Good morning. Today, we’re going to Bradford to meet city councillor and bus driver Taj Salam. He is one more than 30 Labour councillors who have resigned from the party in anger at Sir Keir Starmer’s refusal to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
They are part of a growing rebellion within the party over Starmer’s refusal to publicly advocate for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. Instead, he has called for “humanitarian pauses” to allow the “urgent alleviation of Palestinian suffering”.
It has caused an uncomfortable and growing rift within the party, with leading Labour figures Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, and Anas Sarwar, the leader of the party in Scotland, urging Starmer to call for a ceasefire.
In attempting to quell the rebellion, Starmer delivered a “make or break” speech on Tuesday. “While I understand calls for a ceasefire, at this stage I do not believe that is the correct position now,” he said in the speech at Chatham House. “Hamas would be emboldened and start preparing for future violence immediately.”
Salam says it’s “too little, too late”, and his Labour membership card will be staying in the bin where he threw it on 11 October after Starmer appeared to say in an interview with LBC that Israel was right in “cutting off power, cutting off water” to Gaza.
We’ll hear more from Salam after the headlines.
Five big stories
Israel-Hamas war | Joe Biden has said there should be a “pause” in the fighting in Gaza to enable the release of hostages, as Hamas said nearly 200 people had been killed in two days of Israeli airstrikes on the enclave’s Jabalia refugee camp.
AI | The UK, US, EU and China have all agreed that artificial intelligence poses a potentially catastrophic risk to humanity, in the first international declaration to deal with the fast-emerging technology.
UK news | Northumbria police have said that two more people have been arrested over the deliberate felling of the Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland.
Media | Noel Clarke’s legal action against the Guardian has suffered a setback after a high court judge rejected his lawyers’ arguments on the meaning of eight articles that he says unfairly defamed him.
Covid-19 | The pandemic has caused sustained harm to the brain health of people aged 50 or over, rapidly speeding up cognitive decline regardless of whether or not they caught Covid, researchers have discovered.
In depth: ‘If he called me right now, I’d give him a piece of my mind’
As of this morning,16 Labour frontbenchers have broken from the party’s official line. Tan Dhesi, shadow exchequer secretary to the Treasury, on Wednesday accused Israel of inflicting “collective punishment” on Palestinian civilians. “We must condemn indiscriminate killing. Urgently need cessation of hostilities to deal with huge humanitarian crisis engulfing,” he said.
David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, on Wednesday warned that any member of the shadow cabinet who openly defied Starmer and called for an immediate ceasefire should resign. “Collective responsibility is hugely important and all shadow cabinet colleagues will be reflecting on that at this difficult time,” he said. “This is dividing families. It is upsetting people right across the country and the global community. All of us subscribed to collective responsibility.”
LabourList has published a seemingly ever-expanding list of MPs who have parted with party policy and called for a ceasefire. Andy McDonald, backbencher and MP for Middlesbrough, has been suspended for what the party said were “deeply offensive” comments at a pro-Palestinian rally.
The strength of feeling is perhaps even stronger among some Labour activists and local councillors. At least 330 Labour councillors have signed a letter urging Starmer to immediately call for a ceasefire and “unequivocally condemn” all acts of violence against civilians: “We cannot stay silent while even the sick and dying who are accessing urgent care in hospitals are not safe.”
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Why one councillor quit, in his own words
“If he [Starmer] called me right now, I’d give him a piece of my mind,” says Salam, 57, a councillor of Little Horton, in the south of Bradford. “I’d tell him he’s in no position to lead the party that is meant to stand against oppression.
“I’ve been Labour since I migrated to Bradford in 1978,” says Salam, pictured above. “As soon as I started work, I started reading up on what party represented me and it was Labour. The party for working people, the party for people of colour, the party that would stand up for me and stand up against discrimination, do you know what I mean?
“It’s not any more,” he says. “Not calling for a ceasefire after 8,000 people have lost their lives, and a million people have been displaced, is inhuman.
“I have voted Labour all my life, the people who elected me have voted Labour all their lives, but after this I’m not going to vote Labour, and from what they tell me neither are the electorate,” Salam says. “People are beyond frustrated and angry, I don’t think he [Starmer] realises the mood of the people in the country.”
