Rishi Sunak accused Keir Starmer of making “antisemites” Labour candidates at another bad-tempered session of Prime Minister’s Questions ahead of the Rochdale by-election.
The prime minister said voters in the Greater Manchester town would have the choice of “three former Labour candidates, two of which are antisemites”.
He was referring to George Galloway, the Workers Party leader, and Azhar Ali – both former Labour MPs – who have been accused of being antisemitic, which they deny.
Mr Ali was suspended by Labour earlier this month after he was recorded saying that Israel had “allowed” Hamas’s 7 October terror attacks to take place. Mr Galloway was expelled from the Labour Party in 2003 over his stance on the Iraq war.
“The truth is, his party is so mired in hate that, despite three ex-Labour candidates standing, he can’t back a single one of them,” the prime minister told MPs in the Commons earlier.
“We expel antisemites, he makes them Labour candidates.”
Mr Sunak also criticised Mr Starmer for supporting his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, whose leadership of the party was dogged by allegations of antisemitism. Mr Corbyn has been banned from standing for Labour at the next election over the issue.
The exchange came in another heated session of PMQs in which the Labour leader branded the Tories the “political wing of the flat earth society” following Liz Truss’s recent visit to the US where she alleged that the “deep state” had undermined her premiership.
Rochdale by-election: Chaotic contest overshadowed by antisemitism row and Gaza war leaves voters frustrated
Once a Labour safe-seat, Rochdale is facing a chaotic byelection this week where the party isn’t represented at all, writes Zoe Grunewald.
Read the full report here:
Matt Mathers28 February 2024 16:30
Reform candidate blames George Galloway for ‘whipping up division’ in Rochdale after receiving death threat
Matt Mathers28 February 2024 15:59
ICYMI: Has Labour’s Rochdale debacle gifted George Galloway an open goal?
What was set to be a straightforward contest to replace the late Labour MP Tony Lloyd, who died of blood cancer aged 73, has been mired by a series of scandals. Archie Mitchell asks how we got here, and what will happen next.
Matt Mathers28 February 2024 15:58
When is the Rochdale by-election and who are the candidates?
Here are the 11 candidates in the running for election in the Greater Manchester town:
Matt Mathers28 February 2024 15:57
What could happen if George Galloway wins the Rochdale by-election?
This Thursday’s vote in a deprived town in Greater Manchester has generated something of a circus in recent weeks. Sean O’Grady looks at what a Galloway win could mean, not just for Rochdale but for British politics as a whole.
Read the piece in full here:
Matt Mathers28 February 2024 15:56
Scheme to insulate 300,000 homes over 3 years helps just 2,900 in first 8 months
A government scheme aimed at insulating 300,000 homes in three years in a bid to reduce energy bills has only helped 2,900 homes in its first eight months.
Ministers are now assessing whether the programme – the £1bn Great British Insulation Scheme – is viable, The Times reports.
“The government knows that the scheme isn’t working and isn’t going to work in its current form,” an industry source told the paper. “The question they still haven’t answered is what they’re going to do instead.”
File photo: A home being insulated
(PA Wire)
40% of Labour’s key target voters still undecided – poll
Some 40 per cent of key voters targeted by Labour remain undecided about who to back at the next election, according to a poll.
A YouGov survey for Labour Together, seen by i news, found two groups of key voters – Workington Man and Stevenage Woman – are yet to be conviced by Keir Starmer’s party.
The poll did, however, show that the opposition maintains a commanding overall leader over the Conservative Party – 42 per cent vs 22 per cent,
Matt Mathers28 February 2024 15:00
Rishi Sunak refuses to back Post Office chief under investigation
Matt Mathers28 February 2024 14:45
Government ‘missing the point’ over new £31 million security measures for MPs
Matt Mathers28 February 2024 14:27
Starmer doesn’t want to stop mass migration – Farage lashes out
Keir Starmer has forgotten that millions of Labour voters want to stop “mass migration and our increasingly unrecognisable cities”, Nigel Farage has said.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, the former leader of Ukip and the Brexit Party said: “An extraordinary attack on me by Keir Starmer during #PMQs today.
“He must have forgotten that millions of Labour voters agree with me (rather than him) on stopping mass migration and our increasingly unrecognisable cities.”
Barney Davis28 February 2024 14:06