Braverman’s immigration speech disrupted by protesters after Rees-Mogg interrupted on stage
Suella Braverman was heckled by protesters as she delivered a speech on reducing net migration at the National Conservatism conference.
Hours after an address by Tory heavyweight Jacob Rees-Mogg was interrupted by a stage invader, security had to eject two more people from the room.
Climate group Extinction Rebellion (XR) have claimed responsibility for the disruption, calling the activists “ordinary people speaking out against fascism”.
Analysis:
Braverman hints at leadership hopes with unusually personal pitch
National Conservatism is a global, right-wing movement which claims that traditional values are being “undermined and overthrown”.
The home secretary had barely begun speaking when a man stood up and started shouting about her small boats plan.
Moments later a woman stood up and started asking questions to boos from the audience.
The pair were swiftly hauled out of the room with Ms Braverman joking: “Anyone else? It’s audition day for the shadow cabinet.”
Mr Rees-Mogg also made light of the situation after a man joined him at the lectern during his speech and told the audience: “I would like to draw your attention to a few characteristics of fascism.”
The former business secretary said Conservatives believed in freedom of speech and that the activist “can have his national loony convention next week and see how many people show up”.
Shortly afterwards, Extinction Rebellion posted on Twitter: “XR disrupts the National Conservatism Conference, calling out the fascist ideologies of senior Cabinet members and MPs.”
A protestor is removed from the audience during Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s speech
Protester interrupts Jacob Rees-Mogg during a speech in London
‘Not racist to control our borders’
Ms Braverman used her speech to say the Conservative party needs to deliver on its manifesto promise to reduce immigration, arguing “it’s not racist” to want control of our borders.
“There is no reason why we can’t train up enough truck drivers, butchers, fruit pickers or welders,” the home secretary said.
“Brexit enables us to build a high skilled, high wage economy which is less dependent on low skill foreign labour.
“That was our 2019 manifesto pledge – and it’s what we must deliver.”
The speech will be seen as a warning to cabinet colleagues against relaxing immigration visa rules in a bid to boost growth.
There has been speculation of a split in government on immigration, with some members – including Chancellor Jeremy Hunt – more keen than others to stress the benefits of migration for the economy.
The Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto promised “fewer lower-skilled migrants” and that “overall (migrant) numbers will come down”.
But when the latest net migration figures come out next week, it’s suggested by researchers it could reach 700,000 or even a million at the highest.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman speaking during the National Conservatism Conference
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, suggested Ms Braverman was “auditioning” for the Tory leadership and distancing herself from the policies for which she is responsible.
Referencing a cropped photo which reduces the National Conservatism logo to “national con”, the Labour frontbencher tweeted: “Yep – that’s exactly what all this is. Suella Braverman criticising Govt immigration policies – wait til she finds out who’s in charge of them!”
Voter ID attempt at ‘gerrymandering’, Rees-Mogg suggests
Earlier, Mr Rees-Mogg used his speech to criticise prime minister Rishi Sunak for breaking his promise to complete a “bonfire” of remaining EU-era laws by the end of the year.
Fewer than 600 laws will be revoked under the bill by the end of the year instead of the 4,000 or so pledged – in a move the North East Somerset MP called “pathetically under-ambitious”.
“Rishi Sunak made a specific promise to scrap thousands of EU laws,” he said.
“He’s broken that promise. This is very unfortunate as one of his virtues is his trustworthiness and the surrender to the blob risks exposing the government to ridicule.”
The senior Tory MP also appeared to describe the introduction of voter ID as an attempt at “gerrymandering” that backfired against the Conservatives.
He said the policy, which he defended when a government minister, had made it harder for elderly Tories to vote.
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Rees-Mogg interrupted
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“Parties that try and gerrymander end up finding their clever scheme comes back to bite them, as dare I say we found by insisting on voter ID for elections,” he said.
“We found the people who didn’t have ID were elderly and they by and large voted Conservative, so we made it hard for our own voters and we upset a system that worked perfectly well.”
National Conservatism is a fringe event which has brought together supporters and representatives on the right of the Conservative party.
Tory MP Miriam Cates opened the three-day conference in London on Monday, saying that falling birth rates are “the one overarching threat to British conservatism and indeed the whole of western society”.
She also claimed “cultural Marxism” was “destroying our children’s souls” – something which has been criticised by the government’s antisemitism tsar.
John Mann, a former Labour MP who now serves as the government’s adviser on antisemitism, said: “The use of the term is rooted in Goebbels’ cultural Bolshevism and is a conspiracy theory with antisemitism at its core.
“No UK politician should be comfortable in using it and needs to understand where it comes from and why that is problematic.”
US president-elect Donald Trump has suggested Israel and Hamas could agree a Gaza ceasefire by the end of the week.
Talks between Israeli and Hamas representatives resumed in the Qatari capital Doha yesterday, after US President Joe Biden indicated a deal to stop the fighting was “on the brink” on Monday.
A draft agreement has been sent to both sides. It includes provisions for the release of hostages and a phased Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.
