UN calls for a ceasefire and new fossil fuels agreement may not go far enough
Rishi Sunak may be able to breathe a sigh of relief ahead of Christmas, but his party could still yet tear itself apart over the controversial Rwanda bill.
The legislation managed to garner enough support this week. But with Sunak facing down discontent from both sides of the party, come New Year he’s going to have to admit he cannot please everybody. Some in the party are concerned at how the Rwanda bill will block human rights challenges to the removal of asylum seekers to the African country. Others want the bill to go even further, and wipe out any potential legal challenges.
At the UN, a majority of members backed a demand for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The US voted against the vote and the UK abstained.
In the face of the overwhelming loss of life in Gaza it can be difficult to understand why the US and UK may not immediately jump to back a call for a ceasefire.
The reason some nations are not backing a ceasefire is that an immediate ceasefire would not result in immediate peace.
Israel suffered a horrific terror attack on October 7 which means a return to the status quo with Hamas is not possible. Israel and its allies argue that while hostages are being held in Gaza and Hamas vows to repeat October 7 again and again, they fear standing down will allow Hamas to regroup.
If Hamas were to release all the hostages immediately and promise to hold democratic elections in Gaza, then in those circumstances its hard to see how the US and UK would not alter their positions.
However if Israel continues with its current campaign then there’s a huge question mark over what comes next if and when Hamas has been defeated (experts are uncertain about how achievable a total defeat actually is or what that may look like).
If Israel removes Hamas from power then it’s unlikely an occupation of Gaza would have international support. Or, crucially, support from the Palestinians.
So politically nations like the UK are stuck walking a very difficult tightrope. There’s a need to show support for Israel, a close ally. But the UK must also acknowledge the shocking scenes unfolding in Gaza, show humanity and support towards the Palestinian people, push for an end to the violence and find a path that takes both countries to a future peace deal.
US president Joe Biden himself says Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu does not back a two-state solution. So it seems unlikely either Gaza or Israel will be able to reach a peace deal under their current leaderships. And there’s much to be resolved in the West Bank too, where Israeli settler violence against Palestinians has also spiralled since October 7.
BBC reporter Jeremy Bowen writes here about how the status quo between Israel and Gaza has been “smashed” and the future is “messy and dangerous”.
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Let’s get on to the news list.
Rishi Sunak narrowly avoided a major rebellion by rightwing Conservative MPs after they abstained on his controversial Rwanda bill. In a blow to Sunak’s authority, more than two-dozen Tory MPs abstained in the vote on deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda, including the former home secretary Suella Braverman. MPs warned that the prime minister must strengthen the legislation or face it being voted down when it returns to the Commons in early January.
Sunak now faces weeks of chaos as he struggles to hold together his party, with the rightwing openly attacking his flagship bill. Meanwhile centrist One Nation MPs have warned they would be unable to support a toughened-up version that sidelined human rights legislation. Find out how your MP voted here.
Keir Starmer’s performance at Prime Minister’s Questions this week has been likened to a Panto production and stand-up. Starmer had plenty of material to throw at Rishi Sunak this week following the struggles inside the Conservative party over the Rwanda bill. He asked: ”Christmas is a time of peace on Earth and goodwill to all - has anyone told the Tory party?" Labour’s Chris Bryant also got some potshots in, asking: "What's worse? Losing your WhatsApp messages as a tech bro? Losing £11.8bn to fraud as chancellor? Presiding over the biggest fall in living standards in our history? Or desperately clinging on to power when you've become even more unpopular than Boris Johnson?"
The prime minister’s net favourability rating is comparable to that Boris Johnson’s at the time of his resignation Asked in polling conducted on Monday evening/Tuesday morning – ahead of the Commons vote on the Rwanda bill – seven in ten Britons (70%) said they had an unfavourable opinion of Rishi Sunak, compared to only 21% with a favourable view. This gives the prime minister his lowest ever net favourability score of -49 – a 10 point drop from late November.
The United Nations has demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war after more than three-quarters of the 193-member General Assembly backed the move. A separate vote was vetoed by the US in the UN Security Council last week. The United States does not have a veto in the General Assembly. It voted against the resolution, along with Israel and eight other countries. The UK abstained, along with 22 other countries. General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry political weight, reflecting a global view on the war. Israel argues a ceasefire will allow Hamas to regroup and prolongs the conflict. "A ceasefire means one thing and one thing only - ensuring the survival of Hamas, ensuring the survival of genocidal terrorists committed to the annihilation of Israel and Jews," Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said ahead of the vote.
US president Joe Biden is taking a tougher stance in his language around the Israeli military action in Gaza. Biden warned that Israel was losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing" of Gaza. “Israel's security can rest on the United States, but right now it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of the world supporting them,” Biden said to donors during a fundraiser Tuesday. “They’re starting to lose that support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place.”
Three elite US universities handle fallout from controversial congressional hearing on anti-semitism
What happened? The presidents of three elite US universities - Penn, Harvard and MIT - have faced a backlash after they could not say whether calling for the genocide of Jews would violate their schools’ conduct policies during a congressional hearing on anti-semitism. Penn’s president became a particular target for calling it “a context-dependent decision” when asked if “calling for the genocide of Jews” violated her university’s rules. The hearing was held to look into how campuses are handling accusations of anti-semitism on college campuses following October 7.
