Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (right) and then British ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson during a welcome reception at the ambassador’s residence in Washington, DC, February 27, 2025
LABOUR MP Ian Byrne got to the heart of the Mandelson crisis in the Commons on Wednesday. Namely, he made the point that it is in fact a Mandelson-McSweeney-Labour Together scandal and the measures taken by the government in the wake of the New Labour grandee’s disgrace only scratch the surface of what is needed.
Byrne told MPs that the row over Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to Washington in December 2024 “was not just a catastrophic error of judgment that has caused profound damage to this government’s reputation.
“It was the result of a clique at the top of the party, as we have seen with the Morgan McSweeney and Labour Together scandal, which I and colleagues … have called on the Prime Minister and the general secretary of the Labour Party to launch an independent investigation into.”
Socialist Campaign Group secretary Richard Burgon underlined the point, asking how Mandelson was even considered for the Washington job.
“It is because it suited the interests of a tiny faction in the Labour Party, funded by big business, which wanted Mandelson at the heart of things in order to shift a Labour government away from the agenda that a real Labour government should have.
“That is why Mandelson was popular with these people … and that is why, despite his despicable character, despite his greed and his avarice, he was put in that position.”
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Protesters called for “an end to the occupation and a halt to arms sales to Israel” during the national march organized in London by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in London, United Kingdom on November 29, 2025. [Raşid Necati Aslım – Anadolu Agency]
A senior Labour Member of Parliament has led a cross-party push for the UK to impose comprehensive sanctions on Israel, citing concerns about military actions in the Gaza Strip and the potential annexation of the West Bank, Anadolu reports.
Richard Burgon, the MP for Leeds East, announced more than 60 parliamentarians have formally backed a parliamentary motion demanding a significant shift in diplomatic and economic policy.
“After the genocide in Gaza, the Israeli government is moving to annex the West Bank. Only sanctions – on arms, trade, the economy & Israeli officials – can stop these war crimes,” he wrote Tuesday on social media.
The motion references a statement backed by 85 UN member states, including the UK, opposing the “de facto annexation of the West Bank” as a violation of international law.
It noted the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which found Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful and must end “as rapidly as possible,” and all new settlement activity must cease.
The text adds that the court made clear that all states, including the UK, must not recognize the situation as lawful and must refrain from any aid or assistance that maintains it, as well as take steps to prevent economic or trade activity that entrenches it.
The motion also notes that the UK imposed widespread sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, but similar measures have not been taken in response to Israel’s reported war crimes and repeated violations of international law.
It urges the government to meet its legal obligations following the ICJ opinion by banning trade and investment in goods and services linked to illegal Israeli settlements.
Violence in the West Bank has escalated since the start of the war in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, with Israeli forces and illegal Israeli settlers carrying out attacks that include killings, arrests, property destruction, home demolitions, displacement and settlement expansion.
The attacks have killed at least 1,121 Palestinians and injured 11,700, in addition to the arrest of nearly 22,000 Palestinians.
Palestinians warn that the violations could pave the way for Israel to formally annex the West Bank, effectively ending the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state as envisioned in UN resolutions.
The international community and the UN consider the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, an occupied Palestinian territory and view Israeli settlements there as illegal under international law.
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Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel’s criminal war for Israel’s genocidal expansion in Iran and states that he supports Zionism “without qualification”.Orcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says “Wish someone would lock him up”.Donald Trump warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog, says that it’s easy atm, she only needs to report war crimes supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion.
An F-35 arriving back at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, June 2019
Corbyn tables Commons Bill requiring Parliament’s approval before allowing foreign militaries to use British bases
LEFT MPs moved today to block Britain from being dragged deeper into the escalating attack against Iran.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tabled a Commons Bill to require MPs’ approval before allowing foreign militaries to use British military bases.
The move comes as not only are US forces using the bases to pursue their illegal aggression, but British military forces are increasingly becoming directly involved in the conflict.
Mr Corbyn’s Military Action (Parliamentary Approval) Bill is co-sponsored by Labour, Green and Independent Alliance MPs and a response to PM Sir Keir Starmer’s agreement to allow US use of the bases.