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And he’s not the only one …
It’s not just Bradford. At least 31 Labour councillors have resigned across the country, according to a tally kept by the Mirror. In Oxford, Labour lost its majority of the city council after nine councillors resigned in protest at Starmer’s refusal to call for a ceasefire. The latest councillor to resign, Barbara Coyne, said: “That the Labour leadership continues to issue hollow statements as we watch a genocide unfold before our eyes is, in my view, unconscionable.”
Salam, who won 86% of the vote for Labour at the local council elections in May 2023, says he will be sitting as an independent going forward. “I can’t see myself joining another party, Labour was the only party I believed in.”
Asked what he thinks of his chances of winning at the next election, Salam says: “Given the current local mood, I’ll win hands down. Seriously. Put a note in your diary to ring me the day after and see the result, I’ll win by more.”
Salam says deciding to quit the party was hard. “I had stood by Labour even when it was doing things that I disagreed with strongly, like the Iraq war and Starmer saying MPs shouldn’t be seen on a picket line. I still thought Labour is the best party for me, and the people I represent.”
But he says being told by local Labour party officials that he risked bringing the party into disrepute if he went to any anti-war protests was the last straw. “I thought, ‘hang on a minute this can’t be true’. They’re saying I can’t represent my ward, if I can’t represent their anger and anguish why am I here?
“I’m accountable to the people, that’s how democracy works, I am their voice and I will continue to be their voice.”
Salam says the Hamas invasion of Israel on 7 October was “obviously absolutely atrocious and there is no explanation for what Hamas did. But the people of Gaza are not Hamas and we urgently need a ceasefire to stop their awful suffering.”
He points out it is not just Muslim Labour councillors who are resigning or speaking out. Two-thirds of those who signed the open letter demanding a ceasefire are not Muslim.
“It is wrong to single out one community, or one religion,” he says. “This is liberal-minded people across the country who are throwing their Labour membership cards in the bin.”
What else we’ve been reading
In the US state of Virginia, 3,400 eligible voters were wrongly removed from voter rolls days before important elections that will determine which party controls the state legislature. Sam Levine reported on how this happened and the impact of those voters being disfranchised. Nimo
Marina Hyde writes on the fallout from the Covid inquiry and the explosive revelations therein – or what she says are in fact not revelations, as the government being “horrendously incompetent” was never exactly hidden from public knowledge. Nyima Jobe, newsletters team
The wellness industry claims to have solutions for every mental, emotional and physical ailment yet very little of it seems to be working. Katherine Rowland takes a look at how this “consumerist self-care” has taken over so many people’s lives with little result. Nimo
Luma Mufleh, founder and director of Fugees family, a non-profit dedicated to helping child refugees, writes here about the moment that changed her: her experience of starting a football team for young refugees. Nyima
Making the perfect sandwich is something of an art. Emine Saner spoke to Barry Enderwick, a man who has dedicated an inordinate amount of time figuring out what would make the world’s greatest sandwich. About 700 sandwich recreations later, he’s got a good idea … Nimo
Sport
Football | Manchester United’s defence of the Carabao Cup has ended with a 3-0 loss in the round-of-16 game against Newcastle at Old Trafford. Elsewhere it was Chelsea 2-0 Blackburn at Stamford Bridge, West Ham 3-1 Arsenal at the London Stadium, Bournemouth 1-2 Liverpool at Vitality Stadium, and Ipswich 1-3 Fulham at Portman Road. England and Manchester United hero Bobby Charlton died accidentally after a fall at his Cheshire care home, a coroner has ruled. He died five days later at Macclesfield general hospital on 21 October.
Cricket | Quinton de Kock smashed his fourth century of the 2023 World Cup and Rassie van der Dussen also hit a hundred as semi-finals-bound South Africa sealed a comprehensive 190-run victory over New Zealand on Wednesday for their sixth win in seven matches.
Ice hockey | The shocking on-ice death of the Nottingham Panthers’ Adam Johnson is forcing the game to confront its inherent dangers, Colin Horgan writes. “Since Sunday a collective rