End of day summary …
We will shortly be closing the blog. Here are the day’s headlines …
Keir Starmer has defended his handling of the controversy surrounding Labour’s candidate in Rochdale, who was suspended by the party on Monday night after days of revelations about remarks he made about Israel soon after the Hamas attacks. The Labour leader said on Tuesday he had taken tough and decisive action against Azhar Ali, who will now campaign for the Rochdale seat with no official support from the party.
Foreign secretary David Cameron has claimed he has personally challenged the Israeli government over specific incidents in Gaza, and said that a two state solution would not be a “reward” for Hamas. Cameron was speaking in the House of Lords. Cameron is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, this weekend for the first time since unexpectedly becoming British foreign secretary.
The UK government has confirmed details of a £3.3bn funding package to support the restored powersharing administration in Northern Ireland. However, Stormont’s finance minister Caoimhe Archibald has said it was “not acceptable” for the Treasury to make the write-off of a £559 million debt conditional on the publication and implementation of a sustainability plan at short notice.
The parliamentary commissioner has found Conservative MP David Duguid failed to declare his wife’s £50,000 shareholding in BP while speaking in debates about windfall taxes on the oil and gas industry.
Housing minister Lee Rowley refused to say how many more homes the government hopes will be built under its new building plans – telling the BBC he wasn’t going to get into “a numbers game”. Under the proposals, councils would have to approve new development on brownfield land unless they can offer a good reason why they cannot.
Pay growth slowed less than expected in December. Earnings growth, excluding bonuses, fell only modestly to 6.2% in October to December 2023 from a revised 6.7% in the previous three months, as workers continued to bid up their wages amid skills shortages and a record number of people with long-term sickness.
The ONS has published data showing that the current government has presided over the highest total number of working days lost to strikes during a 19 month period for 30 years.
The much-delayed CalMac ferry Glen Sannox had her first sea test in Glasgow.
Sinn Féin MP for Mid Ulster Francie Molloy has announced he is stepping down at the next election.
Thank you very much for reading and all your comments, which I always appreciate. I will be back with you bright and early tomorrow, which will be the last day of campaigning in Kingswood and in Wellingborough ahead of Thursday’s byelections.
Stormont’s finance minister Caoimhe Archibald has said it was “not acceptable” for the Treasury to make the write-off of a £559 million debt conditional on the publication and implementation of a sustainability plan at short notice.
In a letter to chief secretary to the treasury Laura Trott, the finance minister said
Ministers are united and speak with one voice in the need to invest and reform our public services. Making the write off of the £559m for debt repayment conditional on the publication and implementation of a sustainability plan is not acceptable. It is our strong view that these debts exist primarily due to the underfunding of public services.
The executive has already given a commitment to the British Government to develop a sustainability plan with a pre-requisite that the right level of funding is provided.
The government’s timescale requiring this to be published by May 2024 is completely unrealistic. It is essential that the executive is afforded adequate time to give proper consideration to this important matter.
Earlier the UK government announced a funding settlement plan now that the Northern Ireland asssembly and devolved government has been restored. [See 13.37 GMT]
Updated
In his last answer to these questions about the prospect of the UK recognising a Palestinian state, foreign secretary David Cameron has said in the House of Lords:
Recognition is obviously part of a two state solution. And it’s something that should help with the momentum.
The point I’ve been making is that it should not be the first thing that we do. I think that would take the pressure off the Palestinians to reform and the things that need to happen in the Palestinian Authority.
But just because it doesn’t happen at the beginning, doesn’t mean it has to wait right till the end.
And I think one of the things that is beginning to change, which I think is hopeful is the American posture up to now has been that recognition can only come when Israel and Palestine agree on the creation of a Palestinian state.
If you do that you do effectively give Israel a veto over a Palestinian state. And I think that’s the opposite of creating a sort of unstoppable momentum towards a two state solution that we all want to see.
Foreign secretary David Cameron has been asked by the archbishop of Canterbury in the House of Lords about the occupied West Bank, where Justin Welby said “very large numbers of Palestinians have been killed by people who live in illegal settlements”. He also asked about support for Jordan.
Cameron said:
He’s absolutely right to say we should focus on what’s happening in the West Bank as well as Gaza, and it is a chilling statistic that since 7 October 96 Palestinian children have been killed in the West Bank. There have been a series of very worrying developments and disturbances. And that’s why the government is focused on this, and actually only yesterday, we for the first time announced some sanctions against violent settlers who were carrying out criminal acts in the West Bank.
