Humza Yousaf’s in-laws make it out of Gaza after four weeks of ‘living nightmare’

Published

11 months ago

November 3, 2023

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The parents-in-law of Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf have made it out of Gaza after four weeks of a “living nightmare”.

Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla travelled to the Palestinian enclave to visit family but were unable to return home after the conflict erupted on 7 October.

A statement from Mr Yousaf and his wife Nadia El-Nakla said the couple were able to leave this morning.

“We are grateful to all of those who have assisted our parents over the last few weeks, including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office crisis team,” the statement said.

“These last four weeks have been a living nightmare for our family, we are so thankful for all of the messages of comfort and prayers that we have received from across the world, and indeed from across the political spectrum in Scotland and the UK.

“Although we feel a sense of deep personal relief, we are heartbroken at the continued suffering of the people of Gaza.”

They reiterated their calls for all sides to agree to an immediate ceasefire, for hostages to be released and the opening of a humanitarian corridor to allow aid and fuel “to flow” into the region.

“Families in Gaza and Israel are suffering after the loss of entirely innocent men, women and children,” the statement added.

“We pray for them all, and pray that the international community at last focuses on achieving a lasting peace in the region: one that recognises that the rights and lives of Palestinians and Israelis are equal.”

The Israeli military knocked out communications in Gaza last weekend cutting families off from each other.

When services were restored on Sunday morning, the first minister heard from his in-laws but feared for the pair’s safety as they had run out of drinking water.

The Foreign Office said the first British nationals left Gaza for Egypt on Wednesday as UK teams on the ground provided assistance.

It did not specify how many Britons had crossed the Rafah border.

Politics

Lisa Nandy says Sir Keir Starmer ‘very sensible’ to accept football tickets worth thousands

Published

4 hours ago

September 21, 2024

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Lisa Nandy says Sir Keir Starmer 'very sensible' to accept football tickets worth thousands

Lisa Nandy has said Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to accept thousands of pounds worth of football tickets was “very sensible”.

The minister for culture, media and sport also said she had never accepted free clothes from a donor.

Speaking to Sky News at the start of the Labour Party conference today, the MP for Wigan said: “The problem that has arisen since [Sir Keir] became leader of the opposition and then prime minister is that for him to sit in the stands would require a huge security detail, would be disruptive for other people and it would cost the taxpayer a lot of money.

“So I think he’s taken a very sensible decision that’s not the right and appropriate thing to do, and it’s right to accept that he has to go and sit in a different area.

“But I know that he’d much rather be sitting in the stands cheering people on with the usual crowd that he’s been going to the football with for years.”

Ms Nandy also said while she has not accepted free clothes – joking “I think you can probably see that I choose my own clothes sadly” – she doesn’t “make any judgements about what other members of parliament do”.

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She said: “The only judgement I would make is if they’re breaking the rules, so they’re trying to hide what they’re doing. That’s when problems arise.

“Because the point of being open and transparent is that people can see where the relationships are, and they can then judge for themselves whether there’s been any undue influence.”

She asserted there had not been an undue influence in gifts accepted by senior Labour figures, adding: “We don’t want the news and the commentary to be dominated by conversations about clothes.

“We rightly have a system, I think, where the taxpayer doesn’t fund these things. We don’t claim on expenses for them. And so MPs will always take donations, will always take gifts in kind.

“MPs of all political parties have historically done that and that is the system that we have.”

She added: “I don’t think there’s any suggestion here that Keir Starmer has broken any rules. I don’t think there’s any suggestion that he’s done anything wrong.

“We expect our politicians to be well turned out, we expect them to be people who go out and represent us at different events and represent the country at different events and are clothed appropriately.

“But the point is that when we accept donations for that or for anything else, that we declare them and we’re open and transparent about them.”

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Sir Keir, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves said yesterday they will no longer accept donations in the future to pay for clothes.

The announcement followed criticism of Sir Keir’s gifts from donors, which included clothing worth £16,200 and multiple pairs of glasses worth £2,485, according to the MPs’ register of interests.

The register shows Ms Rayner has accepted clothing donations to the value of £2,230.

Sky News also revealed the scale of Sir Keir’s donations this week as part of our Westminster Accounts investigation.

Sir Keir was found to have received substantially more gifts and freebies than any other MP – his total in gifts, benefits, and hospitality topped £100,000 since December 2019.