Qatar says Israel and Hamas are at their “closest point” yet to a ceasefire deal.
Two Hamas officials said the group has accepted the draft agreement, with Israel still considering the deal.
An Israeli official said a deal is close but “we are not there” yet.
More than 46,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its ground offensive in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Read more:
What’s in the proposed deal?
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on beachfront cafe in Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters
Biden hails possibility of agreement
President Biden said it would include a hostage release deal and a “surge” of aid to Palestinians, in his final foreign policy speech as president.
“So many innocent people have been killed, so many communities have been destroyed. Palestinian people deserve peace,” he said.
“The deal would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel, and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started.”
Qatari mediators have sent Israel and Hamas a draft proposal for an agreement to halt the fighting.
Analysis:
Deal might be close, but there are many unanswered questions
Pic: Reuters
Trump: ‘We’re very close’
President-elect Donald Trump has also discussed a possible peace deal during a phone interview with the Newsmax channel.
“We’re very close to getting it done and they have to get it done,” he said.
“If they don’t get it done, there’s going to be a lot of trouble out there, a lot of trouble, like they have never seen before.
“And they will get it done. And I understand there’s been a handshake and they’re getting it finished and maybe by the end of the week. But it has to take place, it has to take place.”
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Pic: AP
Israeli official: Former Hamas leader held up deal
Speaking on Tuesday as negotiations resumed in Qatar, an anonymous Israeli official said that an agreement was “close, but we are not there”.
They accused Hamas of previously “dictating, not negotiating” but said this has changed in the last few weeks.
“Yahya Sinwar was the main obstacle for a deal,” they added.
Sinwar, believed to be the mastermind of the 7 October attacks, led Hamas following the assassination of his predecessor but was himself killed in October last year.
Under Sinwar, the Israeli official claimed, Hamas was “not in a rush” to bring a hostage deal but this has changed since his death and since the IDF “started to dismantle the Shia axis”.
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Biden: ‘Never, never, never, ever give up’
Iran ‘weaker than it’s been in decades’
Yesterday, President Biden also hailed Washington’s support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024.
“All told, Iran is weaker than it’s been in decades,” the president said.
Mr Biden claimed America’s adversaries were weaker than when he took office four years ago and that the US was “winning the worldwide competition”.
“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are
weaker,” he said.
“We have not gone to war to make these things happen.”
The US president is expected to give a farewell address on Wednesday.
A draft ceasefire deal on the table between Israel and Hamas would see 33 hostages set free and a phased withdrawal of IDF forces from parts of Gaza.
President Joe Biden said an agreement to stop the fighting was “on the brink” and high level negotiations between the two sides resumed in Qatar on Tuesday.
The deal would see a number of things happen in a first stage, with negotiations for the second stage beginning in the third week of the ceasefire.
It would also allow a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by more than a year of war.
Details of what the draft proposal entails have been emerging on Tuesday, reported by Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages hold photos of their loved ones during a protest on 8 January. Pic: AP
Hostages to be returned
In the first stage of the potential ceasefire, 33 hostages would be set free.
These include women (including female soldiers), children, men over the age of 50, wounded and sick.
Israel believes most of these hostages are alive but there has not been any official confirmation from Hamas.
In return for the release of the hostages, Israel would free more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
People serving long sentences for deadly attacks would be included in this but Hamas fighters who took part in the 7 October attack would not be released.
An arrangement to prevent Palestinian “terrorists” from going back to the West Bank would be included in the deal, an anonymous Israeli official said.
Read more:
A timeline of events since the 7 October attacks
The hostages who still haven’t returned home
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in Beit Hanoun in Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza
The agreement also includes a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, with IDF troops remaining in the border perimeter to defend Israeli border towns and villages.
Security arrangements would be implemented at the Philadelphi corridor – a narrow strip of land that runs along the border between Egypt and Gaza – with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first few days of the deal.
The Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza would start to work gradually to allow the crossing of people who are sick and other humanitarian cases out of Gaza for treatment.
Unarmed North Gaza residents would be allowed to return to their homes, with a mechanism introduced to ensure no weapons are moved there.
“We will not leave the Gaza Strip until all our hostages are back home,” the Israeli official said.
What will happen to Gaza in the future?
There is less detail about the future of Gaza – from how it will be governed, to any guarantees that this agreement will bring a permanent end to the war.
“The only thing that can answer for now is that we are ready for a ceasefire,” the Israeli official said.
“This is a long ceasefire and the deal that is being discussed right now is for a long one. There is a big price for releasing the hostages and we are ready to pay this price.”
The international community has said Gaza must be run by Palestinians, but there has not been a consensus about how this should be done – and the draft ceasefire agreement does not seem to address this either.
In the past, Israel has said it will not end the war leaving Hamas in power. It also previously rejected the possibility of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governing powers in the West Bank, from taking over the administration of Gaza.
Since the beginning of its military campaign in Gaza, Israel has also said it would retain security control over the territory after the fighting ends.
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