The foreign secretary said the Jordanians are also working towards a two-state solution, adding:
A crucial thing that needs to be sorted out is how you move from the current Palestinian authority that we have that has a number of issues and difficulties to a new technocratic government that would work across the Palestinian territories. And I think the Jordanians can play a big role in helping to bring that about.
Two-state solution 'not rewarding Hamas', says Cameron
David Cameron has been asked by Stewart Jackson (Conservative) did he speak to the US before he made his comments about the UK potentially recognising a Palestinian state. Cameron said:
My Lords, this government has always supported a two state solution and that remains the case. Clearly recognising a Palestinian state at the right time is part of that policy. My noble friend asks about consulting our allies. And of course, we discuss all issues relating to the conflict in Gaza and Israel-Palestine relations. But ultimately, I’m pleased to tell him that the UK has a sovereign and independent foreign policy, set by a British prime minister and a British foreign secretary in the British Parliament.
Jackson replied:
Hamas is a genocidal terror group – for the benefit of the BBC they are not militants. The Palestinian Authority has lost control of large cities in the West Bank, to Iranian backed terror groups, who openly pay salaries to convicted terrorists and is deeply corrupt and repressive.
Palestinian statehood is, I trust ,something all of us in this house wish to see. Does my noble friend share my very grave concerns that premature unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state now risks rewarding Hamas playing into Iran’s hands and perhaps jeopardising the chances for a long term sustainable peace.
Cameron said:
I absolutely understand where my noble friend is coming from. I would just say to him that of course, it isn’t rewarding Hamas. Hamas don’t believe in a two state solution. They believe in the destruction of Israel.
And my point is that if you look at the whole point of a two state solution is to create long term sustainable peace, and I think the last 30 years have shown that we won’t solve this problem without a solution that gives dignity and security to Palestinian people, as well as giving vital security to Israel. So I say this, as a strong friend of Israel, that this is the right approach. And we should pursue it.
Updated
Foreign secretary David Cameron has said that at the Munich security summit he hopes to engage China over the issue of freedom of navigation, stating that as trade is such an important component of their economy, the Chinese “should be as fully supportive of freedom of navigation as we are”.
David Cameron has described the Aukus pact as part of a strategic tilt to the Indo-Pacific. He has been asked about how the announcement did not go down well in Paris, and Cameron has said “ultimately, Britain and France should work to cooperate as closely as we can, because we are similar-sized powers with similar-sized militaries and similar-sized global ambitions.”
The next question for foreign secretary David Cameron in the House of Lords is about the AUKUS security pact.
UK foreign secretary David Cameron has said that Israel has “every right to respond to” what he described as “the biggest pogrom since the Holocaust in terms of the loss of life of Jewish people”, but that “they must obey international humanitarian law.”
Speaking in the House of Lords, the former prime minister said:
Let’s be clear, that involves not only what the IDF do in terms of the way they prosecute their actions in terms of this war, but it also means, as they are the occupying power in Gaza, that they have to make sure that humanitarian aid and food and water and shelter are available to people in Gaza, because if they don’t do that, that would be a breach of international humanitarian law as well.
Cameron: I have personally challenged the Israel government over incidents in Gaza
Speaking in the House of Lords, foreign secretary David Cameron has said that he has personally challenged the Israeli government over individual incidents in Gaza.
Responding to a question from Green party peer Natalie Bennett, who raised the case of Hind Rajab, he said:
First of all, the case she raises is completely tragic. And what is happening in Gaza is tragic that we want to see an end to the suffering and end of this killing.
Let me just make this point, that the pause we are calling for, we want to turn into a ceasefire, by making sure that the conditions are right for getting permanent ceasefire.
The way you do that is fulfilling a number of conditions. You’ve got to get, in our view Hamas leaders out of Gaza otherwise any ceasefire won’t last because the problem will still be there. You’ve got to dismantle the operation of terrorist attacks. You’ve got to have a new Palestinian Authority government in place. You’ve got to give the Palestinian people a political horizon to a better future, a two state solution, and crucially, you’ve got to release all of the hostages and do that very quickly.
She asked whether we challenge the Israeli government over individual episodes. Yes, we absolutely do. I’ve done that personally with them over, for instance, a building that was bombed that had UK medics and other charities in, and we will continue to do that as part of the very important process that we go through to judge whether they are in compliance with international humanitarian law.
Natalie Bennet is now asking David Cameron about what the UK is doing to help children in Gaza. He has said:
My Lords, the best way to address the humanitarian situation is by ending the fighting as soon as possible. That is why I’ve repeatedly said an immediate pause in fighting is necessary. UK aid is saving children’s lives. We’re doing everything we can to get more aid into Gaza. We’ve trebled our aid commitment to the occupied Palestinian territories. This includes targeted support for children through our 5.75m contribution to UNICEF, and children are also benefiting from life saving food, shelter and health support that we’re providing through partnerships with other UN agencies, through NGOs and the Red Crescent societies.
It has to be said that having the foreign secretary face questions in the House of Lords is very far from the atmosphere that you imagine the former prime minister would face in the House of Commons.
In the House of Lords, David Cameron says he wears as a badge of honour that he has been “personally sanctioned by Vladimir Putin”. He was speaking to Ray Collins, who has also faced sanctions from the Russian government, congratulating him on “joining a club of which I’m a member”.
The first question to David Cameron in the Lords has been about global debt of developing countries. He has mentioned that the UK has worked with Rwanda since the 1990s to increase tax revenue tenfold there, and suggests that one of the best ways to help heavily indebted countries is to help them improve their own fiscal systems to raise revenue.
Cameron questioned in Lords
David Cameron, the foreign secretary, is appearing to be asked questions in the House of Lords. There is a live feed here.
Updated
Richard Partington is the Guardian’s economics correspondent
The head of Britain’s post-Brexit trade watchdog has said it is ready to follow Brussels in launching an investigation into Chinese companies flooding the market for electric cars, but the government has not asked it to do so.
Oliver Griffiths, the chief executive of the UK’s Trade Remedies Authority (TRA), which advises the government on trade defence, said it was keeping lines of communication open with ministers and had been in close contact with the car industry. “We’ll be ready to go if anyone does come to us,” he told the Guardian in an interview.
The European Commission launched an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) late last year after warning that global markets were being “flooded” with cheap imports from the world’s second largest economy.
Britain would have been covered by the inquiry as a member state but has led an independent trade policy since leaving the EU four years ago. Under the UK’s post-Brexit system, the TRA can be called on by ministers or industry to investigate whether import controls are needed to protect Britain’s economic interests.
However, Griffiths said no request by government or carmakers had been made since Brussels launched its investigation in October.
Read more of Richard Partington’s report here: Post-Brexit watchdog ‘ready’ to investigate flood of cheaper Chinese electric cars
For those of you who have been following the story of the delayed ferries being built at Ferguson Marine, the Glen Sannox has departed today for her first sea trials.
Costs for Glen Sannox and sister ship Glen Rosa have more than tripled to at least £360m and they are expected to be delivered about six years late.
Labour’s Steve McCabe has been on GB News, and added his voice to those commenting on the withdrawal of support for the party’s candidate for the Rochdale byelection. The shadow minister for veterans told viewers:
It is obviously difficult and embarrassing for the Labour party. But I mean I think when you are confronted with a situation like this, you don’t have a choice and you have to do what you believe to be right.
I have been involved in times where allegations have been made about candidates. Sometimes you have to weigh up. You know, you have to ask how important it is, what else is influencing it?
I think the issue is that conditionally people were prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt that he said his apology in good faith. But I think with the further revelations it was too late and that was just the end of it.
The Daily Record’s political editor Paul Hutcheon is claiming an exclusive that Labour in Scotland are set to back an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza at their conference at the weekend.
Labour’s leader in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, told the paper that he welcomed those planning to attend a protest in Glasgow on Saturday, saying:
What I’d say to those protesting is I understand your anger. I want peace in the Middle East. So, yes, come make your voice heard, you have every right to do that, but do so in a peaceful way because ultimately we want the same thing.
On the same Saturday of the march our conference will be doing our own plea in terms of supporting the humanitarian effort in Gaza, and we will also be debating and passing a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire. The very things people will be demanding outside the hall we will be calling for inside the hall.
The violence has to stop. We need a ceasefire now. We need the immediate release of hostages. We need immediate access to humanitarian aid and we need a pathway to a peace process.
The House of Lords has started sitting for the afternoon. There will be oral questions, scheduled for 40 minutes, and then foreign secretary David Cameron is appearing for questions before the house.
