Labour MP suspended over Holocaust post to be given whip back within days
Suspended MP Kate Osamor is being given the Labour whip back within days, The Independent has been told.
Three months after being suspended over a Holocaust Memorial Day post suggesting the Israeli action in Gaza is genocide, the Edmonton MP will be welcomed back into the Labour fold.
Ms Osamor, who was a shadow minister under Jeremy Corbyn, was placed under investigation over the post, which likened Israel’s war in Gaza to the Holocaust, as well as genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia.
In the message, she said: “Tomorrow is Holocaust Memorial Day, an international day to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, the millions of other people murdered under Nazi persecution of other groups and more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and now Gaza.”
The Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) condemned the remarks as “inappropriate and offensive”. And the Board of Deputies of British Jews issuing a statement saying it “unreservedly condemned the attempts by Kate Osamor to link the Holocaust to the current situation in Gaza”.
She quickly apologised for the post and instead referred to the situation in Gaza as a “humanitarian disaster” as opposed to a “genocide”.
Judges at the International Court of Justice in the Hague have said there is a “plausible” case Israel has committed acts in Gaza that violate the Genocide Convention.
The Independent has approached Labour and Ms Osamor for comment.
A critic of her suspension said it was “performative” because Ms Osamor was still given labour briefings while technically an independent MP. They added that she was told she would be judged on how closely she followed the labour whip, despite being suspended by the party.
But a JLM source said: “Osamor’s apology this time will have to be spectacularly sincere, contrite and demonstrate true understanding of the deep hurt she caused the Jewish community to cut the mustard.
“Given her past form, we’ll remain sceptical that she has truly learned any lessons; in her actions as well as words.”
It is thought she will be given the whip back by next Wednesday. A Labour source suggested the decision was meant to be taken earlier this week but was delayed because it would have clashed with the anniversary of the suspension of Diane Abbott. Labour said it was untrue that the timing was related to Ms Abbott. A Labour spokesman said they could not comment on an ongoing case.
Ex-shadow home secretary Ms Abbott remains suspended and under a supposed investigation after she wrote a letter suggesting Jewish people are not subjected to the same racism as some other minorities last April.
Ms Abbott has described the investigation into her as a “sham”, while MPs on the Labour left have called for her to have the whip restored.
Ms Osamor is to get the Labour whip back a month after Andy McDonald, who was suspended over remarks he made at a pro-Palestine rally, was also brought back into the parliamentary party.
The MP for Middlesbrough was suspended from the party in October last year after using the phrase “between the river and the sea” in a speech during a demonstration.
But, after an investigation into the comments, Labour concluded he had “not engaged in conduct that was against the party’s rulebook”.
The party said it had reminded him of “the importance of elected representatives being mindful” of what they say and how their comments may be interpreted.
Mr McDonald said it was “never my intention” to use language that would cause anyone distress and that he “bitterly regrets” the “pain and hurt caused”.
“I will continue to denounce the abominations of antisemitism and Islamophobia wherever they raise their ugly heads. These are key reasons why I joined the Labour Party 45 years ago,” he said. Former Labour MP Geraint Davies remains suspended under investigation over allegations that he sexually harassed junior colleagues.
Ms Osamor was elected to represent Edmonton in 2015 and served under Mr Corbyn as shadow minister for women and equalities and shadow secretary of state for international development. She is a member of the international development committee.
The MP has previously courted controversy and was in 2020 told to apologise by parliament’s standards commissioner after being found in breach of the MPs’ code of conduct in relation to her son’s conviction for a drugs offence.
After quitting Mr Corbyn’s shadow cabinet as a result of events surrounding her son Ishmael’s conviction, she was found to have broken the rules by using parliamentary headed notepaper to supply a character reference to the court on the day of his sentencing.
She was also found to have damaged the reputation of the Commons by using abusive language to a journalist enquiring about the case.
