Wednesday briefing: How the Rochdale furore exposed claims of factionalism in Labour’s handling of antisemitism

In today's newsletter: The party has disowned candidate Azhar Ali following his remarks about Israel and Gaza, with accusations of hypocrisy over antisemitism levelled at Starmer's door

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Good morning. This week ought to be an excellent one for Keir Starmer, and a terrible one for Rishi Sunak: ONS figures just out which show no fall in inflation, the chance that another batch of ONS data on Thursday will show the UK in recession, and then the results of two byelections on Friday morning likely to shift two previously safe Tory seats into the Labour column.

But it isn't working out like that. The reason: the buildup to a third byelection later this month, to replace the late Labour MP Sir Tony Lloyd in Rochdale. Labour's candidate, Azhar Ali, was widely expected to stroll to victory. But the Mail on Sunday got hold of a recording of Ali saying that Israel deliberately allowed the 7 October massacre to happen so that it could attack Gaza. Labour stuck by their man for 36 painful hours. Then more comments at the same meeting in October were reported by the Daily Mail, revealing that Ali had blamed people in the media from certain Jewish quarters" for the suspension of the MP Andy McDonald for using the phrase between the river and the sea". At last, Labour disowned him.

Israel-Gaza war | Israel is in breach of international law as the occupying power if it fails to provide food and water to the people of Gaza, the UK foreign secretary, Lord Cameron, has said. Cameron also said that it was impossible for people in the Rafah area to leave, suggesting the UK would not endorse a full-scale attack there.

Retail | The Body Shop has collapsed into administration in the UK, less than three months after it was taken over by a private equity company, in a move that puts hundreds of jobs at risk at the cosmetics chain.

US news | After weeks of setbacks and delays, the US Senate gave final approval to a $95m wartime aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other American allies early Tuesday morning, sending the bill to the Republican-controlled House where its fate is uncertain. Read an explainer on the bill.

BBC | Tributes have been paid to the DJ Steve Wright, for decades the voice of the BBC on afternoon radio, who has died at the age of 69. Sara Cox told BBC Radio 2 listeners Wright was an extraordinary broadcaster, a really, really kind person" and a huge, huge part of the Radio 2 family". Read Mark Lawson's tribute.

UK news | One of London's last remaining gentlemen's clubs, the Garrick, has taken the highly unusual step of expelling a member, amid rising tensions over the club's unwillingness to change its men-only membership rules. Colin Bough was expelled after sending a series of angry emails expressing his conviction that women should be admitted immediately.