Jeremy Corbyn to open unofficial inquiry into UK handling of Gaza war

Jeremy Corbyn will open a two-day public tribunal into alleged British complicity in Israeli war crimes in Gaza on Thursday, at which former diplomats, UN specialists and international law academics will examine the Foreign Office’s handling of the crisis.The tribunal is being jointly chaired by the former Labour leader and is the kind of political initiative that will be a thorn in Keir Starmer’s side as his party seeks to retain the backing of leftwing and Muslim voters at the next election.The tribunal, which will be livestreamed from London, has been framed to look at what has happened in Gaza over the past two years, Britain’s legal responsibilities, any evidence of British covert support for Israel, and whether the government’s actions match any legal obligations to prevent a genocide.A former Foreign Office whistleblower, Mark Smith, will give evidence, as well as the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied territories, Francesca Albanese.Other witnesses will be a lawyer for the family of Jim Henderson, a World Food Kitchen aid worker killed on 1 April 2024; Prof Nick Maynard, an Oxford University surgeon who has been given a humanitarian award for his work in Gaza; and Palestinian journalists including Abubaker Abed and Yousef Alhelou

Farage a ‘Putin-loving, free speech impostor’ says Democrat before Reform head’s US speech – UK politics as it happened

Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House judiciary committee, says they do have free speech in the UK. He says Keir Starmer has not shut down GB News, even though Farage has a show on that station in which he criticises the government and calls for bans on peaceful protests.He says Farage is able to parrot “Putin’s absurd talking points” on TV. He goes on:For a man who fancies himself to some kind of a free speech martyr, Mr Farage seems most at home with the autocrats and dictators of the world who are crushing freedom on earth.He says Farage wants to get rid of the Online Safety Act

Nigel Farage called a ‘Putin-loving free speech impostor’ during bumpy US congressional hearing

Nigel Farage has been accused of being a “Putin-loving free speech impostor” whose main motivation is ingratiating himself with Donald Trump and tech companies, during a sometimes difficult appearance before a US congressional hearing on censorship.The Reform UK leader, who missed prime minister’s questions to appear as a witness before the House judiciary committee, was invited by its Republican leadership, who questioned him about what Farage called the “awful authoritarian” situation for free speech in the UK.But he also faced openly hostile questioning from Democrat members, who questioned whether he really backed free speech, with one asking why journalists from hostile publications had been banned from Reform events.In an opening statement, the Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin said that if Farage was, as he said, worried about the implications of the UK’s Online Safety Act, he might have done better to make the case as an MP rather than in the US.“He should go and advance the positions he’s taking here in Congress today in parliament, which is meeting today, if he’s serious about it,” Raskin said

Angela Rayner is a picture of misery but Dr Kemi passes up open goal | John Crace

You could argue that prime minister’s questions is no longer fit for purpose. Indeed, that it never really has been. Just a theatre showcase for some performance politics where few answers are ever extracted from the prime minister.To which you might now add that the Tories are not the real opposition. So Kemi Badenoch is essentially an impostor

Rachel Reeves can’t resist the short-termist narrative of the bond markets | Letters

On Tuesday, it was “Pressure rises on Reeves”, last Friday it was “a lift” for the chancellor (29 August). Before that, it was a “challenge” for Rachel Reeves (12 August)(22 July), a “gloomy autumn” (22 July)“UK economy shrinks unexpectedly in blow to Rachel Reeves” (14 March) and a “generational shift” in investment (10 June). Reeves must  feel like Mary Earps, keeping goal with balls flying at her from multiple directions! But the more serious take on this is the tendency for the media, including the Guardian, to push the narrative of a fragile economy whose health is subject to very short-term, daily events.This is a narrative derived from the bond markets, which strive to reduce long-term stability to short-term volatility in order to multiply transactional opportunities. The time has long passed to exert the kinds of control on “casino capitalism” that were scrapped in the 1970s, and to reassert the priority of long-term thinking

Keir Starmer’s delivery is one nobody wants | Brief letters

“Delivery, delivery, delivery” is the politics of online shopping (Keir Starmer may have just served up the worst political slogan of all time, 2 September). You order something you desperately want, take a leap of faith in the courier, the tracking information is baffling, the wrong parcel is delivered, your parcel is thrown over the hedge a week later, it’s damaged and unrecognisable; you lack the will to re-order.Helen Datson (with apologies to our efficient local couriers)Spelsbury, Oxfordshire Re Simon Hattenstone’s article on the “worst slogan”: what on earth happened to Change?David MorrissLondon I agree with your letter writer that runner beans have certainly been tricky this year (27 August) but at least my five-year-old olive tree is covered in fruit.Ross BalzarettiNottingham After your correspondence on planting pages of publications with different vegetables (2 September), presumably the Lancet is best for pulses.Adrian BrodkinLondon On matching newspapers to crops, dare I say the Sun is necessary for all of them?John EvansChalford Hill, Gloucestershire What infuriates me most about energy drinks (‘No place in children’s hands’: under-16s in England to be banned from buying energy drinks, 2 September) is that the beverages never seem to give those who drink them sufficient energy to take their empty cans to the bin