A report by former standards commissioner Kathryn Stone noted that Ms Osamor swore at a journalist and told him she “should have come down here with a f***ing bat and smashed your face open” after he asked questions about her son’s case.
Asylum seeker guilty of murdering pensioner ‘in revenge for Gaza’
A Moroccan asylum seeker who said he was inspired by “revenge” for the Israel-Hamas conflict has been convicted of murdering a pensioner out walking in the street.
Ahmed Alid, 45, stabbed Terence Carney, 70, six times in Hartlepool town centre early on October 15 – eight days after Hamas attacked Israel.
Minutes earlier, at around 5am, he had broken into the bedroom of his housemate, Christian convert and former body builder Javed Nouri, and hacked at him while he slept.
Alid shouted “Allahu Akbar” – “God is great” – during the terrifying attack at the Home Office-approved asylum seekers’ accommodation in Wharton Terrace, as Mr Nouri, 31, fought for his life.
Following the struggle, audio of which was captured by another asylum seeker’s 999 call, the smaller man fled into the street, still armed with one knife.
Doorbell camera footage showed Mr Carney, who was out walking in the town centre, cry out “No, no” as he was stabbed by the stranger.
This was not a frenzied attack, the prosecution at Teesside Crown Court said, but a deliberate attempt to target Mr Carney’s body repeatedly before he walked off, leaving his victim for dead.
Jurors saw footage of armed police arresting Alid, who still had his bloodstained knife in his waistband, in a nearby street.
In a holding cell at Middlesbrough police station, Alid launched into a speech in Arabic saying that “Allah willing, Gaza would return to be an Arab country” and how he would have continued his “raid” if his hands had not been injured.
Alid, who strongly disapproved of Mr Nouri’s conversion to Christianity, said God was “displeased” with those who went astray.
Housemates noticed Alid had watched a lot of coverage of the Hamas attacks on Israel and began carrying a knife.
Mr Nouri told detectives how Alid had laughed when he saw Hamas kill its victims.
The concerned housemate complained to housing bosses, the Home Office and to Cleveland Police, and a manager did warn Alid to behave or risk being thrown out.
During his police interview the day after the murder, Alid told police he launched his attacks because “Israel had killed innocent children”.
Jonathan Sandiford KC, prosecuting, told the court: “In other words, he said he had committed the attempted murder of Javed Nouri and the murder of Mr Carney in revenge for what he believed to be the killing of children by Israel.”
Mr Sandiford added: “He swore by Allah that, if he had had a machine gun, and more weapons, he would have killed more victims.”
Alid admitted Mr Carney was “innocent”, justifying the attack by saying that Britain had created the “Zionist entity” of Israel and should make them leave, adding: “They killed children and I killed an old man.”
Alid began to get agitated with his interpreter during questioning by two female detectives, with colleagues monitoring the interview from elsewhere in the building.
The defendant, a terror suspect, got into a struggle with the two women, one of whom pressed a panic button to summon help, but the alarm did not work.
The situation was so frightening, Alid’s own solicitor rang 999 from inside the police station to ask for help, before officers were able to force entry into the room and subdue him.
Alid denied murder, attempted murder and assaulting the two officers, claiming he did carry out the stabbings but without intention to kill or cause serious harm.
After the trial, Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: “The horrific attacks in Hartlepool were unprovoked and deeply disturbing.
“I have no doubt that the swift response of the attending officers prevented further harm or loss of life that morning.
“We’re grateful for their bravery in the face of a dangerous and unpredictable suspect.
“I’d also like to thank the people of Hartlepool for their calm and measured response to that day’s events and for the resilience they showed in the weeks that followed.”
Cleveland Police’s Deputy Chief Constable Victoria Fuller said the stabbings “shook the local community to its core”.
She said: “Alid’s actions not only left a family devastated, but also caused significant fear and distress amongst residents in Hartlepool and beyond.”
A jury unanimously found Alid guilty of murdering Mr Carney, attempting to murder Mr Nouri and assaulting the two detectives.
The judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, said she would sentence Alid on May 17.
Alid, who had the verdicts delivered to him through a translator, showed no emotion when they were announced.
Laurence Fox to pay £180,000 damages after wrongly calling two people paedophiles on X
Laurence Fox has been ordered to pay a total of £180,000 in damages to two people he referred to as paedophiles on social media after losing a High Court libel battle.
The actor-turned-politician was successfully sued by former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake and drag artist Crystal over what Ms Justice Collins Rice described in her ruling as a “distinctly homophobic” libel.
Mr Fox called Mr Blake and the former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant, whose real name is Colin Seymour, “paedophiles” during an exchange on Twitter about a decision by Sainsbury’s to mark Black History Month in October 2020.
The Reclaim Party founder – who said at the time that he would boycott the supermarket – attempted to counter-sue the pair and broadcaster Nicola Thorp over tweets accusing him of racism.
However, in a judgment in January, Ms Justice Collins Rice dismissed Mr Fox‘s counterclaims and ruled in favour of Mr Blake and Mr Seymour,
In a ruling on Thursday, the judge said Mr Fox should pay Mr Blake and Mr Seymour £90,000 each in damages.
She said: “By calling Mr Blake and Mr Seymour paedophiles, Mr Fox subjected them to a wholly undeserved public ordeal. It was a gross, groundless and indefensible libel, with distressing and harmful real-world consequences for them.
“They are entitled by law to an award of money, to compensate them for those damaging effects, and to ensure that they can put this matter behind them, vindicated and confident that no one can sensibly doubt their blamelessness of that disgusting slur and that they were seriously wronged by it.”
Ms Justice Collins Rice said she accepted the evidence of Mr Blake and Mr Seymour that they experienced Mr Fox’s libel as “distinctively homophobic”.
She said: “Their vulnerability to reputational harm by this libel was exacerbated by their national profile on LGBTQ+ issues and the safeguarding matters engaged by their respective livelihoods.
“The claimants’ evidence, which I accepted, was that they experienced the libel and its consequences as distinctively homophobic.”
She added: “Out of nowhere, and literally overnight, they were catapulted into the glare of a national news story and national media commentary of an exceptionally vehement, exposing and polarised nature.”
At a hearing in March, Lorna Skinner KC, for Mr Blake and Mr Seymour, had said the pair should receive “at least six-figure sums” from Mr Fox, calling a suggestion the pair should only receive a “modest” award “nonsense”.
Ms Justice Collins Rice said in her ruling that the award of damages could have been a “multiple” higher if his “victims” had been different.
She said: “To an extent, Mr Fox was after all fortunate in his victims. Mr Blake and Mr Seymour were subjected to an unwarranted ordeal.
“But they have not had their lives and their prospects ruined by it, as they might have done. They have had powerful support publicly and privately, and have shown themselves to be self-possessed, articulate, resourceful and resilient individuals.
“Had it been otherwise, the award of damages could well have been a multiple of the figure I have decided upon.”
However, Patrick Green KC, for Mr Fox, said the starting point of damages should be between £10,000 and £20,000, with the total being “substantially lowered” due to an apology from Mr Fox and the absence of malice.
Mr Green added: “The remarks were quickly retracted and apologised for, and at the very least it was clear to the public at large at an early stage that the allegation was baseless.”
Ahead of Thursday’s ruling, Mr Fox described the original judgment as a “bullies charter” and said he disagreed “profoundly” with the result.
He said in a post on Twitter/X: “I don’t know what the judge will award these people. But the costs of these proceedings are enormous. So a whopper of a cheque is getting written in the next few days.”
As well as the sum of damages, the senior judge also ordered Mr Fox to not repeat the allegations against Mr Blake and Mr Seymour “on pain of being found guilty of contempt of court”.
Ms Justice Collins Rice said: “Mr Blake and Mr Seymour are legally entitled not to have Mr Fox repeat the same or similar allegations as the one he made – namely, that they are paedophiles … He has no right whatever to do so and his track record of public utterances persuades me that this discipline is necessary and proportionate.”
