Tag Archives: israel hamas war

Mathew Hulbert

Mathew on Monday: How do we respond to the Polanski Green surge?

By Mathew Hulbert | Mon 13th October 2025 - 4:54 pm

Folks, before I get into the thrust of my main item this week, a few readers got very hot under the collar in the comments section beneath last week’s column. So, if you’ll allow me, a few points.

Firstly, I now gather that the Lib Dem reshuffle was not triggered by Josh Babarinde stepping back from the front bench and had, in fact, been planned for a while. Happy to correct that.

Secondly, when I said I’d prefer just thirty Lib Dem MPs who were unashamedly liberal than scores more who sometimes appear very tentative, I was making a rhetorical point, of …

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Mark Valladares

6 October 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 6th October 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Reform DOGE unit in Kent a “spectacular failure” for which Yusuf must “personally apologise”
  • Lib Dems: Thames Water’s data protection “as leaky as its infrastructure” as party calls for company to be placed under special administration
  • Ed Davey statement marking Oct 7 anniversary: “We stand in solidarity”

Reform DOGE unit in Kent a “spectacular failure” for which Yusuf must “personally apologise”

Responding to reports that Reform’s DOGE unit in Kent has found no savings and is set to hike council tax, Daisy Cooper MP, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said:

Reform’s pledge to slash millions from Kent Council’s budget has turned out to be nothing but smoke and mirrors.

Just like his idol Elon Musk, Zia Yusuf has spectacularly failed to deliver what DOGE promised. It turns out cribbing the notes of dodgy American tech billionaires is no way to run a council.

Zia Yusuf should personally apologise to the people of Kent for misleading them.

Lib Dems: Thames Water’s data protection “as leaky as its infrastructure” as party calls for company to be placed under special administration

Responding to reporting by BBC Radio 4 that Thames Water have been giving out customer information over the phone without completing adequate identity checks, Liberal Democrat MP for Witney and Thames Water campaigner Charlie Maynard said:

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Mark Valladares

10 September 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 10th September 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Lib Dems call for mandatory origin labelling on beef
  • Davey on Doha Strikes: Starmer must summon Israeli Ambassador
  • Ed Davey on Mandelson: Civil Service Commission must investigate if ambassador has broken diplomatic code
  • Lib Dems push vote on banning loud music on public transport as new poll reveals impact of “headphone dodgers” on commuters
  • Chamberlain writes to Health Secretary over stroke patient’s 80-mile journey for care
  • Greene: Asylum motion shows desperate Conservatives aping Reform

Lib Dems call for mandatory origin labelling on beef

On Back British Farming Day, the Liberal Democrats are urging the Government to protect British farmers by making it mandatory to include country of origin on produce.

This follows months of concern from British farmers about the impact of the UK-US trade deal on British beef producers, after the UK agreed to allow up to 13,000 metric tonnes of beef imports from the US tariff-free.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for beef produced sold in large shops and large restaurants to include mandatory labelling that includes the country of origin to allow consumers to make informed decisions and promote British produce.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

Farmers are absolutely vital to Britain – to our economy and future food security. They put food on our table, manage our landscapes and without them, we would all be worse off.

Over the past year, the Government has done nothing but neglect the farming community, first with the cruel family farm tax, and then by cutting the farming budget and selling out British farmers by accepting US beef produced to lower standards.

The Liberal Democrats back British farmers who deserve so much better. I am urging the Government to do the same, axe the family farm tax, give the farming budget £1bn more a year and back British farmers.

Davey on Doha Strikes: Starmer must summon Israeli Ambassador

Responding to the Israeli airstrikes in Doha, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey said:

Netanyahu’s strikes on Doha show that he is less interested in securing the release of the hostages than he is in continuing to fuel regional destabilisation.

Keir Starmer must summon the Israeli Ambassador to Downing Street – immediately – to make clear that these strikes were utterly reckless and a flagrant breach of international law.

This latest escalation will only undermine efforts to secure the release of the hostages still held in Hamas’ captivity, and set back the path to a desperately needed ceasefire.

Starmer needs to make that case when he meets with President Herzog today – and confirm to the President that the UK will no longer send F-35 parts to Israel which it can use for its devastating campaign in Gaza.

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Mark Valladares

22 July 2025 – yesterday’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 23rd July 2025 - 11:45 pm
  • Ed Davey: Tougher sanctions needed on Israeli Government now to “stop the carnage” in Gaza
  • Badenoch reshuffle: Titanic captain appoints iceberg apologist to key role
  • Laura Anne Jones’ defection – The Conservatives are clearly dead as a political force in Wales
  • Lib Dems attack “SNP’s dirty secret” as environmental targets look set to be missed
  • Greene comments as west coast ferry faces months out of action

Ed Davey: Tougher sanctions needed on Israeli Government now to “stop the carnage” in Gaza

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has called on the government to urgently bring in tougher sanctions on the Israeli Government and officials amid a brutal new ground offensive in Gaza, including sanctioning Netanyahu and IDF generals.

Commenting in the wake of fresh Israeli Defence Force (IDF) ground operations in Gaza, Ed Davey called for the UK Government to sanction Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and to begin drawing up plans to sanction individual IDF generals leading the ground and aerial bombing campaigns across the Strip.

Ed Davey also said the UK should halt all arms sales to Israel, including component parts for F-35s. He has called on the Government to stop “ on its hands” while Gaza faces demolition, and commit to “stemming the flow of fighter jet parts to Israel”.

The party’s calls come following additional reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) that its facilities have come under attack during Israel’s fresh offensive in Deir al-Balah.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP said:

The Foreign Secretary must realise that we’re past the point of threatening sanctions. We need sanctions now, including against Netanyahu and the IDF generals leading the military campaigns in Gaza.

