Your Party MP Zarah Sultana speaks at a demonstration organised by CND, Stop the War, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Muslim Association of Britain, Palestinian Forum in Britain and Friends of Al-Aqsa, in London to call for an end to Iran war, March 2026
YOUR Party MP Zarah Sultana said “good riddance” to the departing Keir Starmer today.
The Coventry South MP, suspended from Labour by Sir Keir for challenging the two-child benefit cap, said that “history will judge Keir Starmer as a man who lied his way to the top of the Labour Party.”
She accused him of using that power to evoke Enoch Powell with his “island of strangers” speech, keeping children in poverty, attacking disabled people, scapegoating refugees, stripping back civil liberties, and handing our public services to Palantir.
“A man who gave the top diplomatic job to the ‘best pal’ of a convicted paedophile, said Israel has the right to cut off water and electricity to Gaza, rolled out the red carpet for Israeli war criminals, and kept the weapons flowing to the Israeli military as it committed genocide. Good riddance,” she added.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski called for “a bold change of direction” after Sir Keir’s departure.
He said: “Starmer lost the confidence of the country because of his abject failure to challenge the power and wealth of an Establishment which has taken for themselves while leaving the vast majority in a cost-of-living crisis.
“We are still waiting to see which version of Andy Burnham is going to show up in Downing Street. While he has talked about a change of course, the early indications are not encouraging and suggest more of the same with better communication skills.
“The time for half measures and sticking plasters is long gone — Burnham must be bold or he will be bust.”
I hope that the Morning Star will excuse me republishing the full article.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership is intensely relaxed about assaulting those least able to defend themselves – the very poorest and most vulnerable.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Israeli heavy duty machines carry out excavation work, damaging Palestinian-owned lands to build an illegal Jewish settlement in the Jabal Juheihan area of Hebron, West Bank on October 27, 2025.[ Wisam Hashlamoun – Anadolu Agency]
UK ministers are under mounting pressure to ban a London real estate event accused of marketing land in illegal Israeli settlements, after several MPs challenged the government in Parliament and Green Party leader Zack Polanski warned that allowing it to proceed would be a “stain” on the capital.
The Great Israeli Real Estate Event 2026 is scheduled to take place in London on Sunday 14 June. Its website says attendees will be able to meet consultants on Aliyah, higher education, finances, taxation, mortgages, transferring funds and home management, and invites them to “explore the best Anglo neighbourhoods to find your dream home”. It lists areas including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ramat Beit Shemesh, Netanya, Raanana, Modiin, Herzliya, Haifa, Ashdod, Beersheva and Ashkelon, while offering “special deals exclusive to event participants”.
The event promotes property in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including Gush Etzion, alongside homes inside Israel. During a debate in Parliament on Tuesday, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Calum Miller described the event as “Palestinian land being advertised, bartered and sold on the streets of our capital.”
Addressing the Commons, Richard Burgon, the Labour MP for Leeds East, urged Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper to stop the event, drawing a direct comparison with Russia’s occupation of Ukraine.
“Let us just imagine that, this weekend in our capital city, there was a ‘great Russian real estate event’ selling off Ukrainian land. Quite rightly and without hesitation, the Government would move to ban such an illegal event. This weekend in London, there is the Great Israeli Real Estate Event, openly advertising the illegal sale of land in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories. Given that the Government rightly recognised the state of Palestine, surely we should now move to ban this event, which is selling off land illegally in Palestine.”
Cooper did not commit to banning the event, but said the government was looking into it. “We are pursuing that particular event. If we find any cases where there are breaches of UK law, we will also pursue them,” she told MPs. “The wider issue is that nobody in the UK should be advertising illegal settlements. Nobody should be pursuing illegal settlements. No businesses or organisations should be getting involved in them.”
Polanski, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, also wrote to Cooper and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan demanding urgent intervention, describing the planned event as “deeply disturbing”.
An event is planned to be hosted in London proudly promoting the sale of land on illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
“This is obscene,” Polanski wrote on X. “I’ve called on @MayorofLondon and @YvetteCooperMP to stop the event and for this govt to take real action on illegal settlements.”
In his letter, Polanski said the event is due to come to London “to auction stolen Palestinian land to the highest bidder” and “proudly promotes the sale of land in settlements like ‘Gush Etzion’ in the occupied West Bank, marked as illegal under international law”.
Polanski warned that “many Londoners are rightfully concerned that an event promoting land confiscation and the destruction of homes is set to take place in our city.”
Addressing Khan, Polanski said: “Sadiq, you have previously stood with campaigners and Londoners of conscience in condemning the DSEI arms fair, and I welcomed your leadership on that issue. I ask that you now take the same principled stance against this proposed land sale, which would be a stain on our city if allowed to proceed.”
