Category: Parliament

  • Rushanara Ali – 2025 Resignation Letter to Keir Starmer

    Rushanara Ali – 2025 Resignation Letter to Keir Starmer

    The letter of resignation sent by Rushanara Ali to Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 7 August 2025.

    Rushanara Ali
    Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Stepney
    House of Commons
    London SW1A 0AA

    Labour Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Stepney

    7 August 2025

    Dear Prime Minister,

    It is with a heavy heart that I offer you my resignation as a Minister. It has been the honour of my life to have played my part in first securing and then serving as part of this Labour Government. You have my continued commitment, loyalty and support.

    Further to recent reporting, I wanted to make it clear that at all times I have followed all relevant legal requirements. I believe I took my responsibilities and duties seriously, and the facts demonstrate this.

    However, it is clear that continuing in my role will be a distraction from the ambitious work of the government. I have therefore decided to resign from my Ministerial position.

    I am proud to have contributed to the change this government has delivered in the past year. Working alongside the Deputy Prime Minister, we secured record investment in social and affordable housing, and nearly a billion pounds of funding to alleviate homelessness and rough sleeping. I am proud to have delivered this government’s election strategy, leading to legislation that will protect and enhance our democracy, with tough new laws on foreign donations, extending the vote to 16 and 17 year-olds, and tackling harassment and intimidation in public life.

    More widely, I have been proud to serve in a government that is investing in the NHS, rebuilding communities, securing trade deals, delivering jobs and growth, and rebuilding Britain’s place on the world stage. Under your leadership, Britain is showing international leadership on a range of issues, from standing up for Ukraine against Russian aggression, to working with our allies on developing a pathway to end the war in Gaza, including recognition of Palestinian statehood.

    I want to thank you and the Deputy Prime Minister for your support and for giving me the opportunity to serve the British public in this Labour Government.

    Please be assured of my continued support.

    Yours sincerely,

    Rushanara Ali
    Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Stepney

  • Nadhim Zahawi – 2025 Comments Following the Death of Norman Tebbit

    Nadhim Zahawi – 2025 Comments Following the Death of Norman Tebbit

    The comments made by Nadhim Zahawi, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 8 July 2025.

    Rest in eternal peace great man. Norman Tebbit was a giant of Conservative politics & Conservative ideals. A man who looked after his beloved wife beautifully after the horrific terror attack by the IRA. A man who nurtured and befriended young conservatives like me. He was great company on a weekend in the country. RIP.

  • Priti Patel – 2025 Comments Following the Death of Norman Tebbit

    Priti Patel – 2025 Comments Following the Death of Norman Tebbit

    The comments made by Priti Patel, the former Home Secretary, on 8 July 2025.

    Lord Tebbit was a giant of the Conservative Party and British politics. He was a man devoted to promoting freedom and liberty and gave a lifetime of service to our country in the RAF and in Parliament. His formidable record in Government promoting trade, industry and job creation helped lift our country’s economic fortunes and is a legacy to be proud of. Norman spent his life promoting our values and through adversary and challenge, he always displayed great courage.

    It was a privilege to know Norman and receive his support and advice.

    He will be greatly missed and my thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones. May he rest in peace and be reunited with his dear wife.

  • Boris Johnson – 2025 Comments Following the Death of Norman Tebbit

    Boris Johnson – 2025 Comments Following the Death of Norman Tebbit

    The comments made by Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister, on 8 July 2025.

    Norman Tebbit was a hero of modern Conservatism. In the early 1980s he liberated the British workforce from the socialist tyranny of the closed shop. He tamed the union bosses, and in so doing he helped pave the way for this country’s revival in the 1980s and 1990s.

    At a time when the Labour government is now disastrously reversing those crucial reforms we need to remember what he did and why. In his single most famous phrase he once said that in the 1930s his unemployed father had got on his bike and looked for work. That wasn’t a heartless thing to say – as the Labour Party claimed. It was because he believed in thrift and energy and self-reliance. It was because he rejected a culture of easy entitlement.

    We mourn the passing of a great patriot, a great Conservative – and today more than ever we need to restore the values of Norman Tebbit to our politics.

  • Rishi Sunak – 2025 Comments Following the Death of Norman Tebbit

    Rishi Sunak – 2025 Comments Following the Death of Norman Tebbit

    The comments made by Rishi Sunak, the former Prime Minister, on 8 July 2025.

    Saddened to hear of the passing of Lord Tebbit.