There are four questions tabled for him:
what recent discussions he has had with international counterparts on a strategy to reduce debt in the developing world from Ray Collins (Lab)
what his department is doing to ensure the lives and security of the children of Gaza from Natalie Bennett (Green)
what progress the government has made in implementing the AUKUS security partnership between the UK, Australia and the US from John Woodcock (crossbench)
what discussions he had with the government of the US before his announcement on 1 February that the United Kingdom should recognise a Palestinian state in advance of the conclusion of any future bilateral talks between Israel and representatives of the Palestinian people from Stewart Jackson (Conservative)
Here is a reminder of what Cameron said about the potential recognition of a Palestinian state.
Keir Starmer was campaigning in Wellingborough, where Labour has been odds-on to overturn the majority of more than 18,000 won by disgraced former Conservative MP Peter Bone in 2019.
As Toby Helm noted last weekend, “The circumstances of Bone’s departure and subsequent selection of his partner Helen Harrison as the Tory candidate to replace him, have left local people angry and disillusioned. Tory MPs are refusing to campaign in Wellingborough for fear of being ridiculed and insulted, and because they think it would be a complete waste of their time.”
That byelection, and the one in Kingswood are on Thursday. The Rochdale byelection takes place on 29 February.
Updated
Andrew Fisher, one of the architects of Labour’s 2017 manifesto, has said Labour “have made the correct decision” over Azhar Ali candidacy in Rochdale, but argued that it highlights fundamental problems with the party’s processes.
Fisher, who quit as an advisor to Jeremy Corbyn prior to the 2019 election, told Sky News:
They should have done it straight away when the first allegation against him was raised on Sunday. Instead, they were out canvassing for him on Sunday and sent shadow cabinet members all around the media, including Sky News, to defend him, as if this was some kind of one-off error he had made.
Of course, further allegations have come out. There clearly wasn’t due diligence done on this candidate to have highlighted this in advance. It shows the double standards there are when tackling serious issues of racism and conspiracy theories within the party.
The UK government has confirmed details of a £3.3bn funding package to support the restored powersharing administration in Northern Ireland.
PA Media reports the settlement was outlined in a letter to Stormont finance minister Caoimhe Archibald.
The government described it as a “significant, fair and generous” package, which includes a requirement for the executive to deliver a balanced budget for 2024/25 that includes a minimum of £113m raised through locally generated income.
Northern Ireland secretary of state Chris Heaton-Harris said: “This package tackles the immediate budget pressures facing the restored executive and allows it to take action to rapidly stabilise public services, while increasing opportunities for investment and improved infrastructure.”
PA Media is carrying this list of elements of the package:
reform of the Barnett formula for allocating Treasury funds to Northern Ireland, with funding rates for the region set at 24% above comparative rates in England. The government said this would reflect the “different levels of need in Northern Ireland”.
a £1bn fund to stabilise Stormont’s public finances.
£34m to tackle hospital waiting lists.
funds to help meet public sector pay demands in the current financial year.
increase the Executive’s annual capital borrowing limit by 10% in 2024/25, a limit which will then increase annually in line with inflation.
The prospect of raising additional revenue has become a thorny topic. First minister Michelle O’Neill (Sinn Féin) yesterday ruled out introducing water charges in Northern Ireland, saying “I’m saying very clearly that you can’t burden people who are living through a cost of living crisis with additional household bills whilst their public services are declining.”
Deputy first minister Emma Little-Pengelly (DUP) had said it was not right to ask people to pay more for “poor public services”. The SDLP’s Matthew O’Toole said there should greater clarity on what had been agreed with the government in Westminster.
Updated
Starmer: 'tough' but 'necessary' decision to withdraw support from Rochdale byelection candidate
Keir Starmer has said he took “tough” and “decisive” action to withdraw support for Labour’s Rochdale by-election candidate.
Speaking while campaigning in Wellingborough, where there is a byelection on Thursday, Starmer said:
Certain information came to light over the weekend in relation to the candidate. There was a fulsome apology. Further information came to light yesterday calling for decisive action, so I took decisive action.
It is a huge thing to withdraw support for a Labour candidate during the course of a by-election. It’s a tough decision, a necessary decision, but when I say the Labour Party has changed under my leadership I mean it.
Starmer said any allegations against other Labour councillors present at the event at which Azhar Ali made his remarks would be “fully investigated by the party”. He said:
Those comments were appalling and that is why we took decisive action. It is virtually unprecedented to withdraw support for a candidate in the way I withdrew support from this candidate yesterday. That’s what a changed Labour Party is all about. Of course, any allegation will be fully investigated by the party, but the important thing is the decisive action that’s been taken to make it absolutely clear that this is a changed Labour Party.
