“President Biden will travel to Israel tomorrow in a show of solidarity following the massacre by Hamas, as concern grows that the war in Gaza could escalate to engulf the Middle East. The president will meet Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, in Tel Aviv in a personal show of support for the alliance between their countries days after the surprise attack by Hamas that left 1,400 Israelis dead. Retaliatory Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed some 2,800 Palestinians over the past week and raised fears of a humanitarian catastrophe in the area as Israeli forces prepare for an anticipated ground assault. The trip was announced by Anthony Blinken, the US secretary of state, who held a marathon round of talks with Netanyahu in Tel Aviv yesterday.” – The Times
“Rishi Sunak declared the Hamas attacks on Israel a “pogrom” on Monday as it was revealed that two British teenage girls are missing. The Prime Minister said at least six British citizens were killed in the Hamas assault and a further 10 are still missing as he addressed MPs for the first time since the atrocity. The identities of the British citizens, some of whom are understood to be dual nationals, were not confirmed by the Foreign Office after Mr Sunak had spoken. But The Telegraph can disclose details of two British sisters who disappeared on the morning of the Hamas attacks at their home in Israel just a few miles from the Gaza border.” – Daily Telegraph
“Even if the worst doesn’t happen, ministers must anticipate attacks on Jewish property and people as Hamas’s media outlets claim genocide in Gaza, with anti-Muslim and mosque violence ‘pari passu’: there is no shortage of white working-class alienation for far-right groups to draw on. There is a real risk of government not only losing control, but being seen to. Sunak will need a cabinet reshuffle, in the event of a deterioration in public order, that prioritises experience, departmental experience and grip. This is not a strong cabinet — and the need for a stronger one may become urgent. He may even need to call in Sir Keir Starmer to show a united front.” – The Times
“There have always been two arguments in favour of the existence of the state of Israel. One is that, after centuries of persecution culminating in the Holocaust, there should be a national homeland for Jewish people. The barbaric atrocities of Hamas and the antisemitic chants in many parts of the world in the past ten days have underscored the need for that. The second is that Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East: an island of freedom in a lake of autocrats and dictators. For decades, Israel has been the beacon of freedom and the rule of law.” – The Times
“Suella Braverman has said the “From the river to the sea, Palestine must be free” chant shouted by protesters at the weekend has become “a staple of anti-Semitic discourse”. The Home Secretary’s statement will be seen as a signal for police to take a tougher approach to such language ahead of a second major protest organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in London on Saturday. However, it provoked a backlash from the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), which claimed the chant was not anti-Semitic and accused her of being “disingenuous” and “slurring” a peaceful demonstration. Some 30,000 people attended a march through central London last weekend, which featured chants including “From the river to the sea, Palestine must be free”. – Daily Telegraph
“A gunman suspected of shooting two Swedish football fans in a terror attack in Brussels was shot in a cafe after some 12 hours on the run, Belgium’s interior ministry said on Tuesday. He was shot in the chest during a stop and search as authorities scoured Belgium’s capital. The suspected gunmen was taken to hospital and is under arrest. The identity of the man has not been released, but local media reports suggested it was the suspected gunman. The suspect was named on Monday night as Abdesalem Lassoued, 45, from Tunisia, a failed asylum seeker who had been living illegally in the Schaerbeek neighbourhood of the Belgian capital.” – Daily Telegraph
“Prison sentences of less than a year will be scrapped for most criminals under government plans to tackle the prison overcrowding crisis. Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, announced on Monday there will be a new legal presumption that offenders facing jail sentences of under 12 months will instead be “punished” in the community by doing unpaid work such as “cleaning up our neighbourhoods and scrubbing graffiti off walls”. Any repeat offender breaching their suspended sentence will be returned to court where they will face having to serve the full term in a prison. In a statement to the Commons, the Justice Secretary also confirmed hundreds of prisoners will be freed up to 18 days before their scheduled release date halfway through their sentence.” – Daily Telegraph
“Conservative MP Peter Bone exposed himself to a male staff member who was “trapped” with him in a Madrid hotel room as part of a targeted campaign of bullying, an investigation has found. Parliament authorities have recommended he be suspended from the Commons for six weeks after the investigation found he had “verbally belittled, ridiculed, abused and humiliated” the man, who was in his early twenties. The suspension could trigger a recall petition in his Wellingborough seat, potentially leading to another by-election. There will also be questions for the Conservative Party after concerns were reported to David Cameron in 2015 and again to Theresa May in 2017. A party investigation was started in 2018, but by last year had not progressed.” – The Times
“The number of hospital beds in England has fallen by almost 3,000 since ministers promised 5,000 before winter, prompting warnings that patients are being “warehoused” in emergency departments. Nurses are run ragged dealing with the equivalent of a full ward of patients waiting in casualty departments due to a lack of beds, and patients are receiving “less good care, in the wrong place”, the UK’s top A&E doctor said. Emergency medicine leaders have said they feel let down by a lack of progress since the prime minister and health secretary joined NHS chiefs in January to announce a “recovery plan” for urgent and emergency care, promising “5,000 more staffed, sustainable beds in 2023-24”. – The Times
“James Cleverly has threatened to withdraw Foreign Office assistance for SNP ministers on their trips abroad after Humza Yousaf blocked UK diplomats from a meeting with the Icelandic prime minister. The Foreign Secretary has also warned his officials will “communicate to host governments that we do not judge it appropriate for them to meet” SNP ministers unless a diplomat is present. In a letter to the Scottish Government seen by The Telegraph, he expressed his disappointment at the First Minister preventing one of his officials from sitting in for the talks in New York last month.” – Daily Telegraph
“UK political parties should be offered greater access to intelligence about potential donors, candidates and staff to prevent infiltration by spies, a cabinet minister has urged. Penny Mordaunt, leader of the House of Commons, wrote to Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, last month calling for a new intelligence- sharing framework between the security services and the UK’s main parties, according to people familiar with the matter. Her intervention came after Westminster was shaken by allegations of Chinese espionage this summer, when it emerged that a parliamentary researcher with links to Tory MPs had been arrested in March under the Official Secrets Act.” – FT