Laura Kuenssberg live: Foreign Secretary David Cameron quizzed on Gaza and sending arms to Israel – BBC News

The Crown leads in this year’s BAFTA TV nominations – up for eight awards later this evening.

Dominic West is asked by Laura whether he had any nerves or hesitation in taking up the role as Prince Charles in the show.

“I had an amazing experience,” West replies.

“I was very cagey about taking it on, but the writing was so good and the period of time I was playing Charles was so tumultuous and interesting it was sort of impossible to turn it down.

“In the end I think we did some good work and hopefully we will win.”

Finally, West is asked about his dream acting roles. He says high on his bucket list is to play a role in the big Shakespeare plays singling out King Lear.

“A Bond villain would be good,” he adds.

Next up on the show is Dominic West – star of so many huge TV shows and films, but perhaps most recently known for his role as Prince Charles in Netflix’s series The Crown.

He is hoping to win at the BAFTAs later tonight and is also set to appear on stage in the West End as the lead in Arthur Miller’s play, A View from the Bridge.

“There is so much in it which speaks to us now,” he tells Laura during a gap in rehearsals. “From refugees and claustrophobic parenting.”

“I am nervous about taking the part like this because so many people have been great in it before,” West says as he recalls Sir Michael Gambon’s performance in the play.

“I thought I’d pit myself against the great Gambon.”

Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth is next asked about workers’ rights.

Laura puts it to him that some of the unions are concerned that Labour is watering down its plans on workers’ rights, while some want to see a complete ban on “fire and rehire”.

This is when workers are dismissed and hired them back straight away – often on worse deals.

“We are not watering down our commitment to give more rights to workers in the workplace,” Ashworth says.

“Our labour market is increasingly characterised by low pay, by fire and rehire, these are outrageous practices, and this is not good for the UK economy,” he adds.

Laura presses him on whether Labour wants a complete ban on fire and rehire.

“Yes, we are getting rid of this practice, we are not watering it down,” Ashworth replies.

More now on Natalie Elphicke’s defection and the story this morning which details allegations the Dover MP lobbied ministers over her then-husband Charlie’s sexual assault case.

In case you missed it, Elphicke is accused of asking Sir Robert Buckland, the then justice secretary, to help move the date of the case.

Laura asks Ashworth if the lobbying claims should be investigated.

Ashworth highlights that Elphicke says the allegations are “nonsense”, adding: “I do not understand why the Lord chancellor is raising this now,” he says.

He says Elphicke shifted to Labour because she believes the Tory government is “disintegrating”.

Jonathan Ashworth, who has served as shadow paymaster general since September 2023 and is a Labour MP for Leicester South, is now in the hot seat.

Will he say that the UK should stop selling arms to Israel? Laura begins.

He does not answer directly, saying: “The situation in Gaza continues to be horrific… that’s why I’ve been calling for an immediate ceasefire. I want to see the humanitarian aid getting in there and of course I want to see the release of hostages immediately.”

He adds that a full-scale offensive on Rafah, the southern Gazan city where about 1.4 million people are sheltering, would be a catastrophe.

“If that full-scale offensive will go ahead, I do not want to see British-made weapons used in that offensive,” he says.

“My heart said keeping going, but the head said let a younger person fight an election,” Nadhim Zahawi says on why he’ll be stepping down as an MP.

Laura puts it to Zahawi that an inquiry last year found he had failed to disclose that HMRC was investigating his tax affairs.

“My mistakes are my own,” he tells Laura, saying he paid HMRC “just shy of £5m” after admitting a “careless mistake”.

“Although it was found to be non-deliberate, there was a penalty attached,” Zahawi adds.

We’re now hearing from panellist and former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi who this week announced he would be standing down as an MP at the next election.

In a resignation letter shared on X, he said “the time is right for a new, energetic Conservative to fight for the honour of representing Stratford-on-Avon”.

It makes him the 64th Conservative MP to announce he’ll stand down at the next election, and the 104th MP.