Responding to accusations that factionalism had played a part in Labour’s handling of the case, the opposition leader said:
I set out four years ago to tear antisemitism out of the Labour Party. It’s the first thing I said I’d do as Labour leader, and to change our party. I have taken a series of decisions along those lines ruthlessly changing our party, and it’s made no difference to me where somebody stands in the Labour party. The change I’ve brought about is a Labour party that is now back in the service of working people.
Sadiq Khan’s London Plan for housing works to “frustrate rather than facilitate the delivery of new homes”, a report commissioned by Michael Gove has said.
The review of the mayor’s strategy, published on Tuesday, said the consequences of housing under-delivery have significant economic, societal and personal impacts, particularly on those who face no alternative but to live in temporary accommodation, or are forced into poor-quality rental accommodation, PA reports.
The report also said:
Public and private sector stakeholders are clear in their view that the London Plan is not the sole source of the problem: wider macro-economic conditions; fire safety; infrastructure constraints; statutory consultees; viability difficulties; and planning resourcing pressures have all contributed.
However, there is persuasive evidence that the combined effect of the multiplicity of policies in the London Plan now works to frustrate rather than facilitate the delivery of new homes, not least in creating very real challenges to the viability of schemes.”
The ONS has published data showing that the current government has presided over the highest total number of working days lost to strikes during a 19 month period for 30 years.
5.05m days are estimated to have been lost in labour disputes in the UK from June 2022 to December 2023, the highest since 5.34m days were lost from July 1989 to January 1991.
Some disputes remain unresolved, including those involving junior doctors and some train unions.
Updated
First minister of Northern Ireland Michelle O’Neill has paid tribute to Francie Molloy, who has announced this morning that he is stepping away from politics. He has been Sinn Féin MP for Mid Ulster since 2013, having first been elected as a local councillor in 1985.
I will not be seeking re-selection for the next election.
— Francie Molloy MP (@FrancieMolloy) February 13, 2024
Representing Sinn Féin and the people of Mid Ulster for the past 39 years has been the greatest honour of my life.
I pass on the baton to a new generation with confidence.
It’s been a long road, but we’re almost there. pic.twitter.com/gqNMnKDX4h
In her tribute, O’Neill said “Francie Molloy has made a huge contribution to politics and the peace process here. He was heavily involved in the early civil rights movement, including the protest outside the Caledon Squat in 1968 which is often considered as the spark for people in their demand for better housing, better jobs, and civil rights. Francie has been involved in political activism his entire adult life, and has been elected many times … I have worked closely with Francie for many years and I’m confident that though he is retiring, he will continue to make a contribution in promoting equality for all in the time ahead.”
David Cameron is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, this weekend for the first time since unexpectedly becoming British foreign secretary. The Foreign Office has pencilled in a meeting between Cameron and Wang at the Munich security conference, according to two government sources.
Read more here: David Cameron to have first meeting with Chinese foreign minister
The Conservative MP David Duguid failed to declare his wife’s £50,000 shareholding in BP while speaking in debates about windfall taxes on the oil and gas industry, the parliamentary commissioner has found.
The parliamentary commissioner for standards carried out an investigation into the MP for Banff and Buchan and former Scotland Office minister after the Guardian revealed Duguid’s wife’s shareholdings.
Parliamentary rules require MPs to declare while speaking in debates the financial interests of a spouse or other family member, where there could be considered a conflict. MPs have to register shares they own worth £70,000 or more than 15%, and any other interests that might “reasonably be thought by others to influence a member’s actions”. Duguid has never disclosed his wife’s financial interest in the House of Commons register.
The Guardian’s analysis of BP’s share register suggested Duguid, who worked for 25 years in the oil and gas industry, including 10 years with BP, had moved his shares into his wife’s name five years before his election as an MP.
The commissioner found three debates in 2023 in which Duguid ought to have declared an interest, noting that in these debates the shareholding “might reasonably be thought by others to influence [his] words or actions as a member”.
Duguid told the commissioner that he did not believe “anything I could have, let alone actually, said or did as a member of parliament could have had any bearing on the BP share price”.
The commissioner decided that Duguid’s repeated failures to declare the interest were “inadvertent” and the result of a misunderstanding about the rules. The commissioner required Duguid to apologise and to attend training on the parliamentary rules on declaration of interests.
