Category Archives: zarah sultana

Keir Starmer Angrily Rules Out Israeli Arms Sales Ban As He Calls For End To War

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Keir Starmer has ruled out a complete ban on UK arms sales to Israel – but warned that the Middle East cannot endure another year of war.

Speaking on the first anniversary of the Hamas terror attacks on Israel which killed more than 1,200 innocent civilians, the prime minister insisted the country had the right to defend itself.

But as the death toll continues to rise in Gaza and Lebanon, Starmer urged all sides in the conflict to “step back from the brink” before it is too late.

The government sparked outrage last month by announcing that around 30 arms exports licences to Israel were being suspended, out of a total of around 350.

In the Commons on Monday, independent MP Zarah Sultana called on the PM to go even further.

She said: “In light of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, the violence in the West Bank and invasion of Lebanon, I ask the prime minister if he believes Israel’s right to self defence justifies a death toll, according to research by US medical professionals who work in Gaza, has now surpassed 118,000, as well as the 2,000 people killed in Lebanon.

“Will he do what is morally and legally right and end the government’s complicity in war crimes by banning all arms sales to Israel, including F-35 fighter jets, not just 30 licences. Yes or no?”

The PM replied: “No. But it is a really serious point. Banning all sales would mean none for defensive purposes, on the anniversary of October 7 and days after a huge attack by Iran into Israel, would be the wrong position for this government and I will not take it.”

In a statement marking one year on from the October 7 Hamas attacks, Starmer said: “We support Israel’s right to defend herself against Iran’s aggression in line with international law.”

But he added: “The region cannot endure another year of this.

“Civilians on all sides have suffered too much. All sides must now step back from the brink and find the courage of restraint.”

He said Hamas’ actions on October 7 were supported by Iran, which played a “malign role” in the region, also backing Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and the Yemen-based Houthis.

The prime minister said the first anniversary of the attack was a “day of grief” for the wider Middle East.

“Over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed, tens of thousands orphaned, almost two million displaced, facing disease, starvation, desperation, without proper healthcare or shelter.

“It is a living nightmare and it must end.”

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Exclusive: Labour Benefit Cap Rebels Warned They Face Fresh Crackdown As Winter Fuel Payment Vote Looms

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Seven MPs suspended by Labour could face a fresh crackdown by party bosses if they vote against the government’s decision to means test winter fuel payments, HuffPost UK can reveal.

John McDonnell, Richard Burgon, Zarah Sultana, Ian Byrne, Apsana Begum, Imran Hussain and Rebecca Long-Bailey had the party whip taken off them for six months in July after they defied Keir Starmer to back calls for the two child benefit cap to be scrapped.

However, they are still expected to vote with the government while they serve their suspension.

A party source said: “Their suspension letter says they are still expected to follow the Labour whip, which they are sent weekly.”

Ministers have agree to a Commons vote next Tuesday on chancellor Rachel Reeves’ controversial decision to remove winter fuel payments from around 10 million pensioners.

Two of the seven rebels – McDonnell and Sultana – have already said they are prepared to vote against the government again unless ministers water down their plans.

Four others – Burgon, Hussain, Byrne and Begum – have also signed a Commons motion calling on ministers to U-turn.

Sultana told HuffPost UK: “I’m planning to vote to keep pensioners out of fuel poverty as I did with voting to lift the two child benefit cap to keep children out of poverty.

“I look forward to the process about the whip concluding in January.”

McDonnell said: “I have told the whips that unless the government comes up with a serious change in its proposal, I will vote against.”

But HuffPost UK has learned that if they do vote against the government, they are unlikely to get the Labour whip back when their current suspension ends in January.

A Labour source said: “It is a shame that some MPs who were only too happy to ride the coat tails of the party’s success at the election are now using the incredibly difficult things we have to do to yet again undermine the government and their colleagues.

“If they are more comfortable hanging out with Jeremy Corbyn and his friends, they should just be honest about it.”

Labour insiders fear as many as 20 of the party’s MPs could rebel on Tuesday, however at this stage there are no plans to take the whip off them.

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Suella Braverman Condemned For Migrant ‘Invasion’ Rhetoric – But Nigel Farage Says ‘Well Done’

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Home secretary Suella Braverman has been accused of “whipping-up hate” by characterising small boats crossing the English Channel as an “invasion” – but her rhetoric has won applause from Nigel Farage.

The under-fire minister used a Commons statement on the chaos surrounding the Manston migrant holding centre in Kent to deliver inflammatory comments that were widely condemned. They came a day after another holding centre in Dover was petrol bombed.

She told MPs: “Let’s be clear about what is really going on here: the British people deserve to know which party is serious about stopping the invasion on our southern coast and which party is not.

“Some 40,000 people have arrived on the south coast this year alone. Many of them facilitated by criminal gangs, some of them actual members of criminal gangs.

“So let’s stop pretending that they are all refugees in distress. The whole country knows that is not true. It’s only the honourable members opposite who pretend otherwise.

“We need to be straight with the public. The system is broken. Illegal migration is out of control and too many people are interested in playing political parlour games, covering up the truth than solving the problem.”

Braverman later agreed with suggestions from Tory MP Lee Anderson that some migrants can “get on a dinghy and go straight back to France” if they believe the accommodation in the UK is not good enough.

The Refugee Council described the home secretary’s comments as “appalling, wrong and dangerous”, and Labour MP Zarah Sultana hit out at language that “whips-up hate and spreads division”. “She’s totally unfit to be home secretary,” she added.

But she won the support of former Ukip and Brexit Party leader Farage, who said on Twitter: “Suella Braverman, who is under attack from Remainers and the globalists, has said what is happening in the Channel is an invasion. It’s a word I’ve been using for two years and been condemned for.”

