Starmer to put Labour’s position on Israel-Hamas war to potential vote amid rebellion concerns
Labour will put forward an amendment to parliament on Wednesday that will give MPs a vote on the Israel-Hamas war, the party has said.
The amendment will condemn the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, call for the immediate release of all hostages and “reaffirm Israel’s right to defend its citizens from terrorism”.
But it will also say there has been “far too many deaths of innocent civilians and children” in Gaza and call on Israel to protect hospitals and lift its blockade of the 25-mile strip.
Follow live: Braverman launches scathing attack on Sunak
The amendment will call for “longer humanitarian pauses” to deliver humanitarian assistance “on a scale that begins to meet the desperate needs of the people of Gaza”, calling this “a necessary step to an enduring cessation of fighting as soon as possible”.
It comes amid concerns some Labour MPs could be tempted to vote for a rival SNP amendment that would expose divisions within the party by going further and calling for a ceasefire.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Why does SNP want a ceasefire?
So far, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has consistently called for a humanitarian pause in the war for aid to reach Palestinians, but has rejected calls for him to demand a ceasefire.
A Labour spokesperson said their amendment “reaffirms the position” set out by Sir Keir and reflected the party’s concerns regarding the status of Israeli hostages, the “insufficient” amount of aid and utilities entering and being distributed in Gaza, the scale of civilian casualties and the amount of violence on the West Bank.
The spokesperson hinted that if the House of Commons Speaker selects the party’s amendment, Labour MPs will be ordered to abstain on the SNP amendment.
“We’re not going to be engaging with the party political game-playing by the SNP in parliament,” they said.
Labour has been divided over its approach to the conflict, with numerous backbenchers and shadow ministers calling for a ceasefire.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Is ceasefire issue tearing Labour apart?’
But the leadership has stood by its own calls for so-called humanitarian pauses to allow aid and supplies to get into the Gaza Strip – echoing the position of the government.
The discord within Labour has been ramped up by the prospect of the SNP amendment being presented to parliament on Wednesday, giving all MPs an opportunity to vote in favour of a ceasefire – if it is selected by the Speaker.
Such a vote could highlight the level of upset on Sir Keir’s backbenches, with rumours even shadow ministers could rebel against Labour’s official position.
Labour insiders made it clear to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby that if frontbenchers defied the party position and voted with the SNP, they would have to stand down.
Read more:
Grassroots Tories’ fury at Sunak after Braverman sacking
Braverman’s letter to Sunak in full – and PM’s response
Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds effectively confirmed this on Tuesday evening, telling the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge: “We would expect people to vote for the Labour position. That’s why we’re putting the Labour position forward.
“Disciplinary issues are obviously for the chief whip and not for me to announce on television, but we would expect Labour frontbenchers to support the Labour position.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘We would expect Labour frontbenchers to support the Labour position’
One Labour source also told Sky News: “The order at the moment is if you’re on the frontbench and you vote for [the SNP amendment] you won’t be on the frontbench anymore.”
Another party source said a number of shadow ministers may resign in advance, adding: “Maybe [a Labour amendment] will be enough for some, but it won’t be enough for a lot.”
But it doesn’t appear to be stopping backbenchers from offering their support to the SNP motion.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell told Sky News: “I will be voting along with several colleagues for a ceasefire and therefore for the SNP amendment if no other is called by the Speaker.
“I don’t think he will call any other but the SNP’s so I will be voting for that.”
SNP sources have said Wednesday’s vote would not be a one-off, and they would keep up the pressure on Sir Keir and his MPs to back a ceasefire – drawing a dividing line between the two parties.
Thailand’s five-year tax break on crypto capital gains looks like a dream for investors, but the fine print reveals a strategic push for surveillance, platform control and regulatory dominance.
The TON Foundation could have avoided its golden visa controversy in the UAE with a brief legal review, a local lawyer told Cointelegraph.
Politics
Norman Tebbit: Former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government dies aged 94
Norman Tebbit, the former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government, has died at the age of 94.
Lord Tebbit died “peacefully at home” late on Monday night, his son William confirmed.
One of Mrs Thatcher’s most loyal cabinet ministers, he was a leading political voice throughout the turbulent 1980s.
He held the posts of employment secretary, trade secretary, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Conservative party chairman before resigning as an MP in 1992 after his wife was left disabled by the Provisional IRA’s bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton.
He considered standing for the Conservative leadership after Mrs Thatcher’s resignation in 1990, but was committed to taking care of his wife.
Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit in 1987 after her election victory. Pic: PA
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called him an “icon” in British politics and was “one of the leading exponents of the philosophy we now know as Thatcherism”.
“But to many of us it was the stoicism and courage he showed in the face of terrorism, which inspired us as he rebuilt his political career after suffering terrible injuries in the Brighton bomb, and cared selflessly for his wife Margaret, who was gravely disabled in the bombing,” she wrote on X.
“He never buckled under pressure and he never compromised. Our nation has lost one of its very best today and I speak for all the Conservative family and beyond in recognising Lord Tebbit’s enormous intellect and profound sense of duty to his country.
“May he rest in peace.”
Lord Tebbit and his wife Margaret stand outside the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Pic: PA
Tory grandee David Davis told Sky News Lord Tebbit was a “great working class Tory, always ready to challenge establishment conventional wisdom for the bogus nonsense it often was”.
“He was one of Thatcher’s bravest and strongest lieutenants, and a great friend,” Sir David said.
“He had to deal with the agony that the IRA visited on him and his wife, and he did so with characteristic unflinching courage. He was a great man.”
Reform leader Nigel Farage said Lord Tebbit “gave me a lot of help in my early days as an MEP”.
He was “a great man. RIP,” he added.
Lord Tebbit as employment secretary in 1983 with Mrs Thatcher. Pic: PA
Born to working-class parents in north London, he was made a life peer in 1992, where he sat until he retired in 2022.
Lord Tebbit was trade secretary when he was injured in the Provisional IRA’s bombing in Brighton during the Conservative Party conference in 1984.
Five people died in the attack and Lord Tebbit’s wife, Margaret, was left paralysed from the neck down. She died in 2020 at the age of 86.
Before entering politics, his first job, aged 16, was at the Financial Times where he had his first experience of trade unions and vowed to “break the power of the closed shop”.
He then trained as a pilot with the RAF – at one point narrowly escaping from the burning cockpit of a Meteor 8 jet – before becoming the MP for Epping in 1970 then for Chingford in 1974.
Lord Tebbit during an EU debate in the House of Lords in 1997. Pic: PA
As a cabinet minister, he was responsible for legislation that weakened the powers of the trade unions and the closed shop, making him the political embodiment of the Thatcherite ideology that was in full swing.
His tough approach was put to the test when riots erupted in Brixton, south London, against the backdrop of high rates of unemployment and mistrust between the black community and the police.
He was frequently misquoted as having told the unemployed to “get on your bike”, and was often referred to as “Onyerbike” for some time afterwards.
What he actually said was he grew up in the ’30s with an unemployed father who did not riot, “he got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking till he found it”.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike