A SKY News journalist has been slammed after shutting down a conversation around Israel's genocide in Gaza.
Laura Pidcock, co-director of Declassified UK and a former Labour MP, appeared in a panel on The Cathy Newman Show on Monday evening as Keir Starmer's future continues to hang in the balance, with the Labour leader insisting that he will not stand down as Prime Minister.
During the discussion, Pidcock said that the Labour Government is "complicit in a genocide in Gaza", before being promptly shut down by presenter Cathy Newman.
🚨Watch what happened when our co-director @LauraPidcock tried to bring up Israel's genocide in Gaza on Sky News last night. Clip by @SaulStaniforth👇 pic.twitter.com/UDQCOoYhiK
— Declassified UK (@declassifiedUK) May 19, 2026
Pidcock said: "This is a fundamental problem that we have in politics, it's really difficult listening to resigning being one of the biggest political moments of your career and things like that, when actually we are living in a society where over 14 million people are in poverty, four million of those are children.
"We've just watched a Labour Government be complicit in a genocide in Gaza, in many–"
Newman then interrupted: "You know that word is disputed–"
Pidcock responded: "The word 'genocide' is not disputed."
"In that context," Newman said. "We're sort of off the point of the Labour Party leadership–"
Pidcock said: "Well, this is important because if we are thinking about why there is such a huge amount of discontent at the polls, we have to look at the record of the Labour Government.
"They were voted on this mantra of change – no change has come, because they will not challenge the status quo.
"And I'll just say one thing about Keir Starmer and his path to power, if you like. He showed everybody his homework, his working out, about what he would be like as a prime minister.
"He has become a prime minister of a creeping authoritarianism within the state."
Last year, a United Nations (UN) inquiry found that Israel has committed genocide in Palestine.
Leading experts in genocide studies have also determined that Israel has engaged in “widespread crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide” in Gaza.
Israel is also facing a genocide trial at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), brought by South Africa.
Newman has been criticised for cutting off Pidcock after raising Gaza and claiming the word "genocide" is disputed.
One social media user said: "I'm sure there are people who would dispute lots of what Laura says here (not me, mind); why is it only the Gaza genocide that needs to be said for?"
A second person said: "The International Association of Genocide Scholars, Amnesty International, the UN, Oxfam, the Elders, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, the Lemkin Institute and more have all long ago concluded that its a genocide."
A third user wrote: "Regardless of the definition of genocide (& there is no doubt about it whatsoever), Laura Pidcock has absolutely nailed it."
