Sir Keir Starmer to submit Labour Israel-Hamas amendment to Commons amid worries over party unity

Published

2 years ago

November 14, 2023

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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.

A spokesperson confirmed the move amid concerns some Labour MPs could be tempted to vote for a rival SNP amendment that would expose divisions within the party.

They said the amendment “reaffirms the position” set out by Sir Keir Starmer 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 spokesman hinted that if the 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.

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.

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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.

And 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 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.”

Sir Keir’s position on a ceasefire in Gaza has followed much of the international community, including the UK and US governments.

Speaking at an event a fortnight ago where he attempted to draw a line under the mutiny in his party, the Labour leader said a ceasefire “always freezes any conflict in the state where it currently lies”.

He added: “That would leave Hamas with the infrastructure and the capabilities to carry out the sort of attack we saw on 7 October.

“Attacks that are still ongoing. Hostages who should be released still held. Hamas would be emboldened and start preparing for future violence immediately.”

However, a number of councillors have quit the party over his stance, and one shadow minister, Imran Hussain, also resigned from his post.

Earlier in the Commons, there appeared to be little shift in position from shadow foreign secretary David Lammy.

He said the current short pauses in the Israel-Hamas conflict were “clearly not enough” to help those trapped in Gaza, and pushed for a “full, comprehensive and immediate humanitarian pause in fighting”.

Speaking about a possible motion on Wednesday, a Labour figure said: “We want to table something Labour MPs can vote for that is consistent with our policy while reflecting ongoing concerns on the ground.

“We would want people to vote for our amendment and vote against the SNP amendment. Why support SNP political game playing?”

But 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.

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Published

17 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Rachel Reeves has hinted that taxes are likely to be raised this autumn after a major U-turn on the government’s controversial welfare bill.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill passed through the House of Commons on Tuesday after multiple concessions and threats of a major rebellion.

MPs ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to universal credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.

Initially aimed at saving £5.5bn, it now leaves the government with an estimated £5.5bn black hole – close to breaching Ms Reeves’s fiscal rules set out last year.

In an interview with The Guardian, the chancellor did not rule out tax rises later in the year, saying there were “costs” to watering down the welfare bill.

“I’m not going to [rule out tax rises], because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that,” Ms Reeves told the outlet.

“We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.

“So we’ll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.”

Meanwhile, The Times reported that, ahead of the Commons vote on the welfare bill, Ms Reeves told cabinet ministers the decision to offer concessions would mean taxes would have to be raised.

The outlet reported that the chancellor said the tax rises would be smaller than those announced in the 2024 budget, but that she is expected to have to raise tens of billions more.

It comes after Ms Reeves said she was “totally” up to continuing as chancellor after appearing tearful at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Criticising Sir Keir for the U-turns on benefit reform during PMQs, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the chancellor looked “absolutely miserable”, and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.

Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she would, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”

In her first comments after the incident, Ms Reeves said she was having a “tough day” before adding: “People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday.

“Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”

Sir Keir also told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby on Thursday that he “didn’t appreciate” that Ms Reeves was crying in the Commons.

“In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang,” he said. “That’s what it was yesterday.

“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”