Foreign
How The UK Political Crisis Affects The Opposition Labour Party?
For the first time in years, Labour has a realistic chance of coming to power in the next general election.
While Tories are looking for a new prime minister after the resignation of Liz Truss, the Labour Party, having reinvented itself, seems destined to take up the reins of government sooner rather than later.
Since David Cameron became prime minister after the Conservatives’ election victory in 2010, Labour has been desperate to unseat the Tories. Now, for the first time in years, it has a good chance of coming to power in the next elections, which must take place in 2024 at the latest.
“Given Truss’s departure and the Conservatives’ abysmal poll ratings, Labour have every opportunity of winning the next general election, and winning big,” Nicholas Allen, professor of politics at Royal Holloway, University of London, told Al Jazeera. “Whether or not their stratospheric lead in the polls continues, the party must fancy its chances of defeating the Tories and returning to power.”
“If the Conservatives have wrecked their reputation and image as badly as the polls suggest, then Labour could be in with a decent chance of winning at least the next two general elections,” he said. “If so, they’ll have the opportunity to pursue a sustained programme and change Britain’s economy and society to their liking.”
“They need to avoid complacency, of course, but as we saw with New Labour in the mid-1990s, the confidence that comes with a very healthy lead in the polls can foster discipline and focus minds on becoming the government,” Allen added.
‘We are ready’
Party leader Keir Starmer emphasised that Labour believes it is ready to govern after Truss’s resignation.
“After 12 years of Tory failure, the British people deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos,” he said on Twitter.
Starmer also announced his willingness to take on responsibility. “We are ready to form a government,” Starmer told Sky News on Thursday.
Moreover, during Labour’s conference at the end of September, Starmer outlined the party’s agenda to change Britain for the better.
Starmer presented his ideas for a publicly owned energy company, insulation for every British home and carbon-free power by the end of the decade – with the intent to tackle the soaring cost of living and to “level up” the UK’s regions.
However, some experts argue that much of what Starmer announced were promises rather than coherent plans.
‘Hands are tied’
“Labour have to provide more detail on their policy priorities and be clear on whether a Labour government would be genuinely redistributive,” Lynn Bennie, reader in politics and international relations at the University of Aberdeen, told Al Jazeera. “They need to provide more detail on how they would rise to economic, social and ecological challenges.”
“Starmer’s hands are tied to an extent due to the dire state of the economy, meaning he can’t promise too much, but I think there’s some confusion on the part of the electorate about Labour’s policies,” she said. “What would the party actually do with power?”
Thus far, Labour have primarily benefitted from the chaos within the Tories and the current economic situation, not by delivering a brilliant message that has sparked a movement and Labour revival.
The tumultuous Boris Johnson years and Truss and her failed mini-budget have led to financial turmoil, causing the public to become weary of its government.
“Labour’s rise in the polls has more to do with the very public failings of the last two Conservative prime ministers and the deeper structural problems gripping the country, specifically rising energy prices, inflation, the cost of living crisis and chronically unfunded public services,” Allen said. “The material impact of Brexit is also beginning to bite, whether the Tories want to admit it or not.”
“The Tories are a bit like the Titanic after it struck the iceberg. They’re going to sink anyway, but it’s as if their recent captains have been making additional holes in the hull to speed up the process,” he said.
Indeed, current polls have Labour leading the Tories by up to 30 percentage points – figures not seen since Tony Blair led Labour to new heights in 2001.
New elections
With that kind of polling advantage, Labour wants new elections. However, much to the opposition’s dismay, these seem – at least for now – implausible.
Under the Fixed-term Parliament Act, an early election can only be triggered if two-thirds of MPs are in support of the idea.
Since Johnson’s landslide victory in 2019, the Tories possess an absolute majority in the House of Commons.
Members of the party will vote on Truss’s successor within the next week with the current favourite being Rishi Sunak, former chancellor of the Exchequer under Johnson.
No matter who becomes the next prime minister, the new resident of No 10 Downing Street would face significant trouble reversing course and re-establishing trust in the party.
“Overall, Sunak would be the great threat [to Labour] as he would have more widespread appeal, and he is obviously more competent,” Bennie said.
“However, the damage done to the Conservative brand and reputation will mean any Conservative leader will struggle to win an election,” she said.
The waiting game
Labour are thus in a somewhat comfortable position right now. With the British economy and national budget already suffering and the country’s debt extremely high, it is essentially playing the waiting game.