Read more here: Tory MP David Duguid failed to declare wife’s BP shares during oil and gas debates
Here is my colleague Geneva Abdul’s report on the reaction this morning to Labour pulling its support from its Rochdale byelection candidate:
Labour’s decision to withdraw support for its candidate at the Rochdale byelection in the wake of controversial comments about the 7 October Hamas attacks has been “shambolic”, the senior lawyer who compiled a report on the party’s culture has said.
Martin Forde KC was commissioned by Keir Starmer to investigate allegations of bullying, racism and sexism within the party’s ranks after a leaked Labour document made explosive allegations about its handling of antisemitism claims.
Forde has said the party’s change in position in response to Ali’s “very inflammatory” and “clearly antisemitic” remarks “appears shambolic”.
“It seems to me that the moment that anyone says that the Israeli authorities allowed the atrocities to occur, that has to bring their judgment into question,” Forde told BBC’s Radio 4’s Today programme.
“One does have to question how such individuals are selected in the first place and also the disparity in treatment because one of the things that concerned us when we talked about weaponisation was certainly the perception that antisemitism was along factional lines.”
In 2022, Forde published a 139-page report accusing Labour of “operating a hierarchy of racism or of discrimination”. Labour was urged to implement 165 recommendations, many of which the party says it has followed. A year after the report’s publication, Forde accused Labour of not taking anti-black racism and Islamophobia as seriously as antisemitism within the party.
Read more of Geneva Abdul’s report here: Labour handling of Azhar Ali ‘shambolic’, says antisemitism report author
I mentioned earlier that housing minister Lee Rowley got in a dig at London Mayor Sadiq Khan during his media round while trying to promote the government’s plan for housing. Khan had his own promo clip about housebuilding in London out this morning too.
The housing crisis is the greatest challenge facing the capital today. We're breaking records for homebuilding in London, but there's much more to do. See what we're doing to give Londoners the good-quality homes they need. pic.twitter.com/DQoYZ1FPxE
— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) February 13, 2024
Also campaigning on video today is the Reform UK’s deputy leader Ben Habib. He is standing in the Wellingborough byelection on Thursday for recalled MP Peter Bone’s old seat, and is arguing today that the quickest way to address the cost of living crisis in the country is to ditch any pretence of a drive for net zero.
The easiest way to cut the cost of living is to ditch Net Zero.
— Ben Habib (@benhabib6) February 13, 2024
The policy has nothing to do with saving the planet. All it will do is drive us into bankruptcy.
Vote @reformparty_uk; vote for me if you agree Net Zero must go.
pic.twitter.com/z91uwB5hr8
I’ve noticed a few people in the comments – see, I do read them – asking what happened with the Green candidate in Rochdale, Guy Otten. My colleague Helen Pidd mentioned this in her analysis piece last night. He stepped aside after “what he described as his ‘regrettable’ social media remarks about Gaza and Muslims” emerged.
Last week he said:
The Green message is too urgent and too important to be distracted by some regrettable social media posts I made a number of years ago. In the interests of the Green party I have decided to leave the stage. As nominations have now closed, my name will still appear on the ballot. However, I will not take part in any media interviews or join any platforms for hustings, and neither will I be involved in any campaigning.
The postings on Twitter were made in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
The party said:
We do not comment on disciplinary matters regarding Green party members. These are internal matters. However, we are clear, we condemn all forms of racism and discrimination and do not accept it from any Green party representative or spokesperson.
Rishi Sunak gave some reaction to the news about Labour withdrawing its support for Rochdale byelection candidate Azhar Ali last night as the prime minister was conducting an hour long Q&A on GB News.
He said the Labour party had not changed under Keir Starmer, saying “[Starmer has] stood by and sent cabinet ministers to support [Ali], until literally five minutes before I walked on tonight, under enormous media pressure, has decided to change his mind on principle. No principles at all. So no the Labour Party hasn’t changed. It’s a con.”
Labour’s statement on the withdrawal read:
Following new information about further comments made by Azhar Ali coming to light today, the Labour Party has withdrawn its support for Azhar Ali as our candidate in the Rochdale by-election. Keir Starmer has changed Labour so that it is unrecognisible from the party of 2019. We understand that these are highly unusual circumstances but it is vital that any candidate put forward by Labour fully represents its aims and values. Given that nominations have now closed Azhar Ali cannot be replaced as the candidate.
