Rishi Sunak accuses Sadiq Khan of drawing an equivalence between Hamas and Israel
The Mayor of London and Keir Starmer both accuse the PM of misrepresenting comments after he criticised Khan during a heated exchange at PMQs
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Rishi Sunak has claimed Sadiq Khan has drawn “an equivalence between the brutal terrorist attack of Hamas and Israel defending itself” in comments made on the Gaza conflict.
Speaking during PMQs in the Commons on Wednesday, the prime minister suggested Labour leader Keir Starmer should use the opportunity to “condemn these comments from the Labour mayor.”
A spokesperson for Keir Starmer later accused the PM of “entirely misrepresenting what the Mayor of London had said”, while a source close to Khan said the mayor was suggesting the deaths of all civilian lives should be condemned unequivocally.”
A Downing Street spokesperson continued to insist Sunak had been correct to make the claim during a heated exchange with Starmer.
It followed reports of a comments given by the Mayor of London after he was sworn in again at City Hall on Tuesday after his mayoral election victory Khan told The Telegraph: “It’s an issue of humanity and I think you’ve got to show equivalence.
“I condemn unequivocally the actions of Hamas on Oct 7 – those 134 hostages must be released. At the same time, I condemn unequivocally the actions of the IDF and [Benjamin] Netanyahu – 34,000 people have perished including 14,000 children.”
Sunak, who was on the backfoot at PMQs after Natalie Elphicke MP dramatically quit the Tories to join Labour, said: “Just before we go into that, he talked about a changed Labour Party, he talks about it a lot, and he also talked about his new mayor in London.“
So, just this morning, we’ve learned that the Labour mayor in London believes – and I quote – that there is an equivalence between the brutal terrorist attack of Hamas and Israel defending itself. And, let me be crystal clear, there is absolutely no equivalence between a terrorist group and a democratic state.
“So can I ask ( Keir) now, will he take this opportunity to demonstrate that the Labour Party has changed, and will he condemn those comments from the Labour mayor?”
Responding to the criticism, a source close to the Mayor of London told Jewish News:”If you read the quote in full it’s clear by equivalence Sadiq was meaning that we should condemn the killing of innocent civilians unequivocally, wherever they happen. He is not making a comparison between the nature of Hamas and Netanyahu. He has repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire and return of the hostages to stop the loss of innocent lives.”
Later a spokesperson for Starmer said Sadiq Khan’s words had been “entirely misrepresented” and “the use of equivalence was clearly a reference to valuing all human life, which we obviously do.
“There is a complete difference between the actions of Hamas, a terrorist organisation, and what they did on October 7th, which has been utterly condemned, with the actions of the Israeli government.”
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