While it has scant chance of becoming law, it signals growing disquiet in Labour’s ranks and beyond about Britain getting bogged down in supporting US President Donald Trump’s attack.
It would “require parliamentary approval for the deployment of UK armed forces and military equipment for armed conflict” and “require parliamentary approval for the granting of permission by ministers for use of UK military bases and equipment by other nations for armed conflict.”
Its co-sponsors are new Green MP Hannah Spencer and her colleague Ellie Chowns, Adnan Hussein and Ayoub Khan from the Independent Alliance and Labour’s Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Brian Leishman, John McDonnell, Richard Burgon, Apsana Begum, as well as suspended Labour MP Diane Abbott.
Sir Keir is under growing pressure from Mr Trump to fall in line as British governments usually do, forcing the premier to assert in the Commons that the “special relationship” did not “depend on hanging on to President Trump’s latest word.”
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpADonald Trump explains why he established his Bored of PeaceOrcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says “Wish someone would lock him up”.
The justice secretary, David Lammy, has backed down on previous plans to permit jury trials only for cases carrying sentences of five years. Photograph: House of Commons/PA
Only cases such as murder and rape or offences carrying sentence longer than three years would face jury under plans
David Lammy has been accused of making a “massive mistake” by Labour MPs and peers after announcing radical plans to cut thousands of jury trials across England and Wales.
Defendants will no longer have the option to choose to have their cases heard before a jury, the justice secretary told the Commons. Magistrates’ powers will be extended from dealing with maximum sentences of one year to at least 18 months, he said, and a new judge-led court will be established.
The deputy prime minister has backed down on plans to remove jury trials for all cases involving a maximum jail term of five years after an outcry from MPs, lawyers and campaigners.
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The move means defendants accused of burglary, theft, fraud, sexual assault, stalking, sharing indecent images, drug dealing and criminal damage up to £10,000 could be denied the right to put their case to a jury.
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Labour MPs said the changes would make it harder for defendants and may not reduce the backlog.
Stella Creasy, the MP for Walthamstow, said jury trials only accounted for 3% of cases, asking how much difference curbing them would make. “It’s hard to see how this measure … will address that backlog,” she said.
Clive Efford, the MP for Eltham and Chislehurst and a leading member of the Tribune group, said it could penalise working-class defendants and could lead to an “us-and-them in the criminal justice system”.
Richard Burgon, the left-leaning MP for Leeds East, said the policy sent “a chill through my heart”, and compared it to policies enacted by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.UK Labour Party Foreign Secretary David Lammy repeatedly heckled at a speech to the Fabian Society over his and the Labour Party’s support for and complicity in Israel’s genocide of Gaza.
In the aftermath of the Iraq war, several attempts were made to establish an inquiry surrounding the conduct of British military operations. Published in 2016, the Chilcot inquiry found serious failings in the British government, which ignored the warnings of millions of ordinary people over its disastrous decision to go to war.
History is repeating itself. Today, the death toll in Gaza has reportedly exceeded 61,000. Two Israeli officials are wanted by the international criminal court for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Britain has played a highly influential role in Israel’s military operations, including the sale of weapons, the supply of intelligence and the use of Royal Air Force bases in Cyprus.
Transparency and accountability are cornerstones of democracy. Therefore we are demanding an independent, public inquiry into the UK’s involvement in Israel’s military assault in Gaza. This inquiry should establish exactly what decisions have been taken, how they have been made and what consequences they have had. Any meaningful inquiry would require the full cooperation of ministers involved in decision-making processes since October 2023.
Many people believe that the government has taken decisions that have implicated officials in the gravest breaches of international law. These charges will not go away until there is an inquiry with the legal power to establish the truth.
Jeremy CorbynIndependent Alliance, Brendan O’Hara Middle East spokesperson, Scottish National party, Carla Denyer Co-leader, Green party, Brian LeishmanScottish Labour, Diane AbbottLabour, Zarah SultanaIndependent, Richard Burgon Labour
UK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (right) and then British ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson during a welcome reception at the ambassador’s residence in Washington, DC, February 27, 2025
