Senior Tories pile pressure on Rishi Sunak to back immediate Gaza ceasefire

Published

1 year ago

December 19, 2023

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Rishi Sunak is under pressure to back an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after 10 senior Conservative MPs accused Israel of carrying out the “brutalisation of the civilian Palestinian population” – which they argue risks fuelling more extremism in the region.

The MPs, including former cabinet ministers, have written to Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron to argue that the case for an immediate ceasefire is now “unanswerable”.

It comes before the prime minister is due to face questioning from MPs on the Liaison Committee on Tuesday, in which the war between Hamas and Israel is likely to feature prominently.

In the letter signed by 10 Tory MPs – including former education secretary Kit Malthouse and former environment secretary George Eustice – the group said Israel’s actions appeared to be neither “proportionate or targeted”, with “many thousands of civilians dead and injured, and close to two million forcibly displaced”.

“Thousands of bodies must surely still lie under the rubble,” they continued.

“In particular, the number of women and children who have been killed is profoundly shocking. As you have said yourself, too many Palestinians have died.”

Politics latest: Tory MPs sign letter calling for immediate ceasefire

Their intervention comes as Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration faces mounting international criticism over the scale of civilian casualties.

The conflict in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’s attack on 7 October which saw 1,200 people killed and 240 more taken hostage, has flattened much of northern Gaza and has driven 85% of the territory’s population of 2.3 million from their homes.

Meanwhile, aid groups have warned of a spiralling humanitarian crisis as the bombardment continues.

Last weekend, the United Nations General Assembly held a vote in which 153 out of 193 members supported a ceasefire in Gaza. The US voted against the move, while the UK abstained.

On Sunday Lord Cameron called for a “sustainable ceasefire” in the escalating conflict in a move that added to growing global pressure on Israel.

The foreign secretary said “too many civilians have been killed” and urged Israel to do more to “discriminate sufficiently between terrorists and civilians, ensuring its campaign targets Hamas leaders and operatives”.

His language strongly echoed that of US President Joe Biden, who described Israel’s bombing in Gaza following the Hamas terrorist attack on 7 October as “indiscriminate”.

However, Lord Cameron stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire, something that has been a recurring demand by pro-Palestinian campaigners as the death count in Gaza continues to grow.

MPs ‘dismayed’ by UK’s UN stance

The Tory group of MPs who wrote to Mr Sunak said they were “dismayed” that the UK abstained on the UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza when allies including France, Canada and Australia supported it.

Paul Bristow, the Tory MP for Peterborough who was sacked from his government post in October for calling for a ceasefire and who signed the letter, told Sky News’s Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge that on top of the 10 MPs who had written to Lord Cameron, there were “many more behind the scenes” who wanted the UK to push for that outcome.

The letter followed an article from former defence secretary Ben Wallace who warned at the weekend that Israel risked losing its “legal” and “moral” authority if it continued with its “killing rage” in Gaza as he appealed to all sides to pursue a two-state solution.

Asked about Mr Wallace’s article during a trip to Scotland, Rishi Sunak said that while Israel “obviously has a right to defend itself against what was an appalling terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas… it must do that in accordance with humanitarian law”.

“It’s clear that too many civilian lives have been lost and nobody wants to see this conflict go on a day longer than it has to,” the prime minister added.

Elsewhere in the letter to the foreign secretary, the 10 Conservative MPs went on to warn that the risk of disease and starvation was “imminent” as the Palestinian population is “kettled into ever smaller areas”.

“By any measure we are witnessing a catastrophe of precisely the kind the 1949 Geneva Conventions were supposed to prevent. As such, it is unconscionable that we should make Gaza an exception to the rules and obligations those accords created,” the letter by the MPs said.

The MPs added they had all “privately expressed our anguish and dismay at the position taken by His Majesty’s government following the terrible atrocities of 7 October”.

“We said we did not believe it was in the United Kingdom’s or Israel’s best long-term interests for them to flatten Gaza and massacre innocent Palestinians in pursuit of Hamas, nor that there was a viable military solution to dealing with such a terrorist organisation and to securing the urgent return of Israeli hostages,” they wrote.

The letter added: “On the contrary, the brutalisation of the civilian Palestinian population is sure to lead to more extremism in the future.

“Furthermore, it is increasingly clear that the Israeli military strategy is neither proportionate nor targeted and that there is no serious prospect of success, whatever that might mean.”

Politics

‘Brexit wounds’ mean EU members want UK access to rearmament fund limited, Sky News told

Published

3 hours ago

May 20, 2025

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EU still suffering 'wounds of Brexit', bloc's foreign affairs chief tells Sky News

Britain should have access to the EU’s rearmament fund before the end of the year but “wounds of Brexit” mean some member states want it to be limited, the bloc’s foreign affairs chief has said.

Kaja Kallas told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby that the “technical details” of Security Action for Europe (SAFE) still need to be sorted out.

SAFE is a €150bn (£126bn) fund to provide loans to EU nations and other participants to bolster their defences.

Politics Live: Starmer says EU deal ‘win-win’

As part of Sir Keir Starmer’s new reset deal with the EU, a new defence partnership was struck that will allow the UK to access it.

Asked when this might be, Ms Kallas said: “The SAFE instrument has just been finalised between the institutions but it also needs approval from the European Council. And when that is done, we also move on with the implementation of that, and that is in the coming months.”

Asked about reports that some member states think there should be a limit on what the UK can access, she said: “ Of course these discussions are there. We have the wounds from Brexit very clearly.

“I mean you wanted to exit the European Union and then there are many voices who say that you shouldn’t have the same benefits from the European instruments that the European Union countries have.”

According to The Times, France is pushing to freeze the UK out of 85% of the fund.

Asked if Britain’s access should be higher, Ms Kallas said her personal view is that given the current climate “we should do both. We should invest more in European industry. But we should also cooperate with our outside partners like the UK”.

She added that the EU hasn’t had discussions in terms of percentage, because the fund is “down to the capabilities”.

“That is, I think, more important than numbers,” she said.

Speaking to the BBC, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that the UK was in a “better place than any country in the world” on trade.

She said that under Labour, Britain has “the first deal and the best deal so far with the US, we’ve got the best deal with the EU for any country outside the EU, and we’ve got the best trade agreement with India”.

“Not only are these important in their own right,” she added, “but it also shows that Britain now is the place for investment and business, because we’ve got preferential deals with the biggest economies around the world.”

The UK government has said accessing SAFE will support thousands of British jobs.

Defence was one of the many areas that has been agreed as part of the new UK and the EU trade deal struck by Sir Keir Starmer – five years after Brexit kicked in.

A key part of the deal involves giving European fishing boats a further 12 years of access to British waters.

In return, there will be increased access to EU eGates for British passport holders in Europe, no health certificates every time pets travel to Europe and the removal of red tape from most UK food and drink imports and exports.

Politics

Genesis files dual lawsuits to claw back $3.3B from DCG, Barry Silbert

Published

4 hours ago

May 20, 2025

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Genesis files dual lawsuits to claw back .3B from DCG, Barry Silbert

Genesis has launched a pair of lawsuits against its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), and its CEO, Barry Silbert, accusing them of fraud, reckless mismanagement and siphoning more than a billion dollars in value from the now-bankrupt crypto lender.

On May 19, the Delaware Court of Chancery unsealed a complaint detailing how DCG allegedly used Genesis as a corporate ATM, draining funds through self-serving loans and concealed transfers while presenting a false image of financial health.

Through their court-appointed Litigation Oversight Committee (LOC), Genesis creditors claim that over a million digital coins — worth about $2.1 billion — were funneled away, even as Genesis edged toward collapse.

