Tory MP sacked from Government job after calling for ceasefire in Gaza

30 October 2023 , 17:10

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Tory MP sacked from Government job after calling for ceasefire in Gaza

Rishi Sunak has sacked a ministerial aide for calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Paul Bristow wrote a letter to the PM last week calling for a "permanent" break in hostilities between Israel and Hamas. The parliamentary private secretary at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology wrote: “Thousands have been killed and more than one million now displaced. It is difficult to understand how this makes Israel more secure or indeed makes anything better.”

In the letter, seen by the Telegraph, the MP for Peterborough said: “A permanent ceasefire would save lives and allow for a continued column of humanitarian aid [to] reach the people who need it the most. Access to water, electricity and fuel is vital for the Palestinian people. My constituents and I would be grateful for your comments on the actions our Government is taking to ensure that people in Gaza do not face collective punishment for the crimes of Hamas.”

Paul Bristow said a 'permanent ceasefire would save' in a letter to the PM (Richard Townshend Photography)

A No10 spokesman confirmed this afternoon: “Paul Bristow has been asked to leave his post in government following comments that were not consistent with the principles of collective responsibility."

The UK Government is only calling for a pause in the fighting rather than the ceasefire the United Nations and others are pushing for. Mr Sunak has argued that Tel Aviv has a right to defend itself as it seeks to rescue the more than 239 hostages seized by Hamas because its fighters killed more than 1,400 people in Israel.

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Home Secretary Suella Braverman is facing criticism after branding pro-Palestine protests as "hate marches". Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in support of Palestine across the UK this weekend, as Gaza is besieged by Israel and coming under aerial bombardment.

Mr Braverman urged officers to take a "zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism" after attending an emergency Cobra meeting chaired by Mr Sunak on Monday. No10 expressed concerns over the chant "from the river to the sea," describing it as "deeply offensive" to many.

"First of all let me explain what we've seen over the last few weekends, we've seen now tens of thousands of people take to the streets following the massacre of Jewish people, the single largest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust, chanting for the erasure of Israel from the map," she said "To my mind there is only one way to describe those marches: they are hate marches ."

But Labour MP Kate Osamor was quick to hit out on social media, saying: “This is grossly offensive to the hundreds of thousands of people who have protested in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Suella Braverman is a danger to the freedom of expression and the right to protest.”

Israeli troops and tanks pushed deeper into northern and central Gaza on Monday, as Tel Aviv expanded its ground offensive after pounding the territory with air strikes. The death toll among Palestinians has passed 8,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

Thirty-three lorries entered Gaza on Sunday in the largest aid convoy since the attack provoked Israel's siege, cutting off food, water, fuel and medicines to combatants as well as civilians. Before the siege around 500 aid trucks entered Gaza everyday, according to aid officials.

Sophie Huskisson