Why are local councils calling for a Gaza ceasefire?

Foreign wars have the unfortunate side-effect of bringing out the self-regarding narcissist in people. This is made all the more pronounced in our era of social media, in which some types appear to think that mere tweets can stop wars, and that an appropriately-altered Facebook profile might bring about world peace.

The latest casualty in this regard has been local government. And I don’t just mean the Scottish government and the Scottish National party, who have had delusions of grandeur long before the Israel-Gaza conflagration begun. I mean local, provincial councils.

In a tweet last week, Freddie Bailey, Labour councillor and cabinet member for environment and community safety at Preston council, proudly announced: ‘We in Preston are the first Council in the UK to hold an Extraordinary Council Meeting to pass a Notice of Motion calling for a immediate ceasefire in Gaza.’