“Israel demanded the resignation of the UN secretary-general on Tuesday over “shocking” comments in which he suggested that the Oct 7 attack was provoked by the “suffocating occupation” of the Palestinian territories. Eli Cohen, the Israeli foreign minister, cancelled a planned meeting with António Guterres over his comments, asking him: “Mr Secretary-General, in what world do you live?” Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, said Mr Guterres should resign immediately, saying he was not fit to lead the organisation. At a meeting of the UN security council in New York on Tuesday, world leaders debated whether to support a temporary ceasefire to allow access for humanitarian aid and the release of the 200 remaining Hamas hostages in Gaza.” – The Daily Telegraph
>Today:
“Sir Keir Starmer has been told his position on the Israel-Gaza conflict is “completely wrong” by a mosque he visited to ease tension with Muslim voters. The Labour leader visited South Wales Islamic Centre in Cardiff, where he said he repeated calls for “more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, for the water and power to be switched back on, and a renewed focus on the two-state solution”. He said he was “grateful to hear from the Muslim community”, but after the visit last week the mosque said in a statement that Starmer had “offended us Muslims, which is totally unacceptable” with comments he made in an interview over the conflict. Labour councillors quit after Starmer appeared to suggest in an interview with LBC that “Israel does have that right” to cut off power and water to Gaza.” – The Times
“Rishi Sunak emerged as Conservative leader from the wreckage of the Liz Truss premiership exactly a year ago, vowing to “fix” things. But 12 months later, some of the problems facing him and his party are as intractable as ever. The prime minister, dubbed by supporters as “Rishi the problem solver”, has so far failed to answer the biggest conundrum of all: how can the Conservatives win a fifth consecutive election? Sunak’s party trails Labour by an average of 17-18 points, while his own personal approval ratings have been falling since the spring and are at record lows. Two by-election humiliations last week confirmed the scale of the problem… Sunak became Tory leader on October 24 2022 and entered Downing Street a day later.” – The Financial Times
“Rishi Sunak faces fresh by-election misery on Wednesday, with the Commons poised to approve a six-week suspension for ex-minister Peter Bone. MPs are expected to wave through a motion that will see the former deputy leader of the Commons face a recall petition in his constituency. The move comes less than a week after the Conservatives suffered historic defeats at the hands of Labour in by-elections in Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire. Mr Bone, the MP for Wellingborough, was stripped of the Tory whip over claims of bullying and sexual misconduct against a member of staff. On one occasion, he is said to have exposed his genitals to the employee, who was in his early 20s, when the pair shared a hotel room on a work trip to Madrid.” – The Daily Telegraph
“The future of the state pension triple lock hangs in the balance as Jeremy Hunt considers limiting the size of the increase in pension payments to save nearly £1bn. Opposition politicians and campaigners for the elderly warned the Government not to tweak the rules of the policy by using a lower calculation of earnings rises than usual. The state pension will rise more quickly than inflation next year under the triple lock, which indexes its growth rate to average pay growth, inflation or 2.5 per cent – whichever is the highest. Using the normal rules, it would increase by 8.5 per cent – reaching a level of £221.20 for the full new state pension. But that figure is inflated by a one-off payment given to many public service workers over the summer in a bid to end strike action.” – The I
“Police should not refer to transgender rapists as women because it is “offensive and factually incorrect”, Suella Braverman has told women’s campaigners. The Home Secretary set out her views after hosting a roundtable for policing leaders and women’s rights campaigners amid concerns women feel they are not being protected…The campaigners, including the Women’s Rights Network, claimed that gender-critical women were being harassed and abused in public without appropriate action being taken by police to protect them. The term “gender critical” refers to someone who believes that sex is binary, and that somebody who is born male cannot become a woman. Their concerns have been compounded by the practice of labelling rape suspects as women…” – The Daily Telegraph
“Kemi Badenoch believes that “good public servants” must not be “hounded” out of office after the human rights watchdog dropped an investigation into its chairwoman. Baroness Falkner of Margravine, of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), was the subject of an internal inquiry into allegations about her behaviour by current and former members of staff. Critics said that the complaints were ideologically motivated because of her position on trans rights. The claims against Falkner were subsequently leaked to Channel 4 News in what her allies said was an attempt to “prejudge” the inquiry. Badenoch, the minister for women and equalities, was so concerned that she called in an independent legal expert to review the handling of the complaints.” – The Times
“The environment secretary has suggested the damage done by Storm Babet was harder to predict because the rain came in from the east. Thérèse Coffey’s remarks to the Commons environment committee prompted the Lib Dems to urge her to “get a grip” and “stop blaming everyone else for her failings”. At least seven people are thought to have died during Storm Babet, with hundreds of people left homeless and about 1,250 properties in England flooded, according to the Environment Agency… The environment secretary, who visited affected residents in Retford, Nottinghamshire, on Monday, said £5.2bn had been allocated to protect homes and businesses from flooding between 2021 and 2017.” – The Guardian
“Winston Churchill would be appalled at how the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) allows migrants to abuse the asylum system, the immigration minister said on Tuesday. Robert Jenrick said the ECHR and Refugee Convention needed “serious reform” as they were no longer appropriate to handle the mass migration of “hundreds of millions” of people across the world. “The signatories and authors of those documents would be appalled to see some of the abuses that we see in our present system, which frustrates our ability to support those people who are truly in need fleeing war and persecution,” he told MPs. Churchill was one of the post-war architects of both the ECHR…and the Refugee Convention, which his Government signed in 1954.” – The Daily Telegraph
“Labour has U-turned on its pledge to create a Scottish-style right to roam in the English countryside if elected, the Guardian can reveal. Instead of an assumed right of access, the party now says it will find other ways to create more access to land in England, after opposition from some landowners’ groups. Campaigners reacted with dismay at the news. There has been a recent groundswell of public campaigns involving mass trespasses, which have sometimes attracted thousands of people, asking for a general right to walk across the English countryside. There is currently a right to roam over just 8% of England. Wales, like England, is under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (Crow) meaning there is a right to walk on open country (mountain, moor, heath and downland)…” – The Guardian
“Nicola Sturgeon’s draconian Covid-19 rules caused children to attempt to take their own lives and parents to consider “suicide pacts”, a public inquiry heard. On Tuesday the first day of evidence in the Scottish Covid-19 inquiry heard harrowing testimony of the impact lockdown had on the lives of vulnerable Scots, including young people with learning disabilities and care home residents treated as “prisoners”. While some victims expressed sympathy for the UK’s need to enter lockdown in March 2020, they claimed groups at high risk from the virus were later unfairly prioritised over people with other health conditions. While Scotland went into lockdown at the same time as the rest of the UK, Ms Sturgeon was generally far slower to ease restrictions and reopen society.” – The Daily Telegraph