What was the reaction? The White House condemned the statements. Senator John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, described the testimony as “a significant fail”. “There is no ‘both sides-ism’ and it isn’t ‘free speech,’ it’s simply hate speech,” he said in a statement. “It was embarrassing for a venerable Pennsylvania university, and it should be reflexive for leaders to condemn antisemitism and stand up for the Jewish community or any community facing this kind of invective.”
Then what? Penn president Elizabeth Magill stepped down within days. Harvard’s president Claudine Gay has managed to fend off calls to resign and the university board has announced she will stay in her job.
Why couldn’t they say calling for genocide constitutes bullying or harassment? All three presidents have apologised for their answers to the hearing. It’s since emerged they all received legal counsel before the hearing, and it’s thought they were too heavily focused on freedom of speech rights.
What next? With the presidents of MIT and Harvard both receiving backing from their universities to stay in post, they remain safe. All three universities have lost donor funding since the row erupted. The political fallout has seen those on the right say this is a result of allowing universities to be taken over by “left wing ideologies”.
A new deal has been reached at the Cop28 UN climate summit in Dubai, calling on nations to transition away from the use of fossil fuels in energy systems. It calls on countries to contribute to global efforts "in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science”. The agreement doesn’t include a call for the “phase out” of fossil fuels, which European countries and many of those nations most at risk from climate change wanted. That was stymied after a pushback from oil-producing countries.
Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford has announced he's quitting after five years in the job. Drakeford will step down in March, with a new Welsh Labour leader due to be elected before Easter. He denied the backlash over new 20mph speed limits across the country had anything to do with it. Mr Drakeford had planned to stand down in 2024 but the timing of his announcement was a surprise.
School leaders’ unions have called for Ofsted inspections to be paused following a coroner’s finding that inspection likely contributed to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry. In a joint statement, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, and Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, said they were “calling for an immediate pause to Ofsted inspections to allow time for meaningful action to be taken to address the concerns raised by the coroner in the inquest into the death of Ruth Perry”. The general secretaries said they would now be writing formal letters to education secretary Gillian Keegan and Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman. Ofsted has said this is the final week of inspections this term and that headteachers who do not want their school inspection to go ahead can have it to deferred until 2024. Ms Perry’s family said that she took her own life after an Ofsted report downgraded her school, Caversham Primary School in Reading, from the watchdog’s highest rating to its lowest over safeguarding concerns. The inquest into Ms Perry’s death was carried out last week, with senior coroner Heidi Connor stating that Ms Perry’s “mental health deterioration and death was likely contributed to by the Ofsted inspection”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington on Tuesday to make an in-person plea for more military and economic aid. Zelensky, visiting Washington for the third time since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022, met with members of Congress and President Joe Biden. The visit comes as a deal for a supplemental funding package that includes crucial aid for the war-torn country remains stuck due to congressional Republicans who want the Biden administration to make concessions on border security and immigration policy in exchange for the aid package. A deal remains unlikely with a holiday recess looming. During a joint news conference with the Ukrainian leader Tuesday, Biden vowed the US will support Ukraine for “as long as we can.”
An asylum seeker living on the Bibby Stockholm barge has died by suicide. Some people in Portland say there are already too many people "crammed" on the vessel. The government has decided to house hundreds of asylum seekers on the barge in order to save money on hotels. The vessel has cost taxpayers more than £22million so far.
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are “hijacking children's taste buds” and robbing them of the “joys of real food”, leading celebrity chefs and authors have warned. The group, which includes Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Yotam Ottolenghi, Dr Chris van Tulleken and Kimberley Wilson, said the items are “blindfolding" kids to flavour and texture. In a letter penned to Rich Sunak, the coalition said many would grow up “only knowing the simplified and sweet flavours” of UPFs, risking long term health issues.
BBC presenter Gary Lineker is facing fresh accusations of ignoring the corporation’s impartiality rules after he shared a post on social media about defence secretary Grant Shapps. Speaking to MPs at a pre-appointment hearing, the BBC’s new chairman Samir Shah said the corporation "needs to find a solution" to arguments over impartiality. He called the ongoing row between Lineker and the BBC a “psychodrama". The former footballer had posted photos of the politician along with different names he has been accused of using in the past. Mr Shah also said he did not think it was "helpful" the presenter had signed a letter calling for the end of the government's Rwanda plan.
Parents have been warned by the National Crime Agency about allowing children on Facebook after Meta’s decision to introduce encrypted messaging raised concerns for their safety. The decision was described by one minister as “morally reprehensible” and the agency believes that it will mean police being alerted to thousands fewer cases of child abuse each year. It estimates that 92 per cent of the referrals it receives from Facebook and 85 per cent of reports from Instagram will no longer be passed on to police.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been named among Hollywood’s biggest losers of the year by industry bible, The Hollywood Reporter. The magazine published its 2023 review celebrating those who triumphed and noting those who failed to hit the mark. Among the 11 chosen as having struggled were the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who were mocked for their “whiny Netflix documentary, a whiny biography (Spare - even the title is a pouty gripe ) and inert podcast”.
What I’m watching
The Crown (Netflix). The final episodes of The Crown’s last season are out now. I’m not sure if it’s that the subject matter is now so close to the present day or if the handling of it is off, but I think this show passed its peak some time ago.
Leave The World Behind (Netflix). Instantly forgettable end-of-the-world movie. It does however have a great cast who put in brilliant performances. It’s just not enough to save it from an ultimately weak script.