Labour MPs defy Sir Keir Starmer to back SNP call for Gaza ceasefire

They included Jess Philips, who quit as the shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding shortly after the vote. 

She said it has been "one of the toughest weeks in politics since I entered Parliament."

"I have tried to do everything that I could to make it so that this was not the outcome, but it is with a heavy heart that I will be leaving my post in the Shadow Home Office team.

"On this occasion, I must vote with my constituents, my head, and my heart which has felt as if it were breaking over the last four weeks with the horror of the situation in Israel and Palestine."

Three others resigned before the vote.

Labour’s Yasmin Qureshi confirmed that she would step down as shadow women and equalities minister. 

In a post on social media, she said: “The scale of bloodshed in Gaza is unprecedented. Tonight, I will vote for an immediate ceasefire.”

Afzal Khan followed soon after, resigning as the shadow minister for exports. In a letter to Sir Keir, she said: “I understand that you do not feel that a ceasefire is currently the right course of action and due to our difference of opinion on the issue, I do not feel I am able to continue as a shadow minister.”

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Paula Barker then quit as the shadow minister for devolution, saying she was “following my conscience.”

In a statement following the vote, Sir Keir said he regretted that party colleagues had not abstained on the SNP motion as ordered. 

“Alongside leaders around the world, I have called throughout for adherence to international law, for humanitarian pauses to allow access for aid, food, water, utilities and medicine, and have expressed our concerns at the scale of civilian casualties.

“Much more needs to be done in this regard to ease the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in Gaza.

“And in addition to addressing the present, every leader has a duty not to go back to a failed strategy of containment and neglect, but to forge a better and more secure future for both Palestinians and Israelis.

“I regret that some colleagues felt unable to support the position tonight. But I wanted to be clear about where I stood, and where I will stand.

“Leadership is about doing the right thing. That is the least the public deserves. And the least that leadership demands.”

The votes came at the end of a debate on last week’s King’s Speech, with both Labour and the SNP tabling amendments.

While Labour’s motion criticised Israel’s conduct and the lack of aid getting into Gaza, it stopped short of calling for a ceasefire, instead backing humanitarian pauses as a “possible and necessary first step to an enduring cessation of hostilities and a credible, diplomatic, and political process to deliver the lasting peace of a two-state solution.”

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The SNP amendment explicitly called for the government to “join with the international community in urgently pressing all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire”.

Both amendments were ultimately defeated.

Speaking after the debate, the SNP Westminster Leader Stephen Flynn said his party had "voted in line with our values for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel."

He added: "SNP MPs will be able to look themselves in the mirror knowing they did the right thing.

“It’s shameful that a majority of Tory and Labour MPs blocked calls for a ceasefire - and have condoned the continued bombardment of Gaza, which has killed thousands of children and civilians, in breach of international law.

“There is growing international momentum for an immediate ceasefire but Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have opted out of it - and have instead chosen to repeat their parties’ past mistakes by ignoring the UN, disregarding international law and sitting on their hands while innocent civilians are being killed.

“It is clear that support for a ceasefire would have been even stronger tonight if Keir Starmer had not threatened Labour MPs with punishments if they voted for peace. 

“The SNP will continue to press for an immediate ceasefire - including by piling pressure on Westminster to do the right thing. This is not over and we will not give up.”

Scottish Labour’s two Labour MPs voted for their party’s amendment but abstained on the SNP motion.

In a joint letter to Mr Flynn, they said: “We all want the violence to end but we must create the conditions on the ground to make that happen. We must help create those conditions so that both sides comply. That starts with what is possible.”

They warned that any ceasefire could only work if both Israel and Hamas agreed.

Ahead of the vote, Lib Dem MP Layla Moran, who has Palestinian heritage told the Commons that she had just learned that she had lost a family member in the conflict.

“The reason why this is important, having spoken about how they are in a church in Gaza City and how they didn’t I am afraid die of a bomb, instead they died perhaps for lack of food, perhaps for dehydration,” she said.

“Their health deteriorated in the last week and they couldn’t get to the hospital they needed.”

Outside of parliament, thousands gathered calling for a ceasefire. 

Protesters had to be removed from the House of Commons public gallery after holding up “Ceasefire now” signs during the debate.

The SNP's Home Affairs spokeswoman Alison Thewliss told MPs that she had received 500 emails overnight from constituents who were “desperately worried” about the situation in Gaza and calling for a ceasefire.

She said: “I don’t think I’ve ever received, even on Brexit, as many emails as I’ve had this past week, these past four weeks.

“Even overnight I had 500 emails come in from constituents who are desperately, desperately worried about the situation and are demanding a ceasefire now.”