That means that Rochdale will have a choice of the following candidates on 29 February:
Azhar Ali (Labour, but no longer backed by the party)
Mark Coleman (Independent)
Simon Danczuk (Reform UK)
Iain Donaldson (Lib Dem)
Paul Ellison (Conservative)
George Galloway (Workers party)
Michael Howarth (Independent)
William Howarth (Independent)
Guy Otten (Green, but no longer backed by the party)
Ravin Rodent Subortna (Monster Raving Loony)
David Tully(Independent)
Worth noting as well, with all the focus on Rochdale, that there are two byelections this week, with the Conservatives attempting to defend the constituencies of Kingswood and Wellingborough. Poor results there for Rishi Sunak’s party might very well quickly turn the attention back to potential leadership challenges among the Tory ranks.
Housing minister Lee Rowley was on the media round for the government this morning, hoping to push their new housebuilding plans. He refused, however, to say how many more homes the government hopes will be built, telling the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he would not get into a “numbers game”.
Kiran Stacey reports for us on what the plans entail, writing:
Under the proposals, councils would have to approve new development on brownfield land – land which was previously developed but has fallen into disuse – unless they can offer a good reason why they cannot.
Limits will also be removed on the kinds of former commercial buildings that can be turned into flats, removing restrictions on how big the building can be before a developer has to apply for planning permission.
Ministers will also consult on making it easier for homeowners to extend their houses without seeking planning permission.
Speaking on Times Radio, Rowley said “There’s a lot of progress being made but we need to go further. We got housebuilding up to about 240,000 a year before Covid. We know there are challenges with inflation, we know that housebuilding has slowed down, we’re trying to support that.”
He added: “Of course it’s not perfect, I mean, I wouldn’t claim that was the case.”
Put to him later on the BBC that the Conservative government has failed to meet its 2019 manifesto pledge to build 300,000 new homes a year, he replied: “The government is focused on increasing housing in general and we have made good progress on doing that in the last ten years.”
He also took the opportunity to have a dig at London’s mayor, saying “I don’t have a specific number. What the government is trying to do is change the framework so that there are more that can come forward, so that we can give developers the opportunity to bring more through. You can see when you go around places like London, which has consistently failed to deliver on housing targets, where Sadiq Khan has consistently failed to do that.”
Read more of Kiran Stacey’s report here: Sunak reveals plan to boost brownfield homebuilding in England
The Suella Braverman column in the Telegraph, which they used to generate their lead story in print today, claims that “the desperation to see identity politics in every aspect of our lives is creating a divided society”.
In it, the former home secretary reminisces about childhood holidays in the countryside, and uses those as a backdrop with which to criticise a recent report by Wildlife and Countryside Link which has been framed in some parts of the media as claiming that the countryside environment is racist.
Braverman writes:
To claim that the countryside is racist is one of the most ridiculous examples of Left-wing identity politics. It’s a symptom of a deeper problem within our society – the urge to constantly view everything through the lens of race or gender, plead victimhood and point the finger at an oppressor. Whether it’s the patriarchy, or colonial masters, this desperation to divide society is ripping through our institutions, creating a culture of fear and self-censorship.
At the time of the report a few days ago, head of the Wildlife and Countryside Link Richard Benwell was quoted as saying:
Sadly, evidence shows that people of colour in the UK are more likely to live in areas with less green space and that are more heavily polluted, and at the same time they are significantly less likely to visit natural spaces. There are multiple complex reasons behind this, as well as contemporary well-documented experiences of racism people encounter.
There is economic news this morning – UK pay growth has slowed, albeit by less than expected. My colleague Phillip Inman writes:
The ONS said annual growth in regular earnings, excluding bonuses, was 6.2% in October to December 2023, while pay rises including bonuses was 5.8%.
After wages were adjusted for inflation, the ONS said workers enjoyed a fourth month of real wage increases. Total pay rose on the year by 1.6% above the consumer prices index and regular pay rose on the year by 1.9% in October to December 2023.
The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, said: “It’s good news that real wages are on the up for the sixth month in a row and unemployment remains low, but the job isn’t done. Our tax cuts are part of a plan to get people back to work so we can grow the economy – but we must stick with it.”
Read more here: UK pay growth slows less than expected as workers bid up wages
Here is a quick scoot around the front pages. The Daily Mail leads with its claim that Keir Starmer was “forced” to ditch Labour’s Rochdale candidate after its reporting.
Tuesday’s Daily MAIL: “Keir Is Forced To Axe Israel Slur Candidate” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/yINuoESQGQ
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) February 13, 2024
Suella Braverman continues to position herself as a future Tory leader in the Telegraph, imploring that people aren’t made to feel guilty for being white. It is a news write-off of a column she has written for the paper. We’ve seen this model in operation before.
