Left-wing MPs ready to defy Keir and call for Gaza ceasef ire vote
LABOUR’S crisis over dramatically deepened last night amid plans by Left-wing MPs to defy Sir Keir Starmer and force a Commons vote on a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Mail on Sunday can also reveal that veteran pro-Palestinian campaigner George Galloway may now stand as London mayor – potentially wrecking Sadiq Khan’s hopes of re-election by splitting the Labour vote.
Sources close to Workers Party leader Mr Galloway said that his mayoral campaign would be ‘a contest against Starmer’.
Sir Keir was yesterday sticking to his insistence on only ‘humanitarian pauses’ in the fighting in Gaza, despite open and growing opposition from Labour MPs.
Shadow Education Minister Matt Western yesterday joined the list of party frontbenchers to oppose Sir Keir’s position and call for a ceasefire to stave off ‘an unprecedented humanitarian disaster’ in Gaza.
He stressed how he detested Hamas but ‘I fear that Israel’s actions will only foment greater anger among ordinary Palestinians as they see their families decimated, literally’.
Now rebel backbenchers are threatening to expose Labour’s divisions even further by pushing for a Commons vote when MPs return to Westminster this week.
One senior Left-winger said: ‘We are looking to force a vote on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to show just how many Labour colleagues feel this is the only way to end the dreadful suffering of the Palestinian people.
‘It is also in no way in the interests of the Israeli people for their government’s military onslaught to continue.
The Labour rebels are now poised to appeal to Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to allow a vote or, at the very least, give MPs an opportunity to debate the ongoing crisis.
Westminster insiders said that this would be difficult, as MPs are due to start debating the King’s Speech programme of new government Bills.
But a source said one procedure to force a vote would be an amendment to the formal ‘humble address’ motion on the King’s Speech.
The row comes amid reports of several Shadow Ministers with big Muslim populations in their seats being ‘on resignation watch’ – including Justice spokeswoman Shabana Mahmood, although sources close to her insisted last week she was not quitting.
There are also fears among some Labour MPs that Sir Keir’s stance on Gaza could spark challenges in their seats at the next General Election from controversial Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman’s Aspire party, as well as Mr Galloway’s Workers Party.
Ex-Labour MP Mr Galloway’s threat to stand against Sadiq Khan could potentially work to benefit Tory mayoral candidate for London, Susan Hall.
Polling expert and Tory peer Robert Hayward said Mr Galloway standing ‘would make a marked difference in the same way as it would if Jeremy Corbyn stood’.
Mr Khan, who is bidding for his third term as mayor, has already moved to distance himself from Sir Keir’s stance on Gaza by calling for a ceasefire.
However, a London Labour source dismissed the Galloway challenge last night, saying: ‘This election will be a close two-horse race between Labour’s Sadiq Khan and the out-of-touch Tory candidate who backed Liz Truss’s budget which sent mortgages soaring.’
To try to contain the Labour rebellion, Sir Keir said last week: ‘While I understand calls for a ceasefire, at this stage I do not believe that is the correct position.’
He added: ‘Hamas would be emboldened and start preparing for future violence immediately.’
However, Left-wing Labour MP Richard Burgon yesterday called for a ‘negotiated ceasefire – one binding on all parties – that can bring an end to this crisis’.
Liberal Democrat sources said they would look at seeking to table an amendment for a ceasefire vote but stressed they were seeking ‘a temporary humanitarian ceasefire’ and return of hostages.