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Baroness still raising questions

March 8, 2012 13:23
Baroness Tonge: defiant to the end, she is now sitting as an independent peer in the Lords

By

Marcus Dysch,

Marcus Dysch

1 min read

When Baroness Tonge resumed her normal business this week, asking a Foreign Office minister about alleged Israeli mistreatment of Palestinians, observers could have been forgiven for wondering whether her query on "forced expulsion" was raised with a tinge of self-interest.

Her question in the Lords on Monday - batted away by Lord Howell - marked her first parliamentary appearance sitting as an independent peer.

A week after the 71-year-old's resignation of the Liberal Democrat whip, following her refusal to apologise for anti-Israel comments made at Middlesex University, it is clear that little will quell her efforts, despite her dispatch to the political margins.

She returned to the House on Tuesday to ask about Israeli treatment of Palestinian detainees and if the British government had pushed its Israeli counterpart to secure a peace deal.