Bristow loses his job as a parliamentary private secretary LONDON: Conservative MP Paul Bristow has been fired from his government position after he called for a ceasefire in Gaza. Bristow, who was a parliamentary private secretary at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, had written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urging support for a “permanent” halt to the war between Israel and Hamas, The Telegraph newspaper reported on Monday. While Sunak has publicly supported “humanitarian pauses” to allow the delivery of aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, he stopped short of supporting a ceasefire, on the grounds that Israel is entitled to defend itself. In his letter to the prime minister, Bristow said: “A permanent ceasefire would save lives and allow for a continued column of humanitarian aid (to) reach the people who need it the most.” The MP expanded on his concerns on his Facebook page, writing: “Ordinary Palestinians are not Hamas. I struggle to see how Israel is any safer following thousands of deaths of innocent Palestinians. They should not suffer collective punishment for the crimes of Hamas.” On Monday, a spokesperson for Downing Street confirmed that Bristow had been asked to step down from his government role for making “comments that were not consistent with the principles of collective responsibility.” Bristow is the Conservative MP for Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, a constituency in which the Muslim population is almost double the national average. He co-chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims, which was established in 2017 to highlight the “aspirations and challenges” confronting Muslim communities and acknowledge their contributions to society. According to The Telegraph, Bristow remains steadfast in his views on the conflict in Gaza and believes in representing the concerns of the Muslim communities in his constituency. Earlier in October, Downing Street reprimanded Conservative MP Crispin Blunt after he suggested the UK could be complicit in war crimes being committed in Gaza. However, the wider membership of the Conservative Party has largely rallied behind the Government’s stance on the conflict, in contrast with internal disputes within the opposition Labour party, where more than a dozen shadow ministers have publicly advocated for a ceasefire.