Wes Streeting says people are ‘upset and hurt’ by Labour’s initial reaction to Israel-Hamas war

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2 years ago

October 26, 2023

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Wes Streeting has acknowledged people have been “upset and hurt” by Labour’s initial reaction to the Israel-Hamas war.

The shadow health secretary told the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge that people wanted his party to be “louder and clearer” about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.

Politics Live: Starmer accused of ‘shying away’ from crisis in Gaza

There have been tensions in the Labour Party after leader Sir Keir Starmer appeared to suggest in an LBC interview that Israel had the right to cut off water and power to the besieged Gaza Strip following the deadly attack by Hamas on 7 October.

Although the Labour leader has sought to clarify his remarks, there is still anger in the Muslim community.

Asked if voters could be turned away from Labour, Mr Streeting said: “No, I think people have been upset and hurt and wanted us to be louder and clearer on the humanitarian crisis.”

He went on to say Sir Keir “doesn’t think it’s ok cut off power and water” and he misspoke in the interview.

“It was never Keir’s intention to give the impression that we support those measures,” he said.

“In interviews you have a sustained line of questioning – he was answering a previous question and not that one.”

In the interview with LBC’s Nick Ferrari, Sir Keir was asked what a “proportionate” response would look like to the surprise Hamas attacks, which killed at least 1,400 people.

Starmer is under the spotlight over his party’s stance on Gaza

Taking to the dispatch box at PMQs, Sir Keir Starmer could have been mistaken for a man having a good week.

In high spirits, galvanised by a double by-election win last Thursday, he leapt to his feet and quizzed the prime minister on mortgages and no-fault evictions.

What he failed to address was the story overshadowing all else and threatening Labour Party unity.

The Israel-Hamas War has seen Sir Keir in the spotlight. Anger over an interview on LBC (where he suggested Israel had a right to cut off supplies to Gaza, a position later clarified) has led to councillor resignations and calls for a repositioning from the party leadership on a ceasefire.

On Wednesday, Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner sought to ease tensions in the parliamentary party by meeting Muslim MPs.

The meeting was described as “constructive”.

One shadow cabinet minister told me that reports of dissent were “exaggerated” but there is genuine concern among some MPs I have spoken to that the party is losing Muslim voters.

Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting admitted that people have been “upset and hurt” by the LBC interview and “wanted us to be louder and clearer on the humanitarian crisis”.
He said Sir Keir had been misinterpreted.

The Labour leader certainly has a delicate path to tread in the coming weeks.

He has fought hard to move his party on from the past and present a united front – unity though can unravel very quickly.

He said that responsibility “lies with Hamas” and that Israel “has the right to defend herself”.

The presenter interjected, asking: “A siege is appropriate? Cutting off power, cutting off water?”

The Labour leader responded: “I think that Israel does have that right. It is an ongoing situation.”

The comments, which he has since rowed back on, prompted resignations among Labour councillors and angered the party’s MPs, even those on the frontbenches as shadow ministers.

Sir Keir sought to cool tensions by visiting a mosque on Sunday and holding a meeting with Muslim MPs today.

But while sources described the meeting as “constructive”, Sir Keir did not back calls for a ceasefire, instead saying Labour supports “humanitarian pauses”.

This position was repeated by Mr Streeting, who said UK politicians need to prioritise supporting Israel in getting hostages back from Gaza “and making sure this sort of thing doesn’t happen again”.

However, he said there is a “responsibility” to minimise the loss of civilian life and get humanitarian aid in to Gaza.

“That is why US secretary of state Antony Blinken, our allies in France and our government are right to call for a humanitarian pause to allow the safe flow of aid through,” he said.

Asked what the difference was between a “humanitarian pause” and a “ceasefire”, he said: “This is the difficulty with the concept of a ceasefire.

“We’re dealing with a terrorist organisation in Hamas.”

Asked if Israel has committed war crimes, as some MPs have suggested, Mr Streeting added: “I’m not qualified to make that judgement.”