What also speaks in Labour’s favour is that, unlike the previous elections, the party seems, at the very least, sufficiently competent to lead.
With the election of Starmer as the party’s leader in 2020, Labour has transformed away from what many voters perceived to be unelectable, far-left views under predecessor Jeremy Corbyn towards a more moderate, less divisive party and leadership.
In fact, Starmer suspended Corbyn’s membership and cracked down on anti-Jewish tendencies in the party as soon as he took office.
“The party suffered a humiliating defeat in 2019, which silenced the Corbyn supporters though most remain in the party,” Bennie said. “Starmer is obviously more moderate ideologically and more cautious strategically.”
Starmer has offered the Tories as few targets as possible on issues such as the culture wars, political correctness, migration, the relationship with NATO and even Brexit, which once divided the party’s electoral base.
“However, there’s a question mark over what kind of Labour Party this really is because we have relatively little to judge in policy terms,” Bennie said. “Blair’s approach was similar in that economic credibility came first, but New Labour had clearer policy objectives.”
Dull character
Despite Labour’s advantages at the moment, some observers have argued that for now, the party’s and Starmer’s most significant burden could be Starmer himself.
While he is considered competent, he is also often described as a dull character, and the ability to electrify the masses does not seem to be one of his calling cards.
However, a quiet pragmatist may not be the worst alternative in the current environment, the tumultuous previous years and the crises at hand, Allen said.
“Dullness can be a virtue, especially when prime ministers are exciting, dynamic and terrible,” he noted.
Nonetheless, Starmer has questions to answer before potentially taking over from the Tories.
“Labour still need to develop their strategy,” Allen said. “Not having a general election is to their benefit, whatever they say. More time will give them the space to develop that strategy and the personnel to implement it.
“It probably follows that the country will benefit from Labour taking its time to develop fully the policies necessary to dig Britain out of its current hole.”
Dozens of Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes in central and south Gaza as Red Sea tensions rise.
Here’s how things stand on Monday, January 15, 2024:
Latest updates and human impact
- Israeli attacks continue unabated overnight killing and wounding dozens of civilians in central and southern Gaza. At least 22 people were killed and a large number injured as a result of Israeli forces targeting al-Thalatheni Street in the central Gaza Strip.
- Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired an antiship cruise missile toward an American destroyer in the Red Sea, which was shot down by a US fighter jet, announced US Central Command (CENTCOM) on X.
- This was the first US-acknowledged Houthi attack since the US strikes on Yemen on Friday.
- Hamas released a 37-second video showing three Israeli captives held in Gaza on Sunday, saying they would reveal the fate of the captives on Monday and urging the Israeli government to stop the offensive.
- The Israeli military says it has shifted to a new phase of the war focused on the southern end of Gaza, where almost 2 million internally displaced Palestinians are running out of safe spaces to shelter.
- The Gaza Ministry of Health has said almost 24,000 people have been killed in the Israeli offensive. More than 60,000 people have been wounded in 100 days of war.
Diplomacy
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his country will pursue its war against Hamas until victory and will not be stopped by anyone, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
- The White House said on Sunday that “it’s the right time” for Israel to scale back its military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
- Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS) said in a statement on Sunday that one of the biggest obstacles to the timely delivery of sufficient aid to Gaza was Israeli inspection of the aid. The statement came after Israel blamed Cairo for the delay in aid delivery to Gaza during its defence at the ICJ.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken posted on X on Monday, calling for the release of the remaining captives held in Gaza on the 100th day since they were taken by Hamas. He did not mention the Palestinian casualties.
- Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who described herself as a “friend of Israel” to the press, will travel to Jordan, Israel, the occupied Palestinian Territories and the United Arab Emirates this week, her office said on Monday.
West Bank raids and violence
- Israeli forces arrested 25 students staging a sit-in in protest against high tuition fees at An-Najah University in Nablus. Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut reported that the protesting students received a text message from Israeli forces telling them to “surrender now”.
- Israeli forces have reportedly raided the family home of Nael al-Barghouti, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner, in the village of Kobar, in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.
- The Israeli army said on Friday that it killed three Palestinian men who infiltrated a West Bank settlement and fired upon soldiers.
- The Israeli military killed two Palestinians after accusing them of ramming their car through a checkpoint near Hebron.
- Local sources reported that Israeli forces bulldozed two Palestinian-owned houses during a Sunday midnight raid in the city of Qalqilya, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
- Armed Israeli settlers broke into the village of Burin, south of Nablus, and attacked Palestinian residents’ houses and properties after midnight on Sunday, Wafa reported.
