Starmer suspends Labour MP over ‘river and the sea’ comments

In the past few minutes, Labour has suspended Andy McDonald from the party whip after comments he made that were ‘deeply offensive, particularly at a time of rising anti-Semitism which has left Jewish people fearful for their safety’. Those comments, which the Labour backbencher made at the weekend, included the phrase ‘between the river and the sea’. He will now be investigated by the party’s disciplinary process.

The suspension highlights the difference between the two main parties on disciplinary matters arising from the Israel-Hamas conflict. The Tories have sacked one frontbencher, Paul Bristow, for calling for a ceasefire against the party line. Labour now has more than a dozen frontbenchers making the same defiant call, and no sackings. McDonald’s suspension is for his comments, rather than a disagreement over a ceasefire, and it suggests that Keir Starmer wants to show his party that his red lines are rather further away than the ones being enforced by the Conservative government.