Sir Keir Starmer is coming under pressure not to whip his MPs for tomorrow’s vote on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
One Labour MP warned there would be “far more” rebels than last the Commons vote on the Israel-Hamas war if the party leadership demanded opposition to the SNP motion.
The shadow cabinet is meeting today to decide their position.
READ MORE: Stephen Flynn accuses Anas Sarwar of 'lying' over Gaza ceasefire vote
Labour has so far refused to back calls for an “immediate” ceasefire, instead calling for a “sustainable” ceasefire.
Over the weekend, Sir Keir Starmer told Scottish Labour Conference that the fighting between Israel and Hamas “must stop now.”
His speech came after party members at the annual gathering in Glasgow backed a motion demanding an immediate ceasefire.
The SNP motion explicitly calls “for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel,” saying that this is the “only way to stop the slaughter of innocent civilians.”
When the SNP called a similar vote back in November, 56 Labour MPs defied Sir Keir.
One Labour MP told the Guardian: “I suspect it will be far more than the 56 who [rebelled] last time, especially given the Scottish Labour position and how many more MPs are really under pressure on this now.”
Another said: “I hope we end up in a better position than last time – we need to not get into the same position as last time.”
READ MORE: Labour leader Keir Starmer demands 'ceasefire that lasts' in Gaza
Speaking to the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said there had still been no contact between Labour and SNP whips, despite Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar telling the BBC on Sunday that there had been.
He said: “Anas Sarwar said to your colleagues on BBC Scotland on Sunday that there had been discussions between the Labour whips and the SNP whips, that is categorically not the case.
“I have had no communication nor has my chief whip with the Labour party, it’s deeply disappointing, and I’m not entirely sure why Anas Sarwar sought to espouse that mistruth, perhaps he was spun a line by Keir Starmer to try and calm him down a little bit, because of course Anas is in support of my position in relation to an immediate ceasefire as I believe most of Scottish Labour are.
“Ultimately the key thing for me is making sure that we can protect civilian lives and that is what are going to seek to do in the House of Commons tomorrow night.”
Mr Flynn was also asked his view about a a US-sponsored draft resolution at the UN calling for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza.
He told the BBC: “The problem is that ceasefire is included but the word before it is also important and the word we need to hear before it is immediate because we cannot continue to see civilians being killed.
“Some 30,000 people have been killed since the outbreak of this conflict, 70,000 injured, there’s about 1.4 million people sheltering in Rafah which is normally home to about 170,000 people.
“Those people are under constant bombardment from the Israeli defence force who have stated that they intend to launch a ground offensive on that area in the not too distant future.
“The death toll could rise exponentially. Enough is enough. We need an immediate ceasefire and that’s what the SNP will continue to champion.”
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