300 children could arrive in the UK from Gaza. Dr Saeed says he's received updates from doctors at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza showing children with burn injuries left on the floor as "they've completely run out of beds". He says "every part" of the medical infrastructure in Gaza has been "dismantled and is deficient". "Until that's addressed, while this is welcome, it's not going to have a serious impact on the carnage that is occurring at the moment." 21:45:01 Exclusive: Gaza's deadliest days linked by a pattern of attacks on families Data shared exclusively with Sky News by Gaza's health ministry allows us, for the first time, to show the date of every death since the war began. Across almost two years of war, 17 days stand out as the deadliest – those when more than 450 people died. Women and children made up a much higher share of deaths on these days than on others. Looking further into the data, we found out why – a pattern of strikes on family homes. Almost half of all people killed on these days (44%) died alongside a family member, compared with less than a third (30%) on other days. Strikes on families reached their peak on 18 March, accounting for almost two-thirds of all deaths. The Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas, but most of those killed were women and children. In order to understand how those strikes led to so many civilian casualties, Sky News analysed all 465 deaths recorded that day by Gaza's health ministry. 21:15:02 Arab world condemns Israeli 'desecration' at Jerusalem mosque Iran has joined Jordan and Saudi Arabia in its outrage after Israel's far-right security minister violated a long-standing agreement by praying at one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East. Itamar Ben-Gvir conducted a Jewish prayer at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem this morning, breaking a long-time arrangement between Israel and the Arab world. Jews are forbidden from prayer at the east Jerusalem site under a "status quo" agreement made between Israel and Jordan in 1967. Jordan condemned Ben-Gvir's prayer as "an unacceptable provocation, and a reprehensible escalation". This evening, Iran's foreign ministry says Ben-Gvir "desecrated" the holy site, claiming the far-right Israeli minister was seeking to "alter the Islamic and historical identity of Holy Jerusalem" and escalate tensions in Gaza. 20:38:35 UN Security Council to hold special session on Israeli hostages still in Gaza The United Nations Security Council will hold a special discussion on the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza on Tuesday morning. It follows a request by Israel's foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar, according to his office. Sa'ar pushed for the discussion after videos of hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski appearing emaciated were released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. There are 50 hostages still believed to be in Gaza, of whom Israeli believes 27 are dead. Benjamin Netanyahu has said there are "doubts" about the fate of several more.
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
New map shows how immigration is reshaping your town
Up to one in 20 residents in parts of England and Wales are immigrants who moved here last year, new analysis suggests. It comes after Government statistics last week revealed that the total population of the two nations shot up by 700,000 in 2023/24. Immigration fuelled the surge – the second largest since WW2. The Daily Mail can reveal that net international migration – defined as the difference between the number of people entering the country and leaving – was positive in all but one of 318 councils. Newham, home to roughly 374,000 people, saw an influx of 17,200 immigrants in the year to mid-2024. That suggests new migrants arriving from abroad in the last year now account for 4.6 per cent of the London borough's total population – roughly one in 20 people. Luton (4.3 per cent) and Coventry (4.2 per cent) had similarly high figures, according to estimates published by the Office for National Statistics ( ONS ). Experts say current immigration levels, which have hit all-time highs, are piling even greater pressure upon on housing, schools and the NHS. Our postcode search tool - available to use below - shows how the situation in your area has changed over the last 12 months, tracking births and deaths as well as net international migration. Robert Bates, research director at the Centre for Migration Control, said mass migration is 'changing the very fabric of Britain'. He said: 'Assimilation has been made impossible by the sheer scale of mass migration and our national culture is damaged as a result. Stretched public services - from the NHS and GP surgeries to public transport and schools - are being further eroded by a low wage, low-skill immigration system. Politicians have ignored the concerns of voters due to a misguided belief that open borders benefit the economy. We fast need a government which rejects this dogma and starts work to scrap a whole raft of failed visa routes, end foreign nationals' access to the welfare system, and invests in skills for the British workforce.' There were an estimated 61.8m people in England and Wales in mid-2024, up from 61.1m in mid-2023, according to the ONS' estimates. That increase, of 706,881 people, was eclipsed only by the 821,210 population rise in the 12 months to mid-2023, with growth in both years driven almost wholly by record rises in the number of migrants. Some 1.1m people are thought to have immigrated in the last 12 months, countered by the 450,000 believed to have emigrated. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage yesterday claimed the figures were' disastrous for the quality of life for everyone in the country'. There were slightly more births (596,012) than deaths (566,030) in the year to mid-2024, which added just 29,982 to the population. In terms of raw numbers, the biggest local authorities, such as Birmingham (38,700) had the most international migrants arriving. Given the West Midlands city has a population of 1.2million, however, the effects of international migration aren't as stark as they are in Newham. The City of London technically had the highest share of its current population down to international migration in 2024 (10.8 per cent) – although it is home to only 15,000 people. Only one local authority, South Holland in Lincolnshire, experienced a negative sum, due to more international migrants leaving than arriving. The ONS said it had 557 arrivals from abroad last year, but 695 people emigrated. Movement around the UK – known as internal migration – is recorded separately. Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: 'The latest ONS figures are another eye-opener. 'While there is no breakdown of migration into nationality, gender, age or immigration status - as the ONS should do in the future - overall, the population of England and Wales increased by over 700,000 (the equivalent of Newcastle.) Just 30,000 of this was from births exceeding deaths.' Mr Mehmet also branded the government's response to the rising rates as 'complacent'. He said: 'Most worrying, these latest figures show that the speed with which the nature of our society is changing has not let up, and that the ethnic minority proportion of our population will become the majority in 30-35 years. The government must take decisive action to stem the immigration tsunami if we are not to become the island of strangers the Prime Minister referred to a few months ago.' The ONS cautions there might be some overlap in the data, although it is unclear by how much because of the difficulties in examining population flow. For example, the same person could be classed as both an international immigrant and internal emigrant. They could also die, further confusing the picture. Tory shadow Home Office minister Katie Lam said the data showed the population is rising at 'an unsustainable pace'. She said: 'This isn't about numbers on a spreadsheet, it's about pressure on housing, NHS waiting lists, school places, wages and it's about community and our culture. Britain simply cannot plan or build fast enough to keep up. We must secure our borders and deliver a fair and sustainable immigration system that works for the British people.' However Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (pictured) said yesterday the figures 'confirm the truth of the Tory legacy on immigration'. She added: 'Their failed open borders experiment resulted in net migration quadrupling to a peak of almost a million per year in 2023 even as they promised it would fall. Since the election, net migration has come steeply down, and as part of the Government's Plan for Change we have set out new measures in the Immigration White Paper and have already changed immigration rules to bring net migration down further. To be successful, effective and fair, our immigration system must be properly controlled and managed. Out of the chaos and failure of the Tory past, that is what this Government will deliver.' Keir Starmer unveiled a crackdown on immigration in May, warning that failure to control the system risked turning Britain into an 'island of strangers'. Downing Street was forced to deny angry comparisons from MPs that it was an echo of Enoch Powell's infamous 'Rivers of Blood' speech. Scrambling to blunt the threat of Reform, Sir Keir has vowed to give voters what they had 'asked for time and time again' as he announced a package to 'take back control of our borders'. However, the month after the speech Sir Keir went on to say he 'deeply regretted' it, despite polling showing most Brits had no problem with the language used. His package of long-awaited policies to curb immigration involved a hiking of the skills threshold for immigrants and a toughening of the rules on fluency in English. Migrants will also be required to wait 10 years for citizenship rather than the current five and face deportation for even lower-level crimes. Policymakers estimate the Government's package will bring down annual inflows by around 100,000.