    He was a titan of Conservative politics whose resilience, conviction and service left a lasting mark on our party and our country. My thoughts are with his family and all those who knew him.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2025 Comments Following the Death of Norman Tebbit

    Kemi Badenoch – 2025 Comments Following the Death of Norman Tebbit

    The comments made by Kemi Badenoch, the Leader of the Conservative Party, on 8 July 2025.

    Our Conservative family mourns the loss of Lord Tebbit today and I send my sincerest condolences to his loved ones.

    Norman Tebbit was an icon in British politics and his death will cause sadness across the political spectrum.

    He was one of the leading exponents of the philosophy we now know as Thatcherism and his unstinting service in the pursuit of improving our country should be held up as an inspiration to all Conservatives.

    As a minister in Mrs Thatcher’s administration he was one of the main agents of the transformation of our country, notably in taming the trade unions.

    But to many of us it was the stoicism and courage he showed in the face of terrorism which inspired us as he rebuilt his political career after suffering terrible injuries in the Brighton bomb, and cared selflessly for his wife Margaret, who was gravely disabled in the bombing – a reminder that he was first and foremost a family man who always held true to his principles.

    He never buckled under pressure and he never compromised.

    Our nation has lost one of its very best today and I speak for all the Conservative family and beyond in recognising Lord Tebbit’s enormous intellect and profound sense of duty to his country.

    May he rest in peace.

  • Lee Anderson – 2025 Statement on Suspension of James McMurdock

    Lee Anderson – 2025 Statement on Suspension of James McMurdock

    The statement made by Lee Anderson, the Chief Whip of Reform, on 5 July 2025.

    I have today received a call from James McMurdock who has advised me, as Chief Whip, that he has removed the party whip from himself pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations that are likely to be published by a national newspaper.

    The allegations relate to business propriety during the pandemic and before he became an MP.

    At Reform UK we take these matters very seriously and James has agreed to cooperate in full with any investigation.

    We will not be commenting further at this moment.

  • Jeremy Corbyn – 2025 Statement on the New Political Party

    Jeremy Corbyn – 2025 Statement on the New Political Party

    The statement made by Jeremy Corbyn, the Independent MP for Islington North, on 4 July 2025.

    Real change is coming.

    One year on from the election, this Labour government has refused to deliver the change people expected and deserved. Poverty, inequality and war are not inevitable. Our country needs to change direction, now.

    Congratulations to Zarah Sultana on her principled decision to leave the Labour Party. I am delighted that she will help us build a real alternative.

    The democratic foundations of a new kind of political party will soon take shape. Discussions are ongoing – and I am excited to work alongside all communities to fight for the future people deserve.

    Together, we can create something that is desperately missing from our broken political system: hope.

  • John McDonnell – 2025 Comments on Zarah Sultana Leaving the Labour Party

    John McDonnell – 2025 Comments on Zarah Sultana Leaving the Labour Party

    The comments made by John McDonnell, the MP for Hayes and Harlington, on social media on 4 July 2025.

    I am dreadfully sorry to lose Zarah Sultana MP from the Labour Party. The people running Labour at the moment need to ask themselves why a young, articulate, talented, extremely dedicated socialist feels she now has no home in the Labour Party and has to leave.

  • Zarah Sultana – 2025 Statement Regarding Forming New Party with Jeremy Corbyn

    Zarah Sultana – 2025 Statement Regarding Forming New Party with Jeremy Corbyn

    The statement made by Zarah Sultana, the MP for Coventry South, on 3 July 2025.

    Today, after 14 years, I’m resigning from the Labour Party.

    Jeremy Corbyn and I will co-lead the founding of a new party, with other Independent MPs, campaigners and activists across the country.

    Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper. Just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population. Poverty is growing, inequality is obscene and the two-party system offers nothing but managed decline and broken promises.

    A year ago, I was suspended by the Labour Party for voting to abolish the two-child benefit cap and lift 400,000 children out of poverty. I’d do it again. I voted against scrapping winter fuel payments for pensioners. I’d do it again.

    Now, the government wants to make disabled people suffer; they just can’t decide how much.

    Meanwhile, a billionaire-backed grifter is leading the polls, because Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives. And across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists.

    But the truth is clear: this government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it.

    We are not going to take this anymore.

    We’re not an island of strangers; we’re an island that’s suffering. We need homes and lives we can actually afford, not rip-off bills we pay every month to a tiny elite bathing in cash. We need our money spent on public services, not forever wars.

    In 2029, the choice will be stark: socialism or barbarism.

    Billionaires already have three parties fighting for them. It’s time the rest of us had one.

    Join us. The time is now.

    ZARAH SULTANA MP
    MP for Coventry South