Conservatives investigating former minister for claiming Tory peer is ‘exercising interests’ of Israel

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The Conservative Party is investigating a Tory former overseas secretary for saying safety minister Tom Tugendhat needs to be sacked over his backing for Israel.

Tory HQ advised ex-minister Sir Alan Duncan, who has referred to as for Britain to cease promoting arms to Israel, that he is underneath investigation after feedback he made on Thursday.

The probe is anticipated to take round two weeks and will result in Sir Alan being expelled from the social gathering.

It got here after he used an look on LBC to name for Mr Tugendhat to be sacked for “not believing in international law”.

Sir Alan, who served as a Conservative minister between 2010 and 2019, cited Mr Tugendhat’s previous condemnation of the United Nations Security Council for criticising Israel’s settlements coverage.

“Now, that may have been some years ago, but he’s never removed that, he’s never changed his view,” Sir Alan added.

And he mentioned: “How can you have a Security Minister in the British government, who does not believe in international law, when all this is going on? I think he [Tom Tugendhat] should be sacked.”

In the extraordinary interview, Sir Alan additionally referred to as for the honorary president of the Conservative Friends of Israel, Lord Polak and the group’s parliamentary chairman Lord Pickles to be faraway from the House of Lords.

Sir Alan mentioned Lord Polak is “exercising the interests of another country, not that of the parliament in which he sits”.

And he mentioned the peer and Lord Pickles are “the sort of Laurel and Hardy who should be pushed out together”.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews mentioned Sir Alan had successfully “accused two Conservative peers, one of whom is Jewish, of dual loyalties”.

It mentioned: “This is disgraceful; we understand the Conservatives have opened an investigation into Sir Alan’s conduct, and we believe the party should consider whether his position as a party member is tenable.”

Conservative Friends of Israel vice-chairman, Tory MP Andrew Percy, mentioned: “Alan Duncan is a ridiculous character and accusing a Jewish parliamentarian of working for Israel at a time of record levels of antisemitism not only puts that individual in danger but also risks fuelling Jew hate here in the UK. It is a reckless, ignorant and dangerous comment.”

He urged Sir Alan to recollect Hamas “raped, butchered and murdered innocent civilians” on 7 October and mentioned supporting Israel is “standing up to a terrorist rape and death cult”.

The row erupted a day after Sir Alan wrote for The Independent that the killing of seven assist staff in Gaza is a “tipping point” for Israel’s worldwide status and Britain ought to rethink whether or not the nation is an “ally”.

He condemned Israel’s killing of seven assist staff – three of whom had been British – as “merciless”.

Calling for the suspension of arms gross sales to Israel, Sir Alan mentioned: “By annexing the West Bank, breaking international law, and now appearing to want to destroy Gaza as a place fit for humans, it is betraying the enlightened principles of its founders, and is not in any way behaving as a democracy should.

“We should salute our aid heroes by devoting our efforts to securing a Palestinian state. In the meantime, all responsible governments must urgently assess whether they can any longer regard Israel as an ally.”

A CCHQ supply mentioned: “Following his comments on LBC this morning, Alan Duncan has been informed that he is under investigation by the party. These investigations generally take a couple of weeks and can result in expulsion.”