\n<\/p>\n
Starmer<\/strong> is now talking about the Middle East.<\/p>\n Let me now turn to the Middle East and words I have longed to say in this house for a very long time – the surviving hostages are freed, the bombardment of Gaza has stopped and desperately needed aid is starting to enter as a result of the peace plan led by President Trump.<\/p>\n Starmer says the relief is tempered by concern for those who have died, and for the innocent civilians killed. \u201cThis has been two years of living hell,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n He says the peace deal is historic. But \u201cwhat matters now is implementation\u201d, and this has to happen as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n He goes on:<\/p>\n Let no one be any doubt that none of this would have been possible without President Trump.<\/p>\n But Starmer also pays tribute to international allies, and he says the UK has \u201cworked behind the scenes for months with the US , rab and European nations to help deliver a ceasefire, get the hostages out, get aid in and secure a better future for Israel\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n <\/span>Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Starmer<\/strong> says the decision of the UK to recognise Palestinian statehood, along with other countries, \u201chelped lead to a historic New York Declaration where for the first time, the entire Arab League condemned the atrocities of October\u201d.<\/p>\n He says, going ahead, the UK will offer expertise in three areas: supporting the reconstruction in Gaza, supporting transitional arrangements, and ensuring security for a ceasefire monitoring process.<\/p>\n And he says the two-state solution now has its best chance of being implemented since the Oslo Accords were signed in the 1990s.<\/p>\n This is the first real chance we\u2019ve had on a two-state solution since the Oslo Accords over three decades ago. So we are fully committed to this because a safe and secure Israel, alongside a viable Palestinian state, is the only way to secure lasting peace for the Middle East.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Starmer<\/strong> is now talking about the Middle East.<\/p>\n Let me now turn to the Middle East and words I have longed to say in this house for a very long time – the surviving hostages are freed, the bombardment of Gaza has stopped and desperately needed aid is starting to enter as a result of the peace plan led by President Trump.<\/p>\n Starmer says the relief is tempered by concern for those who have died, and for the innocent civilians killed. \u201cThis has been two years of living hell,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n He says the peace deal is historic. But \u201cwhat matters now is implementation\u201d, and this has to happen as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n He goes on:<\/p>\n Let no one be any doubt that none of this would have been possible without President Trump.<\/p>\n But Starmer also pays tribute to international allies, and he says the UK has \u201cworked behind the scenes for months with the US , rab and European nations to help deliver a ceasefire, get the hostages out, get aid in and secure a better future for Israel\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n The Ming Campbell tributes are over, and Keir Starmer<\/strong> is speaking now.<\/p>\n Starmer starts by saying he wants to put on record his condemndation of the vile antisemitic terror attack at the Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester.<\/p>\n Echoing what Shabana Mahmood said yesterday, he says:<\/p>\n Antisemitism is not a new hatred here in Britain. Jews have had to deal with a shameful reality that their buildings, their way of life, that children need extra protection.<\/p>\n We must also be crystal clear that while this was an attack on Jews because they were Jews, the Islamist extremism that motivated this sick individual is a threat to every citizen of this country.<\/p>\n He says the same principle applied to the recent attack on the Peacehaven mosque. \u201cAn attack on British Muslim is an attack on us all.\u201d<\/p>\n The events in Manchester are subject to an ongoing police investigation and we won\u2019t be allowing comments relating directly to them BTL. If readers don\u2019t comply with at, comments will get closed.<\/em><\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.20 EDT<\/p>\n A reader BTL has asked what happened during the statement on the digital ID scheme last night. It took place quite late, after the blog had closed. But this is what PA Media filed on it.<\/p>\n The government risks losing support over its proposals for digital IDs, Labour MPs have said, as they raised concerns about the impact on civil liberties and the cost.<\/p>\n Nadia Whittome, Richard Burgon, Charlotte Nichols <\/strong>and Stella Creasy<\/strong> all questioned how necessary the IDs were, and whether the Government could spend the money better.