He added: “Believe me, the Establishment are out to get her because she’s got the guts to say many of these people are just not refugees. Well done her.”

The Channel crossing crisis has deepened amid growing concern over the conditions in which migrants are being held while waiting to be processed once they arrive in the UK.

Conditions at the site at Manston were last week described by independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, David Neal, as “pretty wretched”.

The home secretary said around 40,000 people have arrived on the south coast of England in 2022, more than double the number of arrivals via the English Channel in 2021.

Braverman also defended her decision to keep thousands of people at the migrant centre after some of her colleagues accused her of deliberately ignoring legal advice to transfer people from the site to hotels.

Intended to house around 1,500 migrants for less than 24 hours at a time, numbers have swelled to more than double that, with one Afghan family saying they had been there for 32 days.

Braverman was reappointed by prime minister Rishi Sunak last week, six days after she resigned from the same role for sending a government document from her personal email to an employee of a member of parliament in breach of the rules.

Opposition parties and even some members of parliament in the governing Conservative Party have questioned her suitability for the role.

On Monday, Braverman acknowleged she had sent official government documents to her personal email address six times, raising fresh concerns about breaches of ministerial rules while in charge of the nation’s security.

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Suella Braverman Admits ‘Illegal Immigration Is Out Of Control’ After 12 Years Of Tory Rule

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Suella Braverman has characterised the UK’s migration system as “broken” as she claimed “illegal immigration is out of control”.

The home secretary, facing questions in the Commons over the chaos at the Manston migrant holding centre in Kent, was reminded by a Labour MP that the Conservative Party had been in power for 12 years.

Braverman also claimed the southern coast of England is facing an “invasion” of migrants – a day after a holding centre in Dover was petrol bombed.

The home secretary’s fiery rhetoric came during a defiant address where she claimed to speak for the “patriotic majority of British people” who want safe and secure borders.

During questions, Braverman even audaciously accused a Labour MP of using “inflammatory language”.

It comes as the Channel crossing crisis deepened, amid growing concern over the conditions in which migrants are being held while waiting to be processed once they arrive in the UK, and after one of the sites in Dover was firebombed.

In the Commons, Braverman opted to go on the attack and make the issue party political as she accused the Labour Party of playing “political parlour games”.

She told MPs: “Let’s be clear about what is really going on here: the British people deserve to know which party is serious about stopping the invasion on our southern coast and which party is not.

“Some 40,000 people have arrived on the south coast this year alone. Many of them facilitated by criminal gangs, some of them actual members of criminal gangs.

“So let’s stop pretending that they are all refugees in distress. The whole country knows that is not true. It’s only the honourable members opposite who pretend otherwise.

“We need to be straight with the public. The system is broken. Illegal migration is out of control and too many people are interested in playing political parlour games, covering up the truth than solving the problem.”

In another defiant comment, Braverman said “there are some people who would prefer to be rid of me”.

Braverman was heckled by Labour MPs, before adding: “Let them try. I know that I speak for the decent, law-abiding, patriotic majority of British people from every background that wants safe and secure borders.

“Labour is running scared that this party might just deliver them.”

Labour MP Zarah Sultana was among the first to condemn language that’s “whips-up hate and spreads division”. “She’s totally unfit to be home secretary,” she added.

So far this year close to 40,000 people have made the treacherous journey from France, crossing the world’s busiest shipping lanes in dinghies and other small boats, provisional government figures show.

On Sunday, police said two or three incendiary devices were thrown at a migrant processing centre in Dover and caused a fire.

The suspect, a 66-year-old man from High Wycombe, was identified and found dead at a nearby petrol station, Kent Police said.

Two people inside the centre at Western Jet Foil were left with minor injuries.

Although the site remained open, 700 people were moved to Manston for safety reasons.

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Labour MP Pinpoints Exactly What’s Wrong With No.10’s Levelling Up Agenda In Scathing Video

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Zarah Sultana took aim at No.10′s heavily-criticised “levelling up agenda” in a scathing new video circulating on Twitter.

Alluding to the cost of living crisis facing Britons at the moment – as inflation has just hit a 30-year high – the Labour MP claimed the government was doing little to alleviate the problem.

With soaring gas and electricity bills, rising interest rates and an upcoming national insurance hike, the treasury promised it would act to help lower-income households.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak then unrolled a support package earlier this month which supposedly enabled 28 million households to get their council tax bills slashed by £150 along with £200 reduction in energy bills.

However, according to Sultana during a clip shared on news outlet Double Down News, Sunak is “taking the piss” by offering only £200 loans even though energy bills are increasing by £700 due to the global squeeze on wholesale gas prices.

Sunak also ignored Labour’s bid to cut the VAT on fuel bills – even though it was marketed as one of the main benefits of leaving the EU.

Moving onto the startling rise in food prices – as outlined by anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe – Sultana continued: “This government likes to talk about levelling up when in truth, we currently have over five million children in poverty.

“Last month, over a million adults went a day without eating because they couldn’t afford to put food on the table.

“Don’t believe their lies on levelling up – they’re busy punching down.

“If we think things are bad, they are going to get a whole lot worse.”

Inflation is rising but salaries are not increasing at the same rate, while the head of the bank of England, Andrew Bailey, has even encouraged people not to ask for a pay rise during this cost of living crisis.

Sultana claimed, “things can be done differently, they just take political will,” adding: “The cost of living crisis isn’t inevitable, it isn’t a natural crisis.”

She also proposed taxing wealth over £100 million instead of increasing the national insurance contributions.

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