Pro-Palestinian Labour frontbenchers are warned they face the sack if they defy Keir Starmer to vote for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza today
- Labour has gone only so far as to back ‘immediate humanitarian pauses’ for aid
Labour frontbenchers were given a clear warning to toe the line over a ceasefire in Gaza or be sacked today amid reports they are planning to defy him en masse over the bloody Israeli invasion.
Party MPs have been ordered not to support an SNP call for an immediate end to fighting in the besieged enclave in the Commons this afternoon.
The nationalists’ Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has said Parliament must ‘show moral leadership’ and vote in favour of backing an immediate cessation of hostilities that were triggered by Hamas’s October 7 terror attack.
Frontbenchers have instead been told to back Sir Keir’s rival amendment calling for longer ‘humanitarian pauses’ rather than a ceasefire.
Party frontbenchers who rebel to back a rival amendment would normally face the sack for breaking the party whip.
And Shadow cabinet minister Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator, today told Sky News: ‘Like every frontbencher, I serve at the pleasure of the leader.’
Shadow cabinet minister Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator, today told Sky News: ‘Like every frontbencher, I serve at the pleasure of the leader.’
Shadow ministers are not prepared to support a separate amendment tabled by Sir Keir Starmer that condemns Israel’s conduct in the war but stops short of backing a ceasefire
The possibility of a Commons vote comes as Israeli forces entered Gaza’s Shifa hospital.
He also told LBC there was ‘no need’ for any Labour MP to support the SNP’s amendment when it had put forward its own.
Labour leaders were last night meeting more than a dozen frontbenchers who have called for a cessation of hostilities in the besieged territory, where more than 11,000 people have been killed in the IDF onslaught.
But many are still prepared to put their roles at risk by siding with the SNP, which has lodged a Commons amendment calling on the UK to join the international community in pressing for an immediate ceasefire.
Labour has gone only so far as to back ‘immediate humanitarian pauses’ to let aid in.
The possibility of a Commons vote comes as Israeli forces entered Gaza’s Shifa hospital.
The Israeli army had surrounded the facility as part of its ground offensive against Hamas, claiming the militant group conceals military operations in the complex.
But with hundreds of patients and medical personnel inside, the move has risks of civilian casualties.
Hamas raids on October 7 killed 1,200 people in Israel and saw more than 200 taken hostage.
Retaliatory strikes, including a ground offensive into northern Gaza, by Tel Aviv’s forces have killed more than 11,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell is in Cairo on Wednesday to hold talks with Egyptian counterparts and other partners on how to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Last week levelling up spokesman Imran Hussain resigned so he could ‘strongly advocate for a ceasefire’ from the backbenches
Last week levelling up spokesman Imran Hussain resigned so he could ‘strongly advocate for a ceasefire’ from the backbenches.
Other frontbenchers have so far chosen to stay in their posts and try to shift the leadership from within.
A Labour spokesman said the party’s amendment reflects concerns about ‘the lack of hostage release, the insufficient amount of aid and utilities getting in and being distributed, the scale of civilian casualties in Gaza and…violence in the West Bank’.
A party source said: ‘Mass resignations or sackings could well happen. It makes frontbenchers look silly if they’ve been calling for a ceasefire all this time then don’t support the motion.’
Another insider added shadow ministers either ‘want a free vote or for the party to turn round and back a ceasefire’.
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