<\/p>\n Technology Secretary Liz Kendall<\/strong> said the digital IDs would only be mandatory for employers to see on right-to-work checks, as the government bids to clamp down on illegal working.<\/p>\n However, Kendall added that for those who wanted to, it could improve access to public services.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, individuals would not face sanctions, only employers, and the police would never demand to see the IDs, Kendall said.<\/p>\n She said the government had learned from countries such as Estonia and Denmark who had used the IDs already, and allowed people to \u201ctell their story once\u201d when dealing with public services.<\/p>\n A consultation will begin before the end of the year, MPs heard, as they were told any system would be built \u201cin house\u201d.<\/p>\n Kendall said: \u201cWhen you look across other countries and what they\u2019re doing, it really has made government fit around people, rather than make people fit into government and its different services, and I think that\u2019s a huge benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Whittome<\/strong> (Nottingham East) warned the government risked \u201cburning through political capital\u201d.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cI don\u2019t know how many doors I\u2019ve knocked on in my 12 years as a Labour member, but I do know that not a single person has ever told me that what they really need to improve their lives, their community, this country is mandatory digital ID.<\/p>\n \u201cIt won\u2019t tackle irregular working, it undermines civil liberties, it\u2019s divisive among the public and it won\u2019t make a difference to people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I ask the secretary of state, why are we doing it? Why are we burning political capital and public money on this, instead of focusing on the issues that are really are impacting our constituents.<\/p>\n \u201cI worry that this is yet another huge mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n Her party colleague Burgon<\/strong> (Leeds East) said: \u201cGiven the serious threats that digital ID poses to civil liberties, our data security and a risk of data being handed over to US tech giants, I\u2019m firmly opposed to digital ID.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, isn\u2019t it also a really big waste of money, and shouldn\u2019t the Government be instead focusing on what is the number one priority for people across the country, which is tackling the cost-of-living crisis, and wouldn\u2019t the money from this better be pushed into that, while safeguarding civil liberties?\u201d<\/p>\n Nichols<\/strong> (Warrington North) said: \u201cI\u2019ve been contacted by a large volume of constituents in recent weeks whose healthy scepticism that digital ID will make a material difference in tackling illegal immigration, I share.\u201d<\/p>\n Creasy said she had seen figures of it costing \u00a31bn to \u00a32bn to establish the scheme, then an ongoing \u00a3100m a year to run it.<\/p>\n She also said the cost of a data breach could amount to 1.1% of GDP.<\/p>\n Creasy said: \u201c[Kendall] said this would be free. Ultimately, the taxpayer will have to pay for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Tim Farron<\/strong>, the former Lib Dem leader, is paying his tribute now. He recalls first being impressed by Ming Campbell in the 1980s, long before they met.<\/p>\n Ming Campbell struck me as not being like other Liberals. He looked like he could actually run the country.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Among the other MPs paying tribute to Ming Campbell where Labour\u2019s John McDonnell<\/strong> and Edward Leigh<\/strong>, the Tory father of the house, who both joined Campbell in opposing the Iraq war.<\/p>\n McDonnell<\/strong> said:<\/p>\n For those of us who were here during the debate on the Iraq war on all sides, I want to thank him for the legal advice we provide us and the way that he addressed that debate, because he did so without seeking any party advantage. He simply set out a legal principles from which he was making the decision, and he did so with compassion.<\/p>\n And Leigh<\/strong> said that Campbell was perhaps \u201ctoo nice\u201d to succeed in politics. He went on:<\/p>\n The whole episode of the Iraq war was so difficult for us in this house, in particularly those of us who broke with our party to oppose the Iraq war. And he gave us the leadership. He gave us that rigor. And he\u2019s been proved right on that. Of course, there are no prizes for being proved right, but history will prove him right.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Here is an extract from Ed Davey<\/strong>\u2019s tribute to Ming Campbell.<\/p>\n Ming was among those few MPs who was genuinely a grandee from the first day they were elected.