Following the resignation of UK foreign office minister, Baroness Warsi, Prime Minister David Cameron is struggling to quell a growing revolt over his contentious handling of the Gaza crisis.<\/p>\n
Warsi\u2019s dramatic departure on Tuesday sent shockwaves through the Tory party, bringing to the forefront disputes over both the UK government\u2019s stance regarding the ongoing Gaza crisis and the party\u2019s future election prospects.<\/p>\n
A number of senior British political figures, including Tory Party MPs, have begun to publically join the chorus of those demanding the government take a harder line towards Israel.<\/p>\n
Conservative MP Dominic Grieve, who was sacked as Attorney General in Cameron\u2019s recent reshuffle, was among those questioning the proportionality of Israel\u2019s military offensive in Gaza – calling for the Prime Minister to condemn Israel\u2019s airstrikes in the region. Grieve\u2019s sentiments were echoed by communities secretary, Eric Pickles.<\/p>\n
Cameron\u2019s response to Ms Warsi\u2019s resignation was measured. The Prime Minister wrote he understood her\u00a0\u201cstrength of feeling on the current crisis,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0emphasizing the crisis in Gaza is\u00a0\u201cintolerable\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n But Lib Dem Energy Secretary Ed Davey \u2014 who stated he shared Lady Warsi’s views \u2014 believes she made the wrong decision in stepping down.<\/p>\n “I think she didn’t need to go because we are winning the argument,”<\/em>\u00a0he said.<\/p>\n Following her departure, Warsi argued Downing Street\u2019s political stance on the Israeli administration\u2019s actions in Gaza was\u00a0\u201cmorally indefensible.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0While the government had been clear in calling for a halt to the violence, it had failed to take sufficient action to influence events on the ground, she said.<\/p>\n Warsi, the first Muslim lady to serve in any British cabinet, said there was\u00a0\u201cunease\u201d<\/em>\u00a0among Conservative Party backbenchers and concrete \u201cconcern\u201d at ministerial level over the Government\u2019s position on the Gaza conflict.<\/p>\n Downing Street formally announced on Wednesday that Baroness Warsi will be replaced by the government\u2019s chief whip in the House of Lords, Baroness Anelay.<\/p>\n Prime Minister David Cameron has also faced heated criticism from both Labour and the Liberal Democrats for failing to openly and directly criticize Israel\u2019s military offensive in Gaza. Opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg have denounced Cameron\u2019s handling of the Gaza crisis.<\/p>\n While Miliband has called for toughening of rhetoric with respect to Israel\u2019s military actions in Gaza, Nick Clegg categorically stated on Tuesday night that the Israeli administration\u2019s actions in the coastal region were unacceptable.<\/p>\n Reflecting on the bloody conflict in Gaza, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said Israel\u2019s military offensive in the region had\u00a0\u201coverstepped the mark.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0The Deputy Prime Minister subsequently called for the UK government to suspend arms export licenses to Israel.<\/p>\n Clegg confirmed on Wednesday he\u2019d been working with business secretary Vince Cable to finalize the suspension, and stated the official announcement would be issued\u00a0\u201cvery shortly.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Commenting on these developments, Cable emphasized on Wednesday that senior members of the Liberal Democrats had been\u00a0“making this case inside government”<\/em>\u00a0for a period of time, but had not sought agreement from their Conservative coalition partners.<\/p>\n “I hope and expect that to change shortly,”<\/em>\u00a0he told the BBC on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The Prime Minister\u2019s office has officially confirmed a review of these licenses has been enacted.<\/p>\n A Downing Street spokesman told the BBC the review is currently under way, and no new military licenses have been put in place since Israel\u2019s military offensive was launched. However, the suspension of export licenses\u00a0\u201cis not a decision we take lightly\u201d,<\/em>\u00a0and the facts must be examined\u00a0\u201cfully,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0the spokesman emphasized.<\/p>\n As tensions remain high within the Tory Party, and criticism of Cameron\u2019s handling of the Gaza conflict continues to mount, observers have suggested recent developments may harbor serious implications for the 2015 general elections. Potential concerns over an erosion of public support for the Conservative Party may have prompted Cameron to engage in discussions with his top election strategist.<\/p>\n Amid recent talks, the Tory chief election strategist has reportedly advised Prime Minister David Cameron to ignore Muslim voters in the next general election.<\/p>\n Lynton Crosby, who also successfully ran Boris Johnson\u2019s 2008 Mayoral election campaign, allegedly told a senior Conservative party member that the Muslim vote held little sway with the party\u2019s marginal seats.<\/p>\n “Lynton says there are hardly any of our marginal seats where the Muslim vote will be a decisive factor,”<\/em>the senior Tory told the Times.<\/p>\n The Conservative\u2019s strategist and campaign manager is thought to be dismissive of moves to appeal to voters from Britain\u2019s Muslim other ethnic minority communities.<\/p>\n In 2012, Crosby allegedly advised Boris Johnson to ignore\u00a0\u201cthe f**king Muslims\u201d<\/em>\u00a0in the midst of his efforts to be re-elected as the Mayor of London.<\/p>\n \u201cLynton’s view was that chasing the Muslim vote and other ethnic groups was a waste of time,”<\/em>\u00a0a campaign source told the Daily Mail.<\/p>\n Crosby\u2019s recent comments will stoke the ire of those who suggest the prime minister\u2019s handling of the Gaza crisis may alienate ethnic minority voters across the UK.<\/p>\n One Tory minister expressed deep concern about the implications of Cameron\u2019s mediation of political tensions surrounding the Gaza crisis. The minister, who wished to remain anonymous, made his comment to the Spectator on Tuesday:<\/p>\n \u201cWarsi knows that our failure in Gaza will damage any change of our Northern marginals and South East Lutons and Watfords. The Lib Dems will probably now keep Muslim voters who might have switched over to Labour and got us a gain. I fear Dave might have sown the seeds of our defeat at the General Election.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Following her decision to depart from her role as foreign office minister, Warsi warned the UK government\u2019s current policy stance with respect to the ongoing crisis in Gaza could have drastic consequences for Britain and its people.<\/p>\n \u201cOur response to [Gaza] is becoming a basis for radicalization that could have consequences for us for years to come,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0she said.<\/p>\n Further pressure on the government\u2019s policy stance with respect to Israel\u2019s treatment of Palestinians emerged on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Several MPs have called for the Prime Minister to use his leverage to persuade Netanyahu\u2019s government to soften restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The Commons International Development Committee has also urged Cameron to call for improvements in the supply of basic electricity and water services to the region.<\/p>\n This piece<\/a> was reprinted by RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission or license.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Following the resignation of UK foreign office minister, Baroness Warsi, Prime Minister David Cameron is struggling to quell a growing revolt over his contentious handling of the Gaza crisis. Warsi\u2019s dramatic departure on Tuesday sent shockwaves through the Tory party, bringing to the forefront disputes over both the UK government\u2019s stance regarding the ongoing Gaza […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":135268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487,1615],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-135267","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news","8":"category-uk-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Mounting Tension<\/h2>\n
Ignore the Muslims<\/h2>\n
Policy shift on the horizion?<\/h2>\n