Zahawi was sacked last year as Tory Party chairman by Rishi Sunak after an ethics inquiry found he had failed to disclose that HMRC was investigating his tax affairs. The HMRC investigation had resulted in him paying a settlement including a penalty.

In a statement at the time, Zahawi said HMRC concluded the mistake was “careless and not deliberate”.

We’ll bring you what Zahawi has to say on this shortly.

Turning now to Natalie Elphicke – the MP who defected from the Conservatives to Labour on Wednesday – Laura asks David Cameron about allegations of lobbying over her then-husband’s sexual assault case.

Why did your Conservative colleagues not say anything about this at the time, Laura asks.

Lord Cameron says he has only just seen the story so doesn’t want to comment directly. Instead he says Elphicke’s defection says “more about the Labour Party”.

“She is frankly now a Labour press office problem,” he adds.

“Their phone is probably ringing off the hook.”

That wraps up the foreign secretary’s interview on this morning’s programme.

David Cameron is next asked about Ukraine, after recent attacks on Kharkiv and Russian advances in the city.

Heavy fighting has continued in the border area following Russia’s surprise incursions on Friday.

“Does this look to you like the start of a very serious, major summer offensive?” Laura asks.

Cameron replies saying that it is “another invasion by Putin into Ukraine crossing over into their border”.

“Is it another invasion, this is what you are saying?” Laura asks. “Certainly,” Cameron answers briefly.

“There is no doubt what it is, which is another part of the invasion. It sums up the importance of making sure that the support from allies gets through to Ukraine,” he says, emphasising the the importance of the support for Ukraine.

Laura presses the foreign secretary about the UK’s role in getting aid into Gaza – one idea she mentions was British troops helping get supplies from a pier built by the US onto the beaches in Gaza.

Why is that not happening?

“We are playing a very full part in this in moving aid from Cyprus to either Ashdod Port or onto the pier into the beach in Gaza,” he says.

“It will be a British Royal Navy ship – RFA Cardigan Bay – which will be the sort of logistic hub off the pier.

“But the view the prime minister took was that putting British boots onto the beach is not a good move.

“British boots on the ground is a risk we should not take.”

Cameron goes on to say the US “is in a totally different position” to the UK on arms sales.

“I want to make sure British policy has impact,” he adds as he says he is frustrated that not enough aid is getting through to the Gaza Strip.

“We haven’t given Israel a clean bill of health – Israel’s performance on aid has not been good enough.”

“Are they on notice? Laura asks.

“In a way they are permanently on notice,” Cameron replies.

David Cameron continues to be questioned about Israel’s planned offensive in Rafah and if it is a point of principle for the UK to send a strong political message and stop arms sales to Israel.

“The last time I was urged to do that, I didn’t do that and just a few days later there was a brutal attack by Iran on Israel…I think it would have sent an entirely wrong message,” he says.

Cameron says that the better option is that Hamas must take the hostage deal.

“Just to simply announce today that we will change our approach on arms exports, it would make Hamas stronger and it would make a hostage deal less likely,” he adds.

First up in the studio is the foreign secretary who is asked by Laura about the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip as she cites the UN chief in the last hour reiterating calls for an immediate ceasefire.

Laura says President Joe Biden has said if Israel goes into Rafah “I am not supplying weapons” – as she asks David Cameron if the UK will say the same.

He says the UK does not believe Israel should go into Rafah “unless they have a plan” to protect civilians.

“We have not seen that plan so we do not support a major operation in Rafah.”

This week’s show is under way and we’re now hearing from the panel, who are discussing the situation in the Middle East. Here’s who’s in the studio with Laura:

Nadhim Zahawi is currently the MP for Stratford-on-Avon and has been for 14 years. However, this week he announced that he would stand down at the next general election. He was sacked as Tory Party chairman by Rishi Sunak last January after failing to disclose that HMRC was investigating his tax affairs.

Zarah Sultana, who has been the Labour MP for Coventry South since 2019, is also on the programme.

Writer and magazine editor Tina Brown is also on air to provide insights having spent decades chronicling the Royal Family.