However, the judge declined to make an order requiring Mr Fox to publish a summary of the decision on his Twitter/X account.
She said the “bald fact” of Mr Blake and Mr Seymour’s victory was “widely known” and had been the subject of extensive publicity, adding there was a risk that any ordered publication could be used to cause “further public humiliation and inaccurate or counterproductive commentary” about the pair.
Captain Tom’s family uses his name to help sell £2.25m mansion
Captain Tom’s daughter has used his name in a brochure to help sell the family home in Bedfordshire, which is currently listed for £2.25m.
Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin have recently listed the Grade II seven-bedroom property in Rightmove, just months after they were forced to tear down an unauthorised spa building.
Among the many pictures of the property is one of the hallway, which features a large bust of the war veteran, which commemorates the 100 laps he walked around his garden to raise money for the NHS.
In a statement from the owner that is included in the brochure, Ms Ingram-Moore says: “A particularly special memory of our time here is of my father walking 100 laps of the garden to raise a record-breaking sum of almost £40million for NHS charities during the pandemic!”.
Within the brochure, it adds: “The property is owned by the family of Captain Sir Tom Moore who spent his final years there raising money for the NHS during the Covid pandemic.”
The property in Marston Moretaine boasts four bathrooms, four reception rooms and comes with a stand alone coach house.
While Captain Tom received a knighthood for his charitable efforts for the NHS, his family have since become embroiled in controversy after an investigation was launched into the charity established in his memory.
In February 2022, the Charity Commission announced it would be reviewing the accounts, after it emerged that the foundation had given grants of £160,000 to four charities but paid more than £162,000 in management costs.
During an interview with TalkTV’s Piers Morgan Uncensored in October 2023, his daughter tearfully admitted that the family kept the profits from three books that Captain Tom had written, which amounted to an estimated £800,000.
This was despite a prologue in his autobiography ‘Tomorrow will be a Good Day’ stating that the opportunity to write the memoir gave him “the chance to raise even more money” for his foundation.
She also revealed that she was paid £18,000 to attend the Captain Tom awards but only donated £2,000 of that sum to charity.
Since July last year, the foundation is not actively seeking donations or making payments and is co-operating with the inquiry.
The controversy escalated further after Ms Ingram-Moore and her husband were ordered to knock down an unauthorised building that was being used as a home spa.
The U-shaped building received planning permission from the Captain Tom Foundation in August 2021, with revised plans submitted in February 2022, which included the construction of a spa pool, toilets and a kitchen.
These were rejected by Central Bedfordshire Council, with an appeal dismissed and the building was demolished earlier this year.
E2E Female 100 List for 2024 Revealed
E2E, in association with The Independent, proudly unveils the E2E Female 100 list, a definitive index recognising the exceptional achievements of the 100 fastest-growing female-led or founded businesses in the United Kingdom, based on their remarkable growth rates over the past three years.
The data underpinning this prestigious recognition is gathered by Experian and Go Live Data, ensuring a meticulous selection process that acknowledges businesses solely for their tangible contributions to the commercial landscape.
Spanning a myriad of sectors, these league tables serve as a testament to the remarkable endeavours spearheaded by women across the UK.
A celebratory gala dinner is scheduled for the autumn of 2024, hosted by Shalini Khemka CBE.
Featured in the list and demonstrating extraordinary growth are Darina Garland, co-founder and co-CEO at Ooni, who has seen an 88% increase, Alison Doherty, CEO at Sarah Raven’s Kitchen & Garden Limited who has seen an 83% increase and Fateha Begum, co-founder and executive director at Dare International Ltd who has seen an 81% increase in growth.
The E2E Female 100 constitutes a pivotal component of The E2E 100, a visionary initiative encompassing six league tables, complemented by expansive receptions and a plethora of associated content.
This initiative stands as a resounding testament to the exceptional calibre of UK enterprises, showcasing their unwavering commitment to excellence, consistent growth, and groundbreaking business strategies that reverberate not only within their respective sectors but resonate nationwide, and in some instances, globally.
Highlighting talent from every corner of the UK, this list underscores the rich diversity of businesses founded by women and the monumental successes they have achieved despite navigating through the challenges of an uncertain economic landscape.
Speaking about the list, Shalini Khemka CBE, founder of E2E says: “The E2E Female 100 list is a testament to the remarkable achievements of women in business. It showcases their talent, dedication, and resilience in navigating the business world. We’re still in a period of transition where women have to be recognised as much as possible to create parity in our economy, both in terms of general recognition, pay recognition, and equal opportunities, and I believe this list serves as a pivotal step towards achieving that goal. By shining a spotlight on the outstanding contributions of women entrepreneurs, the E2E Female 100 list not only celebrates successes, but also advocates for the recognition and equal treatment of women in business.”
Andy Morley, Chief Revenue Officer from The Independent, said: “It brings us great pleasure to highlight this extraordinary assembly of women, each having demonstrated remarkable strides over the past three years in their respective fields. The collaboration between E2E and The Independent for the E2E Female 100 provides a platform to spotlight the exceptional female talent across the UK whilst inspiring future generations of female entrepreneurs, and shows E2E’s commitment to championing female leadership in business.
Lord Bilimoria CBE, DL said: “As a founding Board Member of E2E, I’ve witnessed its transformation under the stewardship of Shalini Khemka CBE, evolving into a pivotal ecosystem supporting founders, business leaders, and investors. The Female 100 is a testament to E2E’s commitment to spotlighting the fastest growing female-led enterprises across the UK— a remarkable initiative that not only celebrates the achievements of these dynamic women but also serves as an inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs. E2E’s dedication to fostering diversity and empowering female leaders underscores its invaluable contribution to the entrepreneurial landscape, shaping a future where opportunity knows no bounds.”
The tracks are independently compiled by Go Live Data and Experian according to specific criteria and official data. Each track is supported by our partners Champions (UK) plc, Go Live Data, Virtuoso Legal and Experian.
To find out more about E2E, visit https://www.e2exchange.com
How did a Tory promise to end no-fault evictions become stalled?
Conservatives pledged in the 2019 manifesto to abolish Section 21 notices, which allow landlords to evict tenants without giving a reason. No-fault eviction, as it is called, has been one of the biggest complaints of tenants, and the abolition of Section 21 notices has long been a central demand of tenant and homelessness campaign groups, such as Shelter.
Now, almost five years after the first promise was given, and almost a year since the Renters (Reform) Bill was tabled, the commitment seems no closer to being honoured. The bill is now going through its report stage and third reading in the Commons before returning to the House of Lords, but the key sections are expected to be watered down or subject to delay.
Michael Gove, the housing secretary, also seems to be wavering. In a television interview in February, he insisted Section 21 orders would be abolished by the next election. On the eve of the bill’s third reading, he seemed less certain, saying to the BBC: “Everything depends on the House of Lords. My determination is to ensure that we get this bill on the statute book. But it’s up to the Lords to decide the rate of progress that we can make … It will be a judgement of the Lords as to how this bill progresses.”
Rayner attacking the PM for being short? Ooh… how low can she go?
You know a joke has landed when even Penny Mordaunt comes off Wordle and struggles not to snigger. Mouth twitching, her poker face struggling not to collapse, the leader of the Commons almost needed oxygen after Angela Rayner’s jibe at the “pint-sized loser” she works for.
Attack, they say, is the best form of defence. Which is lucky because Rayner doesn’t do subtle. Verbal baseball bats are more her thing. Her insult of choice – “Tory scum!” – may have been decommissioned after the murder of David Amess MP, but the rage that drives Ange is undimmed.
And they were all out to get her: half the Conservative benches seemed to have prepared gags about capital gains tax.