Every day the Government sits on its hands, more innocent civilians are being killed while over a million are at risk of starvation. Meanwhile, the hostages held by Hamas are no closer to being freed. This is utterly intolerable.

The Government needs to do everything it can to stop the carnage unfolding in the Strip. That must include stemming the flow of UK fighter jet parts to Israel.

Badenoch reshuffle: Titanic captain appoints iceberg apologist to key role

Commenting on Kemi Badenoch’s ongoing Shadow Cabinet reshuffle, including the appointment of James Cleverly as Shadow Housing Secretary, Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson Sarah Olney said:

Kemi Badenoch has appointed the very man who said that replacing Liz Truss as Prime Minister would be a terrible idea. It’s like appointing an iceberg apologist to a role steering the Titanic.

The public won’t forgive this group of failed former Conservative ministers for the damage they did to our economy and NHS.

It’s no wonder the Conservatives previously pledged to avoid any reshuffle until the election.

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Mark Valladares

15 January 2025 – today’s Federal press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 15th January 2025 - 10:45 pm
  • Public Accounts Committee SEND Report: Urgent reform needed
  • Inflation: economy is “stuck in the mud”
  • PMQs: Davey urges PM to create visa route to attract high-skilled Americans fleeing Trump
  • Davey: Israel-Gaza ceasefire must lead to a lasting peace and two-state solution

Public Accounts Committee SEND Report: Urgent reform needed

Responding to the PAC report on SEND provision, Munira Wilson MP, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson, said:

This report lays bare what we already knew to be the dire truth: that a wrecked system of SEND provision in this country is failing children and families every single day.

And thanks to the last government’s total lack of

…

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review – 22 September 2024

By Tom Arms | Sun 22nd September 2024 - 8:30 am

What next in the Lebanon?

Destruction of your enemy’s communications is usually a prelude to an all-out attack. But so far Israeli ground troops appear to be focused on Gaza.

Such an attack could provoke a violent response from Hezbollah. But so far they have been relatively restrained. Hezbollah’s 64-year-old leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Thursday that the exploding pagers and walkie talkies was a “severe blow” and that Israel had crossed a “red line.” But he made no explicit threats.

It is thought that the Israeli government is trying to decouple the tit for tat missile attacks on the Israeli-Lebanese border from the Gaza War so that it is not fighting on two fronts.

Hezbollah launched its attacks in support of Hamas on 8 October, the day after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. It said the missile attacks would continue until a permanent ceasefire is agreed in Gaza. The resultant tit-for-tat missile exchanges has led to the evacuation of 80,000 Israelis from the north of Israel and 90,000 Lebanese from the south of Lebanon.

Decoupling would imply that the Israeli government believes that Hezbollah could be persuaded through violence to stop its missile attacks. Based on past performance, the opposite seems more probable.

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The Voice

Lib Dems welcome suspension of some arms sales to Israel

By The Voice | Tue 3rd September 2024 - 9:24 am

Yesterday foreign secretary David Lammy announced a partial suspension of arms sales to Israel.

Our foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran welcomed the move but said it was overdue:

This action should have been taken long ago by the previous government, who failed to take any leadership on the matter. Liberal Democrats welcome this announcement as a step forward from the government.

Liberal Democrat MPs will now carefully scrutinise the details of the Foreign Secretary’s announcement, including those export licences which the Government has not suspended. We are concerned that the decision is made solely on risk of use in Gaza and not the West Bank.

Every day seems to bring new dreadful scenes from the region, and the UK must be doing everything that it can to ensure that an immediate bilateral ceasefire is secured – to put an end to the humanitarian devastation in Gaza, ensure the hostages are brought home, and open the door to a two-state solution.

Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael also welcomed David Lammy ‘s announcement but said that the Government needs to go further to drive peace talks to end the violence in Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East.

Alistair said:

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Tom Arms

Observations of an ex pat: Suspend arms shipments to Israel

By Tom Arms | Sat 6th April 2024 - 9:50 am

Selling weapons to Israel is a breach of international law.

This is not my opinion. It is the judgement of 600 British legal eagles, including three former members of the UK Supreme Court. They have been joined by 130 parliamentarians and the three main Opposition parties have demanded a debate on the issue.

It is also the verdict of the governments of Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Japan and Spain. They have all suspended arms shipments to Israel.

All the above agree that Israel is breaking a number of international laws with its attacks on civilians in Gaza. Furthermore, that countries that supply the Israeli government with weapons are complicit in breaking those laws.

So what laws is Israel breaching? To start with there is Article 7 of the UN Arms Trade Treaty which “prohibits the export of arms where is an overriding risk that the weapons can be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law.”

It is an international law which has been enforced by Britain in the past. In 2019 the British Court of Appeals used it to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia based on the Saudis indiscriminate bombing of Yemen.

There is also the 1948 Geneva Convention Against Genocide, which, ironically, was enacted as a response to the killing of 6 million Jews in the Nazi Holocaust. This convention prohibits “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethical, racial or religious group.” It goes on to describe the prohibited acts: “causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the group as a whole.”

The Israeli government and their supporters say that claims that they are breaching international law are “nonsense.” But, so far the Israeli Defence Force has caused the death of more than 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza and seriously injured 52,000 more. Eighty-five percent – 1.9 million people have had their homes destroyed by Israeli bombs. Gaza’s hospitals are medical rubble. Israel’s refusal to allow food and water into Gaza have created famine conditions. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that Gazans are “the highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger ever recorded.”

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