Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Labour leader buckled to pressure from Left-wing MPs and the SNP, who said nationalists had ‘inserted a backbone’ in the party
Sir Keir Starmer set out his fifth new position on Gaza on Tuesday as he backed an “immediate” ceasefire to avoid another damaging rebellion.
The Labour leader caved to pressure from Left-wing MPs and the Scottish National Party by supporting calls for Israel to agree to an instant truce.
Stephen Flynn, the SNP leader in Westminster, claimed victory and crowed that the nationalists had “inserted a backbone into the Labour Party”.
Sir Keir tabled an amendment backing an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” after coming under pressure to support an SNP motion which will be up for a vote on Wednesday.
He did so to avoid a rebellion from his own party after 56 of his MPs defied his orders to vote for a truce in November, including 10 frontbenchers who resigned.
Labour’s amendment matches the SNP call for an immediate ceasefire, but adds caveats including that Hamas must lay down its weapons and give up Israeli hostages.
Tabling it was enough to ease the threat of another major revolt by Labour backbenchers, with former rebels saying they would now support the leadership.
But it still fell short of the demands of some Left-wing activists who said caveats added to the SNP proposal showed the amendment was “weasel words”.
The Government has tabled its own amendment that went less far than Labour’s by only supporting “moves towards a permanent ceasefire”.
The move by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, means Labour’s amendment may not be selected for a vote at all.
That would create a huge headache for Sir Keir who would then have to decide whether to whip his MPs to abstain on the SNP motion, risking another huge rebellion, or back down and allow them to vote for it without sanction.
It is the first time Sir Keir has called for an immediate ceasefire, and the fourth time that he has changed his position on Gaza in the space of four months.
Following the Oct 7 terror attack he resisted calls for a truce. Since then he has backed “humanitarian pauses”, a “sustainable” ceasefire and now an “immediate” one.
David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, explained the latest shift by arguing the impending Israeli attack on Rafah meant “the situation has evolved”.
He added that the wording of Labour’s amendment “mirrored” the position of key international allies including Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Mr Flynn said: “Through Parliamentary pressure we have inserted a backbone into the Labour Party. Their support for an immediate ceasefire is welcome.”
Former rebels welcomed Sir Keir’s change of direction and said they expected Left-wing colleagues to rally behind his amendment on Wednesday.
Clive Betts, who voted for a ceasefire in November, said it was a “really firm, strong statement, which I think the party will unite behind”.
Another rebel told The Telegraph they were set to back the motion, saying the leadership had “chosen party unity over their past mistaken positions”.
Labour is set to whip its MPs to abstain on the SNP motion, meaning Sir Keir still faces the risk of a revolt if his own amendment fails to pass the Commons.
The SNP has signalled it will support him, but the Tories would not reveal their plans and could choose to block the amendment by voting against it.
In such a scenario Labour MPs would vote on the original SNP motion, with some predicting as big a rebellion as in November if that came to pass.
Left-wing activists are urging Labour MPs to defy Sir Keir, arguing he has “muddied the waters” by attaching conditions to his backing for a ceasefire.
His amendment stipulates that any truce is conditional on Hamas agreeing to lay down its weapons and return the hostages it took on Oct 7.
It also deletes a reference in the original SNP motion to the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people” and asserts Israel’s right to self-defence.
Andrew Fisher, who was director of policy under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, said the wording was “diluting the SNP’s call for an immediate ceasefire”.
Diane Abbott, a former shadow home secretary, added: “If Starmer really wanted a ceasefire he would table a simple amendment saying that.
“Instead he tables one full of weasel words. It gets Labour MPs under pressure off the hook, but means he can say afterwards his position has not changed.”
Momentum, the Left-wing campaign group, said it would continue to lobby Labour MPs to vote in favour of the original SNP proposal.
In a statement it said: “By making its call for a ceasefire so conditional and caveated, the Labour Leadership is giving cover for Israel’s brutal war to continue.
“Labour should be providing the moral leadership the Tories lack, not muddying the waters. Simply put, Keir Starmer should get off the fence.”
English