SIR Keir Starmer today called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza as he battled to head off a Labour revolt.
The opposition chief toughened his party’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war ahead of a major vote on Wednesday.
Sir Keir Starmer called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” for the first time[/caption]
Labour rebels were gearing up to side with an SNP motion calling for the war to end now.
A similar ballot last November saw ten opposition frontbenchers quit and more than 50 backbenchers rebel with the Nats.
In a bid to quash a revolt, Sir Keir tabled an amendment which for the first time backed an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.
Labour had so far been calling for an instant pause in the fighting, leading to a “sustainable” end to the war.
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Sir Keir has spent months battling mounting pressure from backbenchers to ramp up his rhetoric on the Gaza war.
Politicians with large Muslim constituencies warned that anything less than a call for an immediate ceasefire would trigger an uproar in their seats and open them to threats from candidates standing on a mandate to “free Palestine”.
Last night previously critical MPs signalled they were satisfied with the new line.
Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “We said back on October 7 that we supported Israel’s right to defend itself.
“It is our assessment that there has been a considerable degrading of Hamas’s ability.
“We want those hostages to come out. But we’re absolutely clear that what we now need is an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”
Mr Lammy added that a ceasefire would require “both sides to lay down their arms”.
Labour MPs will be whipped to vote for Sir Keir’s amendment.
The wording is longer than the SNP motion and includes the key caveat that a ceasefire “lasts and is observed by all sides”.
It also includes the qualification, not in the SNP motion, that “Israel cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence”.
If the amendment doesn’t pass Labour MPs have been ordered to abstain on the SNP motion.
Responding to the move, SNP Westminster chief Stephen Flynn said: “Through Parliamentary pressure we have inserted a backbone into the Labour Party.
“Their support for an immediate ceasefire is welcome.”
The government last night tabled its own amendment to the motion.
It calls for “negotiations for an immediate humanitarian pause” followed by a “permanent sustainable ceasefire”.
It adds that a long term ceasefire hinges on all the Hamas hostages being released.
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