Sir Keir Starmer insists there is ‘unity’ in Labour as he continues to resist calls to back ceasefire in Israel-Hamas war

Published

1 year ago

November 3, 2023

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Sir Keir Starmer has insisted there is “unity” within Labour, despite demands for him to change his stance on the Israel-Hamas war and back calls for a ceasefire.

The growing descent in his party hit a new peak late on Thursday, when two council leaders called on the Labour leader to resign over his position on the Middle East conflict.

They accused Sir Keir of “blindly following” the government and not standing up for “Labour values”.

The Labour leader has backed calls for “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting but has previously said he does not believe a ceasefire is the “correct position” to take.

A number of other senior party figures, including London mayor Sadiq Khan, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, have also recently broken ranks to call for a ceasefire.

But, speaking at an event in Durham on Friday, Sir Keir said the “focus” should be on people in Gaza and Israel who “most desperately need our support and help – not on political voices in our own country”.

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After outlining how his party had been singing from the same hymn sheet at its recent conference over its plans for government, the Labour leader said: “On the question of Gaza, there is also unity.

“Whether people are asking for a ceasefire or a humanitarian pause, it comes from the same place, which is… people desperately want to see an alleviation of a situation.

“That is a human emotion to what we’re seeing on our televisions, and images and reports, every single day. I am not surprised that people are trying to go for any option that they see would alleviate the awful situation.

“I don’t think that should be taken as great division. That is a human emotion. What I’ve done is share that emotion… but what I’ve concentrated on is what is the practical way to alleviate the situation on the ground.”

Sir Keir said aligning with both the British and American governments in their calls for so-called humanitarian pauses in the fighting, to allow aid into the Gaza Strip, would help “bring about that change”.

He added: “For me, this isn’t about the particular position taken by individuals in the Labour Party. It’s about alleviating that suffering.”

Asked if he would fire any shadow ministers who disagreed with him and continued to call for a ceasefire, Sir Keir said: “Collective responsibility is important”.

He added: “It’s my job as leader of the party to assess how we enforce and bring about collective responsibility. And I will do so.

“But I’ve set out my position clearly. I am not doing so in accordance with particular views that individual members of the Labour party may or may not take. That is not my central objective and I do not think that should be the priority.

“The priority is to get change in the situation [in the Middle East] just as quickly as we can.”

Sir Keir was in the North East to set out his mission for government to business leaders, as he called for this week’s King Speech to act as a “kick start” to “get Britain building”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak‘s policy agenda for the 12 months ahead is due to be delivered on Tuesday, as Westminster prepares for the pomp and ceremony of the State Opening of Parliament.

Reports suggest there will be a big focus on crime from the government, as well as legislative plans for conference announcements, such as phasing out smoking.

The Labour leader outlined what he believed should feature in the speech in order to achieve a “decade of national renewal” – including building more infrastructure, overhauling planning systems, and upskilling young people in new technical colleges.

“Next week is the King’s Speech and we can already see it will only bring more of the same,” said Sir Keir. “A manifesto for the 14th year of Tory failure and the starting gun fired on the next general election.

“[That vote will be] a choice of a Conservative Party with no plan for the future, hurtling down the only high-speed project it’s ever managed to build – the highway to British decline – or the Labour alternative, a party that understands the potential that lies in regions like this, that has a plan to grow every corner of this country.”

He added: “The King’s Speech should be about a national mission to get Britain building again and to grow our country from the grassroots, because Britain needs a new business model.”

Politics

Wolf Capital co-founder pleads guilty to $9.4M Ponzi, promised 547% returns

Published

11 hours ago

January 11, 2025

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Wolf Capital co-founder pleads guilty to .4M Ponzi, promised 547% returns

According to the US Department of Justice, Wolf Capital’s co-founder has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy for luring 2,800 crypto investors into a Ponzi scheme.

Politics

Rachel Reeves lands in China amid pressure to cancel trip over market turmoil

Published

13 hours ago

January 11, 2025

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Rachel Reeves lands in China amid pressure to cancel trip over market turmoil

Making Britain better off will be “at the forefront of the chancellor’s mind” during her visit to China, the Treasury has said amid controversy over the trip.

Rachel Reeves flew out on Friday after ignoring calls from opposition parties to cancel the long-planned venture because of market turmoil at home.

The past week has seen a drop in the pound and an increase in government borrowing costs, which has fuelled speculation of more spending cuts or tax rises.

The Tories have accused the chancellor of having “fled to China” rather than explain how she will fix the UK’s flatlining economy, while the Liberal Democrats say she should stay in Britain and announce a “plan B” to address market volatility.

However, Ms Reeves has rejected calls to cancel the visit, writing in The Times on Friday night that choosing not to engage with China is “no choice at all”.

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The chancellor will be accompanied by Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey and other senior executives.

She will meet with her counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, in Beijing on Saturday to discuss financial services, trade and investment.

She will also “raise difficult issues”, including Chinese firms supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and concerns over constraints on rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, the Treasury said.

But it did not mention whether Ms Reeves would raise the treatment of the Uyghur community, which Downing Street said Foreign Secretary David Lammy would do during his visit last year.

On Friday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy defended the trip, telling Sky News that the climbing cost of government borrowing was a “global trend” that had affected many countries, “most notably the United States”.

“We are still on track to be the fastest growing economy, according to the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] in Europe,” she told Anna Jones on Sky News Breakfast.

“China is the second-largest economy, and what China does has the biggest impact on people from Stockton to Sunderland, right across the UK, and it’s absolutely essential that we have a relationship with them.”

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However, former prime minister Boris Johnson said Ms Reeves had “been rumbled” and said she should “make her way to HR and collect her P45 – or stay in China”.

While in the country’s capital, Ms Reeves will also visit British bike brand Brompton’s flagship store, which relies heavily on exports to China, before heading to Shanghai for talks with representatives across British and Chinese businesses.

It is the first UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) since 2019, building on the Labour government’s plan for a “pragmatic” policy with the world’s second-largest economy.

Sir Keir Starmer was the first British prime minister to meet with China’s President Xi Jinping in six years at the G20 summit in Brazil last autumn.

Relations between the UK and China have become strained over the last decade as the Conservative government spoke out against human rights abuses and concerns grew over national security risks.

Navigating this has proved tricky given China is the UK’s fourth largest single trading partner, with a trade relationship worth almost £113bn and exports to China supporting over 455,000 jobs in the UK in 2020, according to the government.

During the Tories’ 14 years in office, the approach varied dramatically from the “golden era” under David Cameron to hawkish aggression under Liz Truss, while Rishi Sunak vowed to be “robust” but resisted pressure from his own party to brand China a threat.

The Treasury said a stable relationship with China would support economic growth and that “making working people across Britain secure and better off is at the forefront of the chancellor’s mind”.

Ahead of her visit, Ms Reeves said: “By finding common ground on trade and investment, while being candid about our differences and upholding national security as the first duty of this government, we can build a long-term economic relationship with China that works in the national interest.”