The division caused in the Labor Party by Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has exploded this week with the chain resignation of eight members from the government team to the ‘shadow’ of the opposition leader, Keir Starmerwhich saw how 56 of its deputies defied its orders and voted in favor of an amendment calling for a “ceasefire.”
“I voted with my head and my heart, and keeping in mind what the people in my electoral district think,” he justified. Jess Phillips, Starmer’s close ally to date, when justifying her support for the “ceasefire.” “Military action is putting at risk the hope for peace and security in the region now and in the future.”
Keir Starmer defended the “humanitarian pause”but insisted that a Stop the fire would be “returning to the failed strategy of containment” and that Hamas would not respect it. Citing above all humanitarian reasons, with more than 11,000 civilians dead (including more than 4,000 children), a quarter of Labor deputies voted against their leader, while resignations followed one another in the front row.
Following in the footsteps of Jess Phillips, Paula Barker, Afzal Khan, Yasmin Qureshi, Sarah Owen, Rachel Hopkins, Naz Shah y Andy Slaughter They left their positions on Wednesday night and joined the fifty Labor representatives who have resigned due to Starmer’s position on the conflict.
The rebellion in the Labor ranks has been compared to what Tony Blair suffered in March 2003 before the Iraq war, when 29% of its deputies challenged their leader. The motion in favor of a “ceasefire”, presented by the Scottish National Party (SNP), was finally defeated on Wednesday by 293 to 125 votes and served above all to deepen divisions within Labour.