Polanski also called on Cooper to move beyond statements of concern. “Your government has a moral and legal responsibility to take action against illegal settlements,” he wrote. “This must include banning the import of settlement goods and imposing further sanctions on all Israeli Government officials responsible for authorising illegal settlements. Empty condemnation is not enough — we need to see action.”
The Green Party leader also highlighted Bank Leumi’s sponsorship of the event, saying the Israeli bank had been identified by Human Rights Watch for directly supporting settlement expansion through mortgage loans and work with construction companies building on stolen Palestinian land, including in Gush Etzion.
Cooper used the wider debate to announce new sanctions against organisations accused of supporting illegal settlements and settler violence, and said the government had strengthened business guidance to make clear that British citizens and businesses should not conduct economic or financial activity in illegal settlements.
“The expansion of the illegal settlements is not only deeply wrong, because Palestinians are being forced from their own land, sometimes in the most brutal of circumstances, but deliberately designed to try to make it impossible to ever get to a two-state solution,” Cooper told MPs. “That is the purpose for some of those involved, and we should be very clear on that and call it out for what it is.”
However, Cooper stopped short of backing a formal trade ban. She said the government wanted to target illegal settlements and activity linked to them, while avoiding an impact on what she described as “long-standing, legitimate trade” with Israel.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Sophie Ellis Bextor performing in 2023. Photograph: Tin!y/Alamy Live News/Alamy Live News.
Organised by Olly Alexander and the Mighty Hoopla festival to ‘fight back against the politics of fear and exclusion’, Trans Mission will take place at Wembley Arena in March
Artists including Sugababes, Wolf Alice, Romy, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Christine and the Queens, Beth Ditto, Beverley Knight, Jasmine.4.T, Kae Tempest and more will perform at an all-star charity concert at Wembley Arena in support of trans rights next year.
Organised by Olly Alexander and the Mighty Hoopla festival, Trans Mission will also feature appearances from figures including Green party leader Zack Polanski, actor Ian McKellen, comedian Grace Campbell, author Shon Faye, actor Mawaan Rizwan, model Munroe Bergdorf and actor Nicola Coughlan.
The concert will raise funds for the Good Law Project, a charity that uses the law to push for change and government accountability, and trans-led charity Not a Phase.
Alexander said in a statement: “I believe that in these times, community action isn’t just important – it’s essential! We need real and lasting change. Through solidarity, creativity and collective fundraising, we can fight back against the politics of fear and exclusion and build a world where everyone can thrive.
“I am very fortunate to know and work closely alongside incredible trans and non-binary people whose creativity and presence are essential to the cultural fabric we all share. Trans Mission is going to be a special and unforgettable night, and I’m excited to share the stage with so many wonderful people I hugely admire.”
Organisers said the show was in response to rising hate crimes and discrimination against trans people, particularly after the UK supreme court’s ruling on biological sex and the subsequent interim advice of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Gatwick says its plans will generate an additional 14,000 jobs. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA
Heidi Alexander approves expansion to allow 100,000 more flights a year
Gatwick airport’s £2.2bn second runway plan has been given the go-ahead by the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander.
With the privately financed project, the West Sussex hub is aiming to increase its capacity by 100,000 flights a year.
Gatwick will move its emergency runway 12 metres north, enabling it to be used for departures of narrow-bodied planes such as Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s.
The new runway is expected to add 14,000 jobs and as much as £1bn in extra economic activity.
Alexander backed the scheme as a “no-brainer” for economic growth, a government source said on Sunday, suggesting flights could take off from the new full runway by 2029.
Environmentalist have slammed the government’s decision to approve a second Gatwick runway.
Green party leader Zack Polanski has said:
“Signing off on a second runway at Gatwick is a disaster. It ignores basic climate science and risks undermining efforts to tackle the climate crisis. Labour keeps wheeling out the same nonsense about growth, but at what cost? What this really means is more pollution, more noise for local communities, and no real economic benefit.
Expanding Gatwick is a tired, 20th-century answer to a 21st-century crisis. Labour’s obsession with ‘growth at all costs’ is driving us deeper into a climate breakdown and social inequality crisis.”
Rosie Downes, head of campaigns at Friends of the Earth, argues that the economic case for the expansion is ‘massively overstated’:
“With emissions from aviation rising as climate extremes increasingly batter the planet with more intense floods, droughts and wildfires, it’s a struggle to see how the government can conclude expansion at Gatwick is a wise move.
“The Secretary of State says a second runway is a “no-brainer” for the economy, but the economic case for airport expansion is massively overstated. Any growth in air passengers leaving the country is likely to mean more UK tourists using their spending power overseas than anything we might gain from visitors.
Your Party MP Zarah Sultana speaks at a demonstration organised by CND, Stop the War, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Muslim Association of Britain, Palestinian Forum in Britain and Friends of Al-Aqsa, in London to call for an end to Iran war, March 2026
