Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Pro-Palestinian activists in Britain’s Labour Party have warned the leadership it risks losing Muslim votes at the UK’s coming general election because of its position on the Israel-Gaza war.
Campaigners reacted angrily on Wednesday to a report that Labour leader Keir Starmer had commissioned private polling of Muslim voters, accusing him of being led by politics rather than principles.
One member of Labour’s ruling committee said Mr Starmer was being outflanked by the Conservative government on the war, after Foreign Secretary David Cameron hinted at UK recognition of a Palestinian state.
Mr Starmer has tried to perform a balancing act by calling for a two-state solution and condemning the death toll during Israel’s offensive, while evading calls to demand an immediate ceasefire.
His equivocal position has angered some party activists, leading to a handful of resignations and raising questions about whether the dispute will damage the poll lead that has put Labour on the brink of power.
Mish Rahman, who sits on Labour’s National Executive Committee, on Wednesday said he was struggling to convince family members who have “voted Labour all their lives” to back the party again.
A general election date must be set by December, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently indicating it will be in the second half of this year.
“There seems to be a pattern of behaviour where Labour isn’t taking the Muslim support seriously,” Mr Rahman, an aspiring Labour candidate at the election, told LBC radio.
“Every human life is sacred and should be protected from violence. These are basic principles that we should expect from all our politicians, not least the man who wants to be prime minister.”
A report in The Guardian said Labour was conducting private polling and focus groups of Muslim voters as it prepares for an election this year. Party headquarters did not respond to a request for comment.
“It shouldn’t take an opinion poll to stand up for human rights,” Mr Rahman said.
Labour's shadow foreign secretary David Lammy has spent recent days calling for recognition of a Palestinian state, pressing for a "surge" of aid into Gaza and telling Israel it must comply with orders from The Hague.
However, shadow Middle East minister Wayne David was criticised for suggesting Labour would only recognise a Palestinian state once negotiations with Israel were under way.
Mr Rahman said Labour had been left behind by Lord Cameron's remarks that recognising Palestine "could be one of the things that helps to make this process irreversible".
The Muslim Vote, an organisation which aims to mobilise pro-Palestinian voters in constituencies with a large Muslim population, criticised Labour for focusing on polling numbers while “we are watching the casualty numbers”.
“We will not support those who have failed to back a ceasefire,” it said.
According to the group’s figures, in 22 out of 650 parliamentary constituencies Muslims make up more than a quarter of the electorate. They include seats in which Labour MPs have relatively small majorities.
About four million Muslims live in the UK. Surveys have shown them strongly backing Labour at past elections, potentially leaving the party vulnerable if part of that voter base deserts Mr Starmer this year.
Diane Abbott, a left-wing MP suspended from Labour in an anti-Semitism row last year, said fears of losing votes were “well founded”. Labour “should reverse its stance on a ceasefire. It is unjustifiable and unpopular,” she said.
Asad Rehman, a director of anti-poverty charity War on Want and a pro-Palestinian activist, said Mr Starmer might face similar problems to US President Joe Biden, who also faces frustration from voters with Arab roots.
“Being complicit with Israel’s war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide might not be going down too well with its base voters including Muslims, black people, young people and those who care about humanity,” he said.
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Engine 3.6-litre V6
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Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
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2021 World Triathlon Championship Series
May 15: Yokohama, Japan
June 5: Leeds, UK
June 24: Montreal, Canada
July 10: Hamburg, Germany
Aug 17-22: Edmonton, Canada (World Triathlon Championship Final)
Nov 5-6 : Abu Dhabi, UAE
Date TBC: Chengdu, China
The Energy Research Centre
Founded 50 years ago as a nuclear research institute, scientists at the centre believed nuclear would be the “solution for everything”.
Although they still do, they discovered in 1955 that the Netherlands had a lot of natural gas. “We still had the idea that, by 2000, it would all be nuclear,” said Harm Jeeninga, director of business and programme development at the centre.
"In the 1990s, we found out about global warming so we focused on energy savings and tackling the greenhouse gas effect.”
The energy centre’s research focuses on biomass, energy efficiency, the environment, wind and solar, as well as energy engineering and socio-economic research.
The biog
Name: Mohammed Imtiaz
From: Gujranwala, Pakistan
Arrived in the UAE: 1976
Favourite clothes to make: Suit
Cost of a hand-made suit: From Dh550
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
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Indian origin executives leading top technology firms
Sundar Pichai
Chief executive, Google and Alphabet
Satya Nadella
Chief executive, Microsoft
Ajaypal Singh Banga
President and chief executive, Mastercard
Shantanu Narayen
Chief executive, chairman, and president, Adobe
Indra Nooyi
Board of directors, Amazon and former chief executive, PepsiCo
Results
Male 51kg Round 1
Dias Karmanov (KAZ) beat Mabrook Rasea (YEM) by points 2-1.
Male 54kg Round 1
Yelaman Sayassatov (KAZ) beat Chen Huang (TPE) TKO Round 1; Huynh Hoang Phi (VIE) beat Fahad Anakkayi (IND) RSC Round 2; Qais Al Jamal (JOR) beat Man Long Ng (MAC) by points 3-0; Ayad Albadr (IRQ) beat Yashar Yazdani (IRI) by points 2-1.
Male 57kg Round 1
Natthawat Suzikong (THA) beat Abdallah Ondash (LBN) by points 3-0; Almaz Sarsembekov (KAZ) beat Ahmed Al Jubainawi (IRQ) by points 2-1; Hamed Almatari (YEM) beat Nasser Al Rugheeb (KUW) by points 3-0; Zakaria El Jamari (UAE) beat Yu Xi Chen (TPE) by points 3-0.
Men 86kg Round 1
Ahmad Bahman (UAE) beat Mohammad Al Khatib (PAL) by points 2-1
Men 63.5kg Round 1
Noureddin Samir (UAE) beat Polash Chakma (BAN) RSC Round 1.
Female 45kg quarter finals
Narges Mohammadpour (IRI) beat Yuen Wai Chan (HKG) by points.
Female 48kg quarter finals
Szi Ki Wong (HKG) beat Dimple Vaishnav (IND) RSC round 2; Thanawan Thongduang (THA) beat Nastaran Soori (IRI) by points; Shabnam Hussain Zada (AFG) beat Tzu Ching Lin (TPE) by points.
Female 57kg quarter finals
Nguyen Thi Nguyet (VIE) beat Anisha Shetty (IND) by points 2-1; Areeya Sahot (THA) beat Dana Al Mayyal (KUW) RSC Round 1; Sara Idriss (LBN) beat Ching Yee Tsang (HKG) by points 3-0.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Our legal consultants
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Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
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Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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MATCH INFO
Qalandars 112-4 (10 ovs)
Banton 53 no
Northern Warriors 46 all out (9 ovs)
Kumara 3-10, Garton 3-10, Jordan 2-2, Prasanna 2-7
Qalandars win by six wickets
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
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The biog
Profession: Senior sports presenter and producer
Marital status: Single
Favourite book: Al Nabi by Jibran Khalil Jibran
Favourite food: Italian and Lebanese food
Favourite football player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Languages: Arabic, French, English, Portuguese and some Spanish
Website: www.liliane-tannoury.com
