ARCHIE MITCHELL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

Former foreign minister Sir Alan Duncan is being investigated by Tory chiefs after he said pro-Israel “extremists” in the party should be kicked out because they refused to support international law.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

Sir Alan said ex-cabinet minister Eric Pickles and Tory peer Stuart Polak, both members of the powerful Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) organisation, should both be thrown out of the party. The CFI was being used to "exercise the interests of another country" by lobbying for Israel, he said.

He also branded Michael Gove, Oliver Dowden, Suella Braverman, Robert Jenrick and Priti Patel "extremists" for failing to denounce unlawful Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Conservative head office responded by launching an inquiry into Sir Alan's comments, which could lead to him having the party whip withdrawn.

The party faces a split over the Gaza war, with figures including Sir Nicholas Soames, the grandson of Winston Churchill, former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Mark Logan, a PPS in the Department for Work and Pensions, among those calling for a suspension of the supply of UK arms to Israel.