Keir Starmer has moved his party’s position on a ceasefire as he seeks to quell what could the biggest rebellion of his leadership. Tomorrow MPs will vote on an SNP motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. When MPs voted on a similar motion in a similar vote three months ago, 56 Labour MPs rebelled, including eight frontbenchers. This time around, Starmer has been warned the rebellion could be even larger.
In a bid to thwart the potential revolt, Starmer met with his shadow cabinet this lunchtime. Following that meeting, the party has announced plans to add its own amendment to the SNP motion tomorrow. For the first time, Labour is calling for an ‘immediate humanitarian ceasefire’. The lengthy amendment makes clear that the mooted Israeli ground offensive in Rafah ‘risks catastrophic humanitarian consequences and therefore must not take place’.
This is a much more heavily caveated call for a ceasefire than what the SNP is calling for
However, scratch the surface and it’s not clear that this is such a big change in the Labour position – even if it is being dressed up to be.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in