Keir Starmer is battling to convince Labour MPs he has taken the right stance on the Israel–Hamas conflict – with up to four members of the shadow cabinet said to be on resignation watch last night.
The Labour leader is facing growing unrest among his own MPs, with dozens having signed a motion urging the British government to call for an immediate ceasefire.
Sir Keir was forced to hold crunch talks with a group of Muslim Labour MPs to address anger at his handling of the crisis – including comments in which he appeared to back the cutting power and water to Gaza.
Sarah Owen, the shadow minister for faith, and Rachel Hopkins, shadow Cabinet Office minister are among up to four frontbenchers considering whether to quit, according to The Times.
Frontbencher Yasmin Qureshi, a shadow equalities minister, also defied the leadership by calling for a ceasefire PMQs. A Labour spokesperson did not say whether she would be disciplined.
And more than 150 Muslim Labour councillors signed a letter to Sir Keir urging him to back a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The Labour leader has joined Mr Sunak in backing “humanitarian pauses” to deliver aid to Gaza as it faces airstrikes from Israel ahead of a ground invasion.
But Sir Keir has not backed the longer-lasting ceasefire, and he is still trying to ease anger within the party about appearing to back cutting off power and water in Gaza in a LBC interview a few days after the 7 October Hamas terror attack.
The comments – which he has since rowed back – prompted resignations among several Labour councillors and angered MPs.
Keir Starmer at the South Wales Islamic Centre mosque
(Labour Party)
Multiple sources at the Wednesday meeting – held between Sir Keir, his deputy Angela Rayner, and around a dozen Muslim MPs, including shadow minister Afzal Khan – described it as a “constructive” exercise in which grievances were shared.
One MP who was at the meeting said Sir Keir was “in listening mode”, adding that MPs “had a chance to get things off their chest”. The mood was described as “generally quite civilised” but also “quite firm”.
“There was a consensus on the point that a ceasefire needs to be called. I don’t think he’s quite there yet,” the MP added. “He said that things are moving, things are evolving, we’re already on the pause idea but we have to build consensus.”
A veteran Labour MP told The Independent Sir Keir’s initial comments on the conflict were “not in any way acceptable”, but said he had not fully “recognised” the mistake.
The MP said a majority of Labour MPs want Sir Keir to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, adding that there is “lots of talk” about it on the back benches. “The sooner he calls for it, the better. You don’t want to wait for thousands more people to be killed,” he added.
MPs are also citing a YouGov poll from 19 October where more than three quarters of Britons said they would back an immediate ceasefire.
Sir Keir released a statement on Wednesday saying that the amount of aid and essentials going into Gaza is “completely insufficient” and calling for supplies to be “urgently ramped up”.
Labour MP Khalid Mahmood, who was among those present, said it was a “very good” meeting. He told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme: “It is not a resigning issue, because we belong to a party for a purpose,” he added. “When you are outside of that you have no say, so I wouldn’t encourage anyone to resign.”
In a letter from 150 councillors, the councillors from areas including Barking and Dagenham, Birmingham, Bradford, Blackburn, Bolton and Glasgow, said: “No nation, no people or community should have to endure collective punishment and the same should be the case for the Palestinian people.”
On 10 October Sir Keir was asked on LBC if cutting off power and water to Gaza – home to more than two million Palestinians – was an appropriate response by Israel. “I think that Israel does have that right. It is an ongoing situation,” he said.
It was not until 20 October that he sought to clarify his position. “I was saying that Israel has the right to self-defence, and when I said that right I meant it was that right to self-defence,” he told broadcasters. “I was not saying that Israel had the right to cut off water, food, fuel or medicines.”