- “Violent raids and arrests have become part of the fabric of daily life in the occupied West Bank,” Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said. At least 347 Palestinians have been killed and thousands have been arrested since October 7.
Flames and smoke billow during Israeli attacks against Gaza on October 9, 2023
Human Rights Watch terms Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s call for a ‘complete siege’ on Gaza a ‘war crime’.
The Hamas movement has threatened to kill an Israeli hostage every time Israel bombs a Palestinian home without warning as Israel mobilised some 300,000 reservists and imposed a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, denying the enclave’s millions of residents access to food, water and fuel.
The warning from Hamas came on Monday as the death toll from the armed group’s surprise weekend attack climbed to 900 in Israel and revenge attacks by Israeli forces on the besieged Gaza Strip killed more than 700 people and left some 3,700 others wounded.
Residential apartment blocks, hospitals, schools and a mosque have been among the sites attacked by Israeli fighter jets, artillery and drones, according to media reports and witnesses.
Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubaida issued the threat to kill Israelis from the dozens held captive by the armed group. He said an Israeli hostage would be killed for every Israeli bombing of a civilian house without warning.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said more than 100 people were taken captive by Hamas during the deadly cross-border incursion over the weekend.
As Israeli forces conducted intense retaliatory attacks on Gaza on Monday, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant drew international condemnation by announcing a total blockade of the densely populated and besieged enclave, which is home to 2.3 million people.
Gallant said Israel would impose a “complete siege” on Gaza. “No electricity, no food, no water, no gas – it’s all closed.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply distressed” by the siege announcement and warned that Gaza’s already dire humanitarian situation will now “only deteriorate exponentially”.
Guterres also said some 137,000 people were taking shelter with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) at schools across Gaza.
UNRWA said on Tuesday that almost 190,000 people have been displaced in Gaza amid the Israeli attacks and the figure is expected to grow further as the violence intensifies.
Nearly half a million people have also not received food rations this week in Gaza as UN food distribution centres have been forced to remain closed amid the Israeli onslaught, UNRWA said.
Human Rights Watch said Israel’s total blockade on the necessities of life for everyday people in Gaza was a war crime.
“Defense Minister Gallant’s statements are abhorrent,” Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
“Depriving the population in an occupied territory of food and electricity is collective punishment, which is a war crime, as is using starvation as a weapon of war. The International Criminal Court should take note of this call to commit a war crime,” he said.
Abhorrent. This is a call to commit a war crime by @yoavgallant. The @IntlCrimCourt should take note.
Quote by @OmarSShakir ⤵️ https://t.co/kKVo6YtpI1 pic.twitter.com/neHQMwnXVn
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) October 9, 2023
Shakir also condemned the threat by Hamas to kill hostages, warning that such action was also a war crime.
“All hostages should be safely released to their families,” he said.
Grotesque. These threatened acts would amount to flagrant war crimes by Hamas’ armed wing. The @IntlCrimCourt will be watching.
Quote from @OmarSShakir ⤵️ https://t.co/FuNtvHe0YG pic.twitter.com/6cnHODLWyZ
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) October 9, 2023
On the diplomatic front, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Hamas and Israel to immediately end violence and protect civilians, the Egyptian presidency said.
Erdogan urged Israel against “indiscriminately” attacking civilians and delivered measured criticism of Hamas, urging both sides to respect the “ethics” of war.
The United Kingdom, French, German, Italian and US governments issued a joint statement on Monday recognising the “legitimate aspirations” of the Palestinian people and supporting equal measures of justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
But the prospect that fighting could spread also alarmed the region and the world.
Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in response to at least three of its members being killed in Israeli shelling of Lebanon.
Israel said one of its deputy commanders was also killed in an earlier cross-border raid from Lebanon.
US President Joe Biden holds a bilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York City, the US, September 20, 2023
Social media users, including journalists and observers, are calling out what they call a ‘double standard’.
After Saturday’s surprise attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to the social media platform X to offer “condolences go out to everyone who lost relatives or close ones in the terrorist attack”.
He also stated, “Israel’s right to self-defence is unquestionable.”
Many world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, shared similar sentiments.
The world is seeing appalling images.
Thousands of rockets raining down on Israeli cities. Hamas terrorists killing not only Israeli soldiers, but civilians on the streets and in their homes.
It’s unconscionable. Israel has a right to defend itself – full stop.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 7, 2023
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated, “Israel has the right to defend itself – today and in the days to come. The European Union stands with Israel.”
