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In today’s newsletter: what victory for a veteran political disruptor means after a toxic byelection in Rochdale
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Good morning.
A dramatic night has come to an end. George Galloway, the leader of the Workers’ party of Britain, is back in Westminster after a decisive landslide win in the Rochdale byelection. At 12,335 votes, Galloway came away with a historic 41% swing against the Labour party, which abandoned its candidate Azhar Ali after he became embroiled in an anti-semitism scandal, though Ali appeared on the ballot as a Labour candidate.
Police | The official inquiry into the murder of Sarah Everard has found that her killer, Wayne Couzens, never should have been employed by the Metropolitan police. Lady Elish Angiolini’s report detailed missed opportunities to identify Couzens’ threats to women, including allegations of indecent exposure and sexual assault, leading to calls for urgent reforms of the police to restore trust.
Israel-Hamas war | More than a hundred Palestinians were killed in the early hours of Thursday morning, Gaza health officials said, when desperate crowds gathered around aid trucks and Israeli troops opened fire, in an incident that the US president, Joe Biden, warned was likely to complicate ceasefire talks.
UK news | Eleven people have been taken to hospital after a fire broke out at a converted terraced house in the upmarket London neighbourhood of South Kensington.
Protest | The government has been accused of exaggerated rhetoric to justify a crackdown on protest rights, amid a pushback by civil liberties groups, which accused Rishi Sunak of exaggerating the threat of “mob rule”.
Iran | A majority of Iran’s angry and disillusioned electorate are predicted to stay away from parliamentary elections today, viewing the process as a masquerade of democracy intended to give legitimacy to a regime that has failed to deliver on living standards, the environment and personal freedom.
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