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LONDON — Keir Starmer still isn’t calling for a ceasefire in Gaza — but he has agreed a temporary truce with his own MPs.
In a speech Monday, the Labour leader set out why he isn’t backing a ceasefire in the Middle East despite open revolt in his own party.
The address was a response to dozens of Labour MPs — including those on his front bench team — who have urged Israel to stop its offensive on Gaza amid the rising civilian death toll. They have been joined by some of the party’s most senior politicians including Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
Having ridden high in the polls for months, the row threatens to derail what appeared to be a smooth path for Starmer to victory in the general election due to be held by January 2025. Under the last Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, the party came close to splitting amid accusations of anti-Semitism.
Keen to avoid reopening the fault line, Starmer said in his speech he understood the concerns at the loss of life in Gaza but argued a ceasefire would only “embolden Hamas” and that the “only credible approach” was to back temporary humanitarian pauses in the fighting.
Some Labour frontbenchers have been mollified. A shadow minister who called for a ceasefire before Monday and was granted anonymity to speak frankly said the speech was “balanced and helped address some of the concerns from members.” A second shadow minister who had been privately lobbying for a more pro-Palestinian position agreed that the speech was “very balanced.”
Many of those supportive of Starmer’s position point to a widely-shared clip of Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, telling a Lebanese TV channel that Israel “must be finished” and that Hamas would repeat its October 7 attack if given the chance.
Not everyone is convinced; Two more Labour MPs joined calls for a ceasefire Wednesday. Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, a shadow Treasury minister, posted on X saying: “Urgently need a cessation of hostilities” in Gaza. And Fabian Hamilton, a former shadow foreign minister, said in a post on X that “the increasing loss of life in Gaza is intolerable” and that “the continued bombing of civilian targets in Gaza” fails to distinguish between Palestinian civilians and Hamas operatives.
Other Labour MPs, including some of Muslim heritage and with large Muslim communities in their constituencies, are holding their tongues for now but remain unhappy Labour is not urging a ceasefire.
Luckily for Starmer, those lingering tensions remain under the surface while parliament is prorogued ahead of next week’s King’s Speech, when the government sets out legislative program. MPs return to the Commons Tuesday, and strategists from the ruling Conservative Party may well be looking at ways to engineer a debate which would expose Labour divisions.
Crunch meetings
Labour HQ has been holding daily 9 a.m. meetings to discuss its response to the crisis in the Middle East. These are chaired by former Whitehall enforcer Sue Gray, who has fast become one of the most important officials around Starmer.
The meetings are attended by shadow Cabinet ministers in relevant briefs including Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Shadow International Development Secretary Lisa Nandy and Shadow Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who was one of the U.K’s first Muslim MPs.
POLITICO’s London Playbook reported the first draft of Starmer’s speech was shared with this group of shadow Cabinet ministers Monday, and edited with their feedback to include stronger language on Palestinian suffering.
One Labour aide welcomed the greater emphasis on Palestinians, suggesting that Starmer’s earlier difficulties — which began with an LBC interview where he implied Israel had the right to withhold water and electricity from civilians in Gaza — had arisen partly because of “over-correction” after the Corbyn years. Under Corbyn’s leadership, Labour was found by the U.K. equalities watchdog to have discriminated against Jewish members.
Adam Langleben, executive director of Progressive Britain, a Starmer-supporting Labour faction, said: “Keir Starmer demonstrated in his speech a clear understanding of the conflict and presented a coherent plan for how his Labour government would kickstart a peace process … He takes the concerns of the Muslim and Jewish citizens of this country deeply seriously.”
Looking to the future
Labour is not the only progressive party in the West to have faced difficulties striking the right balance on Israel and Palestine.
In the U.S., President Joe Biden has been steadfast in his support for Israel and called for humanitarian pauses — but the question of whether to back a ceasefire has become contentious. A small cadre of Democratic lawmakers are pressuring Biden and the Democrats’ Congressional leaders to go further and there are warnings that Biden is losing support from Muslim American voters.
So far Labour has tracked the U.S. and U.K. government positions, calling for humanitarian pauses at the same time as they did.
Labour insiders believe that with his speech on Monday, Starmer deliberately gave himself for maneuver as the situation evolves. He said then: “While I understand calls for a ceasefire, at this stage I do not believe that is the correct position now.”
Asked whether Starmer was opening the door to a change if the humanitarian situation in Gaza worsens, a shadow Cabinet minister involved in the discussions said: “Exactly.”
Esther Webber and Emilio Casalicchio contributed reporting.