First up Laura takes a look at the Sunday papers, some of which feature fresh reports about the new Labour MP Natalie Elphicke.

Former justice secretary Robert Buckland has told the Sunday Times Elphicke asked him in 2020 to interfere in a sexual assault trial of her ex-husband – with her spokesperson calling the claims “nonsense”.

The Observer also carries a report about Elphicke, but on a different topic. “Senior Conservative sources” have told the paper she was “bitter” about being denied a ministerial job in charge of housing policy, that’s why she left the party, it writes.

• You can read our full paper review here

Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg is now live on BBC One, the BBC News Channel and BBC iPlayer.

You can also watch the show by clicking Play above, and follow along with the key lines as we bring you text updates and the best clips in this page.

Copyright: Getty Images

Another topic which may come up today is Natalie Elphicke, the new Labour MP for Dover, who surprised Westminster last week when she defected from the Conservatives to Labour.

In the days since, Elphicke has been accused of lobbying ministers over her then-husband Charlie’s sexual assault case.

She is accused of asking Sir Robert Buckland, the then justice secretary, to help move the date of the case, apparently to avoid publicity.

The BBC has confirmed Buckland’s account with him.

Charlie Elphicke was jailed in 2020 at Southwark Crown Court for two years for sexually assaulting two women.

A spokesman for Elphicke said the claims were “nonsense”.

• You can read the full story here

As we’ve mentioned, the Middle East is likely to be a focal point in today’s programme, so let’s bring you the latest from the region.

Overnight Israel launched airstrikes on several parts of the Gaza Strip as it continues issuing mass evacuation orders to Palestinians.

On Saturday flyers were dropped from the air and posts on social media told residents in Rafah’s eastern districts to go to al-Mawasi – a narrow coastal area which Israel calls an “expanded humanitarian zone”.

Israel says it will proceed with planned operations in Rafah despite the US and other allies warning a ground offensive could lead to mass civilian casualties and a humanitarian crisis.

The Israeli military says troops have found many tunnels used by terrorists at the Rafah crossing into Egypt.

• You can read more here about Israel ordering Rafah evacuations

Sir Keir Starmer’s success was sketched across the map of England at the local elections last week.What could possibly go wrong for him?

A lot, actually.

The general election is still months away and there are plenty of potential pitfalls between Starmer and the shiny black door of No 10.

First, conversations across the Labour Party suggest the danger of taking victory for granted – being complacent – is the number one risk.

Second, while the Tories have been stuck in the doldrums in the polls for months, Labour cannot predict or control much of what happens before the election.

On 6 October last year, the world didn’t know what was about to happen in Israel. The shocking events of 7 October and the intense conflict since then has unsettled many in the Labour Party.

There is just no telling what other events could provoke further disagreement, or what unexpected events could shift the polls.

Last, Starmer faces a classic political conundrum. To win, it helps if you look like a winner – but overstretch yourself, and it could all go wrong.

• You can read Laura Kuenssberg’s analysis here

Copyright: PA Media

This week’s Prime Minister’s Questions were overshadowed by something that went unnoticed by many MPs at the beginning of the session, Labour welcoming an extra body while the government benches were reduced by one.

Natalie Elphicke, who represents Dover, followed Dan Poulter in leaving the Tories with a withering assessment of Rishi Sunak’s government.

Elphicke said her decision had been driven by concerns over housing and border security, accused Rishi Sunak of “broken promises” and abandoning key pledges and said the Tories “have become a byword for incompetence and division”.

She was welcomed onto the Labour benches by Sir Keir Starmer who asked PM Sunak “what is the point of this failed government staggering on” when “the Tory MP for Dover on the front line of small boats crisis says the prime minister cannot be trusted with our borders and joins Labour”.

Some Tory MPs were bemused by the defection, as Elphicke was regarded as being on the right of the party, and Transport Minister Huw Merriman accused Elphicke of being “opportunistic”.

Read more: The inside story of Tory MP’s defection to Labour