Richard Tice unleashes fury on Ed Miliband after 'smear attack' over Israel sanctions: 'Grave mistake!'

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The Foreign Secretary has imposed sanctions on Israel and banned trade with established settlements in the occupied West Bank

Richard Tice has launched a furious tirade on Ed Miliband after his attempt to "smear" him in the House of Commons.

Speaking to GB News, the Deputy Leader of Reform UK recalled his fiery exchange with the Foreign Secretary after announcing sanctions on Israel.

Putting his question to Mr Miliband, Mr Tice told MPs: "We all deplore settler violence Foreign Secretary, but the simple reality is these sanctions are a grave mistake.

"And does he understand that so many people are concerned? All it will do is embolden the scourge of antisemitism against British Jews on British streets."

He added: "It will endanger our relationship with the United States security and also lead to tit-for-tat sanctions from the Israeli government."

The Foreign Secretary hit back at Mr Tice responding: "If I may say to him, I don't think that was a very responsible way of talking about these issues. He's welcome to disagree with our actions, as I think the right honourable gentleman from the Conservative Party did, but I don't think you should be talking in this way.

"I couldn't have been clearer in my statement that no British Jew is responsible for the policies of the Israeli government, and it behoves all of us, whichever side of this debate we're on, to make sure that there can be no confusion about that, and I'm afraid his question fell foul of that."

Expressing his outrage at the exchange, the Reform deputy told GB News that the decision made by Mr Miliband is a "major crisis".

Mr Tice said: "I think this is a major crisis. The language that was used by Ed Miliband and the steely antisemitism that rose from the green benches, particularly from the Labour Party, seconded by the Lib Dems and the Greens, frankly had a putrid stench to it. That's the reality.

"And when I stood up, I was attacked verbally by all sides, and whilst I was careful with my language in the chamber, the simple fact is that the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary, they will have blood on their own hands for this decision. When there are attacks on Jews in the United Kingdom, that blood will be on their hands. That's the reality."

The Reform deputy accused Mr Miliband of trying to "smear him" in front of fellow MPs.

He fumed: "He wouldn't answer the question. He tried to smear me and discredit me as opposed to answering the question. The reason is he knows I'm right, that's the bottom line. He knows on all those three points, I'm bang on the money."

Mr Tice added: "He's now exposed, and so he tried to say, I shouldn't have asked the question in the first place. Either we're a democracy and that's the mother of all chambers of free speech or we're not."

He warned that not only is the UK's relationship with the US now damaged, but the Government can "forget about" receiving intelligence from Israel.

Mr Tice told GB News: "You've got the US security relationship now damaged, we get strong security intelligence from Israel - you can forget about that, frankly.

"And as we've literally just seen, which I knew was coming, we are seeing serious tit-for-tat sanctions coming from Israel, and I suspect we haven't seen the end of it."

Mr Tice stressed that amid the rise in antisemitism in Britain, imposing the sanctions will give people "further license" to attack the Jewish community.

He said: "Sadly, the rise in antisemitism that we've seen in the United Kingdom, a British Government that is attacking Israel in this way, will give a license to those antisemites, those deep Islamists.

"For them to say, well, if the Government is attacking Israel, I can attack Jews, the Jews on British streets, that's the reality of what will go through some people's mind completely appallingly, completely wrongly.

"But that is why I say they will have blood on their hands if that happens."