Keir Starmer is battling to reassert his authority within the Labour party over the conflict in Gaza, with four shadow ministers prepared to quit in the coming days and up to 10 others on “resignation watch”.
The Labour leader is facing a rebellion by as many as a dozen shadow ministers, who sources say are ready to resign rather than vote against calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East, which Starmer has refused to back.
Several Labour MPs say they are under huge pressure from party members and constituents to take a firmer stance against the Israeli invasion of Gaza, as tens of thousands of people are expected to take part in pro-Palestinian protests in London this weekend.
Rishi Sunak confirmed that those protests would go ahead on Wednesday, backing the stance taken by the Metropolitan police commissioner, Mark Rowley, in his protracted and public row with the home secretary. Suella Braverman accused the Met of “playing favourites” with protesters in an article in the Times published on Wednesday night, accusing them of taking a tougher approach to rightwing groups than to “pro-Palestinian mobs”.
A Labour official said party leaders were closely watching as many as 15 shadow ministers who have high numbers of Muslim constituents for signs they are about to quit, after the resignation of Imran Hussain on Tuesday night. None are understood to be in the shadow cabinet.
One Labour frontbencher told the Guardian: “My position has always been [that] the only way forward is a ceasefire. The pause [as advocated by Starmer] will not solve the problem. Someone needs to say enough is enough.”
Another said: “I have over 600 emails on this which is more than any other subject ever, including Brexit and Covid … I don’t know a Labour MP who isn’t under pressure at the moment.”
With Starmer trying to adapt to a highly fluid situation in the Middle East and at home, he faces one of the biggest crises of his time as leader. The Palestinian death toll in Gaza has risen above 10,000 people, and the Biden administration has warned the Israeli government not to reoccupy Gaza.
Starmer angered many in his party when he told an interviewer last month that he believed Israel had the right to withhold electricity and water from civilians in Gaza. He later clarified his remarks, giving his full support to Palestinian statehood during a speech last week that party officials hoped would heal the growing internal rift.
However, his refusal to back a ceasefire in the region, calling instead for a “humanitarian pause” in hostilities, threatens to reopen Labour divisions.
The Scottish National party is considering using the king’s speech debates next week to force a vote on a call for a ceasefire. Labour sources say party whips have told MPs not to vote for such a motion, but several frontbenchers are understood to be willing to resign in order to do so.
One said: “The vote is going to be the moment. The death toll is far too horrific. I thought I was going to be able to make a difference from the inside, but you have to stand up for what you believe in.”
Those considering resigning say they do not wish to bring Starmer down. If several of them quit, however, it will constitute the biggest threat to his authority within the party since the early days of his leadership when he faced down opposition from the left.
There are still ways for Starmer to avoid a bruising confrontation with his own MPs, including for the Commons speaker to refuse to call a ceasefire vote.
The Labour leader said in a speech last week that a ceasefire would mean “Hamas would be emboldened and start preparing for future violence immediately”.
He would be given political cover to change position if the international community, led by the US, does so first. So far Starmer and Sunak have stuck closely to the position set out by Joe Biden. In recent days Biden appears to have toughened his stance towards the Israeli government.
On Tuesday the White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said: “Reoccupation by Israeli forces of Gaza is not the right thing to do,” after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had suggested his forces could remain there indefinitely. Kirby added: “Netanyahu and Biden are not always exactly in the same place on every issue.”
A Labour party spokesperson said: “Labour fully understands calls for a ceasefire. Everybody wants to see an end to the shocking images we are seeing in Gaza. We need to see all hostages released and aid getting to those most in need. But a ceasefire now will only freeze this conflict and would leave hostages in Gaza and Hamas with the infrastructure and capability to carry out the sort of attack we saw on 7 October.
“International law must be followed at all times and innocent civilians must be protected. Labour is calling for humanitarian pauses in the fighting. This is the best and most realistic way to address the humanitarian emergency in Gaza and is a position shared by our major allies.”
The Welsh parliament backed calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in a vote on Wednesday night. The Plaid Cymru motion was supported in the Senedd after ministers in the Labour-led Welsh government abstained and offered its backbenchers a free vote.
The motion, which condemned the attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians and the Israeli government’s attacks on Gaza, was carried by 24 votes to 19 with 13 Senedd members abstaining.
