Labour MP pressured to apologise after ‘blood on his palms’ comment geared toward Sunak

Jan 24, 2024 at 7:19 PM
Labour MP pressured to apologise after ‘blood on his palms’ comment geared toward Sunak

A Labour MP was pressured to make a humiliating apology after he accused Rishi Sunak of getting “blood on his hands” over his response to the Israel-Gaza struggle.

Tahir Ali made the declare throughout Prime Minister’s Questions within the House of Commons.

Unleashing his rant, Mr Ali claimed that the PM had “boldly stated” confidence in Israel following worldwide legislation regardless of Foreign Office considerations.

He added: “Therefore, is it now not the time for the Prime Minister to admit that he has the blood of thousands of innocent people on his hands and for him to commit to demanding an immediate ceasefire and an ending of UK’s arms trade with Israel?”

Mr Sunak instantly hit again, pithily declaring the intervention undermined Keir Starmer’s declare to have reformed the Labour occasion for the reason that Jeremy Corbyn period.

“That’s the face of the changed Labour Party,” he mentioned to roars of approval from the Tory benches.

The Labour management moved to distance itself from Mr Ali’s feedback after the clashes within the chamber, with a celebration spokesman branding them “clearly inappropriate”.

Mr Ali mentioned sorry in an announcement on social media.

“Earlier at PMQs I asked the Prime Minister about the actions of Israel in Gaza,” he wrote.

“This is obviously a deeply emotive issue. While I do not resile from my strongly held views on the situation in the Middle East I would like to apologise for the way in which I described.”

He went on: “We all have a responsibility to be respectful in the language that we use, even when discussing difficult and, at times, sensitive issues.”

Kemi Badenoch lashed out at Mr Ali’s remarks within the commons.

Writing on X/Twitter the Business and Trade Secretary mentioned: “Some Labour MPs think they’re in parliament to represent other countries against the UK.

“Tahir Ali’s scripted rant during PMQs was appalling and will please many who despise Britain and our values.

“Those who think the Labour party changed after Corbyn are not paying attention.”

It was reported final week that an inside Foreign Office evaluation, after reviewing a report from Amnesty International, initially concluded it had “serious concerns” about Israel’s actions in Gaza.

The evaluation associated to a choice on whether or not to revoke arms export licences to Israel.

David Cameron was on account of arrive within the Middle East on Wednesday to press for an instantaneous humanitarian pause within the combating.

Downing Street mentioned Lord Cameron was anticipated to lift “the importance of a two-state solution”.

The Foreign Secretary is because of go to Qatar, Israel, the West Bank and Turkey.