As per the complaint, Genesis creditors are still owed around $2.2 billion worth of crypto assets, including 19,086 Bitcoin (BTC), 69,197 Ether (ETH) and over 17.1 million other tokens, along with significant unpaid fees and interest as of Feb. 9, 2025.

At the core of the lawsuit is the claim that Silbert and other insiders ignored basic risk controls and pushed Genesis into reckless lending practices that ultimately served to benefit DCG’s crown jewel, Grayscale Investments.

DCG withdrew $1.2 billion from Genesis before bankruptcy

The complaint describes Genesis as having operated without a board or independent oversight, with key decisions made to enrich DCG at the expense of depositors.

“In particular, Silbert, Kraines, and Murphy orchestrated sham transactions at the end of the second and third quarters of 2022, when Genesis’s books closed, to deceive Genesis lenders into believing that DCG was providing liquidity and equity to Genesis,” the complaint states.

Genesis also said it was forced to accept illiquid Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares as collateral and was barred from selling them, creating major valuation risks.

“GBTC was illiquid because it could not be sold for six months after its purchase due to a lockup period imposed by the SEC, and DCG prohibited Genesis from reselling GBTC even after the lockup period ended,” the complaint states.

The complaint names DCG, Barry Silbert, former Genesis CEO Michael Moro, former DCG chief financial officer Michael Kraines, DCG President Mark Murphy and DCG’s investment banker Ducera Partners as defendants.

Genesis files dual lawsuits to claw back $3.3B from DCG, Barry Silbert — *Source:* *GenesisLOC*

A second complaint, filed in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that DCG and its affiliates withdrew over $1.2 billion in US dollars and cryptocurrencies during the year leading up to Genesis’s bankruptcy.

These withdrawals, the LOC argued, were timed around major market events such as the collapses of Terra-Luna, Three Arrows Capital, and FTX — moments when Genesis was already insolvent.

Internal filings suggest insiders recovered 100% of their funds, while retail and institutional creditors were left exposed.

Genesis seeks to recover billions

In total, Genesis is seeking to recover more than $3.3 billion through the two lawsuits.

In April 2025, a New York judge ruled that most of the New York Attorney General’s civil fraud lawsuit against DCG, Silbert, and former Genesis CEO Michael Moro can move forward.

The suit accuses DCG and its bankrupt lending arm Genesis of misleading investors after the collapse of crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, allegedly masking a $1 billion shortfall with a 10-year, low-interest promissory note.

While Gemini and Genesis have settled, DCG and the executives have fought the charges.

Genesis filed for bankruptcy in early 2023 with $14 billion in outstanding loans.

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Politics

Second man charged over fires at properties and car linked to Sir Keir Starmer

Published

4 hours ago

May 20, 2025

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Second man charged over fires at properties and car linked to Sir Keir Starmer

A second man has been charged in connection with a series of fires linked to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc is accused of arson with intent to endanger life, the Metropolitan Police said.

He has been charged with conspiring together with Roman Lavrynovych, 21, and others unknown to damage by fire property belonging to another, intending to damage the property, and intending to endanger the life or another or being reckless as to whether the life of another would thereby be endangered.

The 26-year-old, from Romford, was arrested at London Luton Airport on Saturday and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court this morning.

The charge relates to three fires.

Two of the fires took place in Kentish Town, north London. One occurred during the early hours of 12 May at the home where Sir Keir lived before he became prime minister and moved into Downing Street.

A car was set alight in the same street four days earlier on 8 May.

The other fire took place on 11 May at the front door of a house converted into flats in Islington.

Following Carpiuc’s arrest by counter-terrorism officers, he was held in police custody after a warrant of further detention was obtained.

Lavrynovych, a Ukrainian national from Sydenham in southeast London, has already been charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life in connection with the fires.

He denied the charges in a police interview.

Lavrynovych appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday and was remanded in custody until a further hearing at the Old Bailey scheduled for 6 June.

A third man, aged 34, was arrested in Chelsea in southwest London on Monday on suspicion of arson.

He remains in custody, the Metropolitan Police said.