Accusations of Western ‘double standards’
Some social media users have criticised these statements, saying they highlight a double standard.
The world is seeing appalling images.
Thousands of rockets raining down on Israeli cities. Hamas terrorists killing not only Israeli soldiers, but civilians on the streets and in their homes.
It’s unconscionable. Israel has a right to defend itself – full stop.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 7, 2023
Ukraine’s right to defend itself is praised by most international leaders while Russia’s invasion is condemned, but commentators said the same cannot be said about Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
Aaron Bastani, a leftist British journalist, said on X that there’s a “clear double standard in endorsing terrorism against civilian targets in Ukraine … and condemning it by Palestinians”.
Many users said Western diplomats and media support the Ukrainians who defend their land, but label the Palestinians fighting against Israel as “terrorists”.
https://twitter.com/KhaledBeydoun/status/1710787817415082349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1710787817415082349%7Ctwgr%5E6acf829869e993177f32aa38aa48c02f38cb7f61%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2023%2F10%2F9%2Fwestern-leaders-accused-of-hypocrisy-over-response-to-palestine-ukraine
An illustration of a woman’s face, in which one eye is closed beside a Palestinian flag, and one eye open beside a Ukrainian flag, has been regularly shared as a symbol of the West’s alleged double standards in how the two conflicts are viewed.
https://twitter.com/OnlinePalEng/status/1710994682883273172?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1710994682883273172%7Ctwgr%5E6acf829869e993177f32aa38aa48c02f38cb7f61%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2023%2F10%2F9%2Fwestern-leaders-accused-of-hypocrisy-over-response-to-palestine-ukraine
Clips also emerged on social media from a CNN interview with Mustafa Barghouti, the general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, in which he posed the rhetorical question, “Why does the United States support Ukraine in fighting occupation – while here they support the occupier, who continues to occupy us?”
The hypocrisy and double standards of western governments and media platforms dealing with situations in Ukraine-Russia and Palestine-Israel blow the mind. Absolute disgrace.
— Said Yacoubi (@AlyacoubiSaid) October 8, 2023
It is not the first time Western nations have been accused of double standards in their stance on the Ukraine war.
Earlier in the year, Amnesty International published a report highlighting the West’s “double standards” on global human rights.
Agnes Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary-general, told Al Jazeera at the time that the occupation of Palestinian territory was a “particularly important one”.
“Without making any comparison between Russia’s aggression and Israel … it is clear the Palestinian people are under a regime of oppression – a regime of occupation and a regime of apartheid,” Callamard told Al Jazeera.
Over the last three days, X users recirculated earlier statements calling out what they called Western hypocrisy, sharing video by the Irish lawmaker Richard Boyd Barrett from March 2022 in which he berated the Irish government’s double standards regarding Ukraine and Palestine:
“You’re happy to use the most strong and robust language to describe the crimes against humanity of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, but you will not use the same strength of language when it comes to describing Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.”
Barrett on Sunday again called out what he described as “shocking double standards of Western leaders supporting Ukraine resistance but condemning Palestinian[s].”
Meanwhile, others warned against comparing conflicts.
https://twitter.com/denfordauthor/status/1710993737738768607?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1710993737738768607%7Ctwgr%5E6acf829869e993177f32aa38aa48c02f38cb7f61%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2023%2F10%2F9%2Fwestern-leaders-accused-of-hypocrisy-over-response-to-palestine-ukraine
And some cautioned that Hamas and the Palestinians should not be seen as one and the same.
Just to clarify:
Palestine did not mount an attack on Israel. An Iranian proxy militia did. Palestinians are by and large huddled in their homes praying that an Israeli airstrike won't kill them or theirs. Hamas is the culprit here. This isn't a decentralized grassroots thing.
— Romeo Kokriatski (@VagrantJourno) October 9, 2023
Ukrainian footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko, who plays for Arsenal, posted on Instagram, stating he “stands with Israel”.
Zinchenko has been a vocal supporter of his home country in its ongoing defence against Russia, and he participated in a Game4Ukraine charity match in London earlier this year to raise money for Ukraine.
After online backlash, with some questioning an alleged double standard in his support of Israel, the footballer removed the post and switched his social media account to private.
Several people claimed that Zinchenko’s football club, in not responding to his comments, was guilty of hypocrisy after they had distanced themselves from former player Mesut Ozil’s comments in 2019 over alleged human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in China.
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