<\/p>\n But his calmness, reasonableness and intense decency [hide a] most a radical politician, a man who never forgot his roots growing up in the Glasgow tenement and he was driven by deep commitment to social justice, a man who said he was his role and the role of the Liberal Democrats to rattle the cage of British politics \u2026<\/p>\n I remember how difficult the decision it was for us to oppose [the Iraq war]. It felt like we were going not just against the government, but taking on the full might of the British state and the United States.<\/p>\n Ming tackled it with his typically steady forensic, lawyerly approach, and gave us both the confidence and resolve to speak up strongly for what we believed. He made our position firmly rooted in respect for international law, and because it was a time when the world was in turmoil following those horrific terrorist attacks of September 11th, Ming provided principled leadership with his trademark combination of morality, courage and wisdom \u2026<\/p>\n It was once said of me that [Campbell] runs the risk of giving politicians a good name. Well, he certainly did that. His passing is a moment for us to consider how we are all viewed as politicians, what changes we could make both individually and collectively, to further the cause of good, decent, hopeful politics something that Ming embodied entirely.<\/em><\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Fayaz Khan, an Afghan who arrived in the UK on a small boat, has been jailed for five years for threatening to kill Nigel Farage<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Commenting on the sentence outside the court, Farage said:<\/p>\n Well, I suppose we call that a win.<\/p>\n It was about the maximum sentence that could possibly be given, five years, given the scale of the offence. And I thank Justice Steyn. I thank the judge for saying what she said.<\/p>\n But the fact is that in 18 months time this violent criminal, somebody with 17 convictions in Sweden, in 18 months time he will be in this country, living in a house of multiple occupancy or a hotel, free to walk the streets whilst his asylum claim is judged.<\/p>\n But Farage also claimed that the case highlighted a wider threat.<\/p>\n The only reason we know about this guy is because somebody sent [the video containing the death threat] to me on TikTok. It makes me wonder, how many other \u2018Madapasas\u2019 are there now in this country, or will there be, as the boats continue to cross the Channel.<\/p>\n And he suggested the hearing had highlighted the case for small boat arrivals being sent back to countries like Afghanistan (which is Reform UK policy). He said:<\/p>\n A strange twist at the end when, after the sentence, [Khan] was speaking from the dock trying to be heard, making it perfectly clear that he\u2019d rather go back to Afghanistan.<\/p>\n In Germany, there are planeloads of people going back to Afghanistan \u2013 I wonder if in 18 months\u2019 time, the only thing that stops him from being on our streets is if we have some kind of deal with Afghanistan.<\/p>\n I doubt it, but at least it\u2019s a possibility, and the Germans have shown us what they can do.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Ed Davey<\/strong>, the Lib Dem leader, is now paying his tribute to Ming Campbell.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Keir Starmer<\/strong> is about to make his statement.<\/p>\n But, before he does, Lindsay Hoyle<\/strong>, the Speaker, pays tribue to Menzies (\u201cMing\u201d) Campbell, the former Lib Dem leader who died during the recess.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Keir Starmer will shortly make his statement to MPs about the Middle East.<\/p>\n Here is the news release that Downing Street released yesterday about the peace summit co-chaired by Donald Trump in Egypt.<\/p>\n Here is Kiran Stacey<\/strong>\u2019s analysis of the role that the UK played in getting a ceasefire deal (or, to put it another way, who was right \u2013 Steve Witkoff or Mike Huckabee?)<\/p>\n And here a clip of Starmer getting short shrift from Donald Trump at the summit yesterday.<\/p>\n WATCH: Trump asked, \u201cWhere is the UK?\u201d<\/p>\n Starmer raised his hand. Trump called him to the stage, making him think he was going to speak.<\/p>\n Starmer approached the podium. \u201cIt\u2019s nice that you\u2019re here,\u201d Trump said, then sent him back, offending Starmer. pic.twitter.com\/Y67s4JGmEM<\/a><\/p>\nStarmer says two-state solution now has ‘first real chance’ of being implemented since 1990s<\/h2>\n
‘None of this would have been possible without President Trump’, says Starmer of Middle East peace deal<\/h2>\n
Government risks losing support over digital ID scheme, Labour MPs warn<\/h2>\n
‘Not like other Liberals – he looked liked he could actually run the country’ – Tim Farron pays tribute to Campbell pays tribute to<\/h2>\n
‘Good, decent, hopeful politics’ – Ed Davey pays tribute to Ming Campbell<\/h2>\n
Farage welcomes five-year jail sentence for Afghan small boat migrant found guilty of threatening to kill him<\/h2>\n
Starmer to make statement to MPs on Middle East peace summit<\/h2>\n