Tuesday’s Daily TELEGRAPH: “Braverman: ‘Don’t make people feel guilty for being white’ “. #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/7I9ZcBVae6
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) February 13, 2024
For the Times, the big story is government planning reforms.
Tuesday’s TIMES: “We’ll build more homes in the right places, vows PM” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/M3qDauWfwq
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) February 13, 2024
The Sun is still fretting about Bill Roche’s tax bill, the Daily Express wheel of headlines landed on dementia today, while the Independent leads on foreign secretary David Cameron’s warning to Israel to halt its assault on Gaza.
Presenting today’s front page from:#Independent
— #TomorrowsPapersToday - The Press Room (@channel_tsc) February 13, 2024
Stop and think
For more newspapers visit: https://t.co/zvOl5CpDm7#buyanewspaper #TomorrowsPapersToday #buyapaper pic.twitter.com/YJkjqvikom
For us, the paper lead with the Rochdale byelection story, pressure on Israel over Rafah, and an interview with Esther Ghey by my colleague Helen Pidd.
Tuesday’s GUARDIAN: “Labour cuts ties with Rochdale candidate over Israel comments” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/n4w7pbGh9e
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) February 13, 2024
Updated
Labour withdraws support for Rochdale candidate after Israel-Gaza remarks
Labour have opted not to send anybody out on the media round this morning to defend their position on Azhar Ali.
Labour sources said that campaigners in Rochdale were told to stop leafleting and social media activity on Ali’s behalf at 5.30pm yesterday afternoon – an instruction that came from party HQ.
On Monday night, the Daily Mail approached Labour with more comments Ali had made, prompting the action.
Martin Forde, the KC who led a report into Labour which concluded that a culture of factionalism led to a situation where allegations of racism and harassment weren’t being addressed, has spoken though.
He said:
If you want a fair and transparent system then it has to deal with people consistently, and I’m aware from discussions with some of the MPs within the party – who might be described as left-leaning – that they feel that when it comes to disciplinary action taken against them then things move rather slowly, but if you’re in the right faction of the party, as it were, then things are dealt with either more leniently or more swiftly.
Now that’s the perception, I can’t quantify it, but I do think it’s something that leadership should be concerned to, in a away, dilute, or if it is in fact the case, they need to give reassurance to members of the voting public and to their members that people will be treated fairly.
He said Labour MPs Kate Osamor and Diane Abbott both apologised immediately after they were accused of antisemitism, but “things seemed to drag on in terms of disciplining certain elements of the party, and be dealt with swiftly in others”.
Read more from Aletha Adu, Rajeev Syal and Eleni Courea here: Labour withdraws support for Rochdale candidate after Israel-Gaza remarks
Welcome and opening summary …
Good morning. It was meant to be a tough week for Rishi Sunak, with the prospect of unwelcome economic news, two tricky byelections on Thursday, and the Rwanda deportation bill under scrutiny in the House of the Lords. And yet this morning the focus is very much on Keir Starmer and Labour’s decision to withdraw its support for Rochdale candidate Azhar Ali after his Israel-Gaza remarks, after backing him during most of yesterday.
Here are the headlines …
Labour has withdrawn its support for Azhar Ali, its candidate for this month’s Rochdale byelection, in the wake of controversial comments he made about the 7 October attacks on Israel. In line with electoral law, Labour cannot replace Ali with another candidate because the deadline passed on 2 February. He will stand as a Labour candidate on the ballot paper, but if elected he will not hold the party whip and will sit as an independent MP.
Rishi Sunak has said he is “absolutely committed” to his Rwanda policy during a one-hour Q&A session on GB News in which he insisted he understands the country’s frustrations after 14 years of Conservative-led government. The prime minister told voters that the Rwanda deportations scheme was necessary as a “deterrent” to channel crossings.
Sunak’s government is also announcing a series of proposed changes to the planning system on Tuesday to encourage developers to build more homes. It is a mover the Conservatives claim is designed to boost development in urban areas even while housebuilding slumps nationally.
The Commons is in recess. The Lords is sitting from 2.30pm. The Senedd and the Scottish parliament are not sitting. In Stormont there is a plenary session from 10.30am and a business committee meeting from 1pm.
It is Martin Belam here with you today. I do try to read and dip into the comments when I can, but if you want to get my attention the best way is to email me – martin.belam@theguardian.com – especially if you have spotted an error or typo.
