The SNP is threatening to tear open Labour divisions over Gaza by forcing a Commons ceasefire vote next week - likely a day before the Rochdale by-election.
The Scottish nationalists, who are locked in a tough electoral battle against a resurgent Scottish Labour party, said they would use an opposition day debate to push another Gaza ceasefire motion after they failed to get one passed in November.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said an “immediate ceasefire” was even more pressing now with the Palestinian death toll approaching 30,000 and Israel threatening a devastating incursion into the border city of Rafah, where 1.4 million people are sheltering.
“It's quite clear that enough is enough. We need the UK, we need the US and we need all of Israel's allies to speak out in favour of a ceasefire,” he said. “History will judge all of us by our words and by our actions. It's time for MPs to take a stand, and back a ceasefire.”
In November, a month in to Israel’s war with Hamas, 56 Labour MPs defied party leader Sir Keir Starmer to back the SNP demand for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip - including 10 shadow ministers and parliamentary aides who quit or were sacked.
This time, the SNP says it expects the vote to take place on Wednesday - a day before the by-election in Rochdale where Sir Keir this week pulled support for Labour candidate Azhar Ali after he accused Israel’s government of allowing the October 7 raids by Hamas, in order to justify an invasion of Gaza.
The Labour leader has warned Israel against a “catastrophic” ground offensive in Rafah, insisting: “The fighting must stop now. We need a sustainable ceasefire.”
But Labour backs the Government position that an “immediate” ceasefire is not on the table while Hamas continues to hold hostages and espouses the destruction of Israel.
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron tweeted last weekend: “Deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah - over half of Gaza’s population are sheltering in the area. The priority must be an immediate pause in the fighting to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire.”
On Tuesday, another audio clip emerged from the same regional Labour meeting where Mr Ali attacked Israel in October. This one featured fellow would-be Labour MP Graham Jones, who was standing for the Lancashire seat of Hyndburn near Rochdale, also abusing Israel and demanding that any Britons who fight for the Jewish state be “locked up”.
Both Mr Ali and Mr Jones have been suspended by the Labour Party pending an antisemitism investigation. Munsif Dad, who leads the Labour group on Hyndburn council, was understood to be at the meeting and has been spoken to by party officials.
Shadow defence secretary John Healey warned any other Labour members who were at the meeting to come forward and report what they heard.
Pushed on whether there were flaws in candidate vetting, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Mr Ali was “widely respected, widely supported across communities, including the Jewish community in the North West, and there certainly are strong checks”.
“But you can’t see everything everywhere. What’s important is that if new information comes to light, as in this case, we will act to investigate, we will act to block those who are not fit to serve as MPs.”
Sir Keir’s decision to pull party backing for Mr Ali has likely handed the safe Labour seat of Rochdale with its sizeable Muslim population to Workers Party of Britain leader George Galloway.
Mr Healey insisted that in depriving supporters of a Labour-endorsed candidate in Rochdale, “it’s a case of Kier Starmer putting country and public standards in public life ahead of our party interest”.
“Restoring, retaining the trust of the Jewish community and any community is a constant process. And Keir Starmer is deeply, deeply aware of that,” he said.
Another two by-elections will be held on Thursday this week, with Labour tipped for victories in the Conservative constituencies of Kingswood (south Gloucestershire) and Wellingborough (Northamptonshire).
The Gaza war is less of a heated issue in those constituencies, although a new poll by Savanta found Labour’s lead over the Tories dropping seven points during a difficult fortnight in which Sir Keir watered down the party’s flagship environment policy.
Labour support stood at 41 per cent (down five points) while the Conservatives were on 29 per cent (up two). The Liberal Democrat had 11 per cent and Reform UK 8 per cent.
Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta, cautioned against reading too much into one survey. But he added: “Voters have not quite made up their mind about Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, and doubts could well be creeping back in.”
