Sir Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure from within his own party over his stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict, with dozens of Labour MPs and more than 150 Muslim councillors urging him to call for an immediate ceasefire. The Labour leader has faced criticism for comments in which he appeared to back Israel's right to withhold power and water from Gaza, and for his initial reluctance to support a humanitarian pause.
At a meeting with around a dozen Muslim Labour MPs and peers on Wednesday, Sir Keir was told the pressure to back a ceasefire is now “huge”. The Labour leader accepted that there was “work to be done” to win back the trust of Muslim voters after a “robust” exchange. Topics raised included his LBC interview and why it took over a week to clarify his remarks, as well as a meeting with Muslim leaders in south Wales that a mosque accused him of having “gravely misrepresented”.
Labour has since indicated it backs Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s call for “humanitarian pauses” in the conflict to allow aid into Gaza and for hostages and British nationals to leave. Sir Keir said on Tuesday night: “We welcome Secretary Blinken’s comments last night and we support humanitarian pauses. It’s clear that the amount of aid and essential utilities getting into Gaza is completely insufficient to meet the humanitarian emergency on the ground.”
However, left-wing pressure group Momentum warned the Labour leader risked alienating voters unless the party called for a full ceasefire. A spokesman said: “This mealy-mouthed statement is an utterly insufficient response to the scale of human suffering in Gaza. Brief pauses in bombing are not a ceasefire.”
Eighty-one MPs from across the House of Commons have signed a motion urging the British government to call for a ceasefire and allow access for medical supplies, food, fuel, electricity and water. The Labour leader’s handling of the crisis has plunged the party into turmoil, with many accusing him of failing to adequately address the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
