A Labour MP was forced to make a humiliating apology after he accused Rishi Sunak of having “blood on his hands” over his response to the Israel-Gaza war.
Tahir Ali made the claim during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons.
Unleashing his rant, Mr Ali claimed that the PM had “boldly stated” confidence in Israel following international law despite Foreign Office concerns.
He added: “Therefore, is it now not the time for the Prime Minister to admit that he has the blood of thousands of innocent people on his hands and for him to commit to demanding an immediate ceasefire and an ending of UK’s arms trade with Israel?”
Mr Sunak immediately hit back, pithily pointing out the intervention undermined Keir Starmer’s claim to have reformed the Labour party since the Jeremy Corbyn era.
“That’s the face of the changed Labour Party,” he said to roars of approval from the Tory benches.
The Labour leadership moved to distance itself from Mr Ali’s comments after the clashes in the chamber, with a party spokesman branding them “clearly inappropriate”.
Mr Ali said sorry in a statement on social media.
“Earlier at PMQs I asked the Prime Minister about the actions of Israel in Gaza,” he wrote.
“This is obviously a deeply emotive issue. While I do not resile from my strongly held views on the situation in the Middle East I would like to apologise for the way in which I described.”
He went on: “We all have a responsibility to be respectful in the language that we use, even when discussing difficult and, at times, sensitive issues.”
Kemi Badenoch lashed out at Mr Ali’s remarks in the commons.
Writing on X/Twitter the Business and Trade Secretary said: “Some Labour MPs think they’re in parliament to represent other countries against the UK.
“Tahir Ali’s scripted rant during PMQs was appalling and will please many who despise Britain and our values.
“Those who think the Labour party changed after Corbyn are not paying attention.”
It was reported last week that an internal Foreign Office assessment, after reviewing a report from Amnesty International, initially concluded it had “serious concerns” about Israel’s actions in Gaza.
The assessment related to a decision on whether to revoke arms export licences to Israel.
David Cameron was due to arrive in the Middle East on Wednesday to press for an immediate humanitarian pause in the fighting.
Downing Street said Lord Cameron was expected to raise “the importance of a two-state solution”.
The Foreign Secretary is due to visit Qatar, Israel, the West Bank and Turkey.
