Starmer-Trump live: PM urged to oppose Trump’s ‘appalling’ Gaza plan

Hamas did not receive any money for a BBC Gaza documentary, which featured the son of a former Hamas leader, culture secretary Lisa Nandy said.

The corporation removed the documentary from iPlayer after it emerged that the film’s child narrator is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture.

Responding to an urgent question, Ms Nandy said: “The BBC has clear editorial guidelines to report Hamas as a proscribed terror organisation by the UK Government. That was their policy under the last government, and it remains their policy now.

“I also held discussions with the BBC director-general earlier this week, at my request, in order to seek urgent answers about the checks and due diligence that should have been carried out ahead of the screening of a recent documentary into Gaza, about the commissioning, the payments, and the use of licence fee payers’ money.

“I also sought cast iron assurances that no money paid has fallen into the hands of Hamas and that the utmost care was taken to ensure that was the case.

“I expect to be kept informed about the findings of the internal BBC investigation, and I will be happy to update (shadow culture secretary Stuart Andrew) and colleagues across the House on its progress.”

Donald Trump can veto the controversial deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, David Lammy admitted.

Speaking on Robert Peston’s show on ITV, Mr Lammy said: “If President Trump doesn’t like the deal, the deal will not go forward.”

The admission appears to underline a growing feeling that the president will veto the deal which is set to be discussed in the White House when the prime minister visits on Thursday.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has announced she is prepared to support expansion of Gatwick airport if the project is adjusted.

The Cabinet minister said the Planning Inspectorate recommended she approves an alternative development consent order (DCO) application for the West Sussex airport’s plan to bring its emergency runway into routine use.

The modifications relate to “controls on the operation of the scheme”, she added.

These relate to issues such as the proportion of passengers who travel to and from the airport by public transport, and noise mitigation.

Labour MP Mike Amesbury is set to return to court this morning to appeal against his 10-week jail sentence.

The suspended Runcorn and Helsby MP was handed the jail term on Monday after punching a constituent in a drunken brawl last year.

He will attend an appeal hearing at Chester Crown Court on Thursday morning, a court spokesman said.

The co-leader of the Green Party has called for Sir Keir Starmer to oppose Donald Trump’s Gaza real estate plan when he meets the president in Washington.

Carla Denyer said the meeting is a “vital opportunity for our prime minister to set clear red lines”, and supported Sir Keir’s approach on Ukraine.

But she added: “He must also make clear that the same applies to Palestinians, and tell Trump that the UK will stand firmly against his appalling plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza – effectively a threat of ethnic cleansing.”

Now is the time for Starmer to put British values into practice on the world stage. The people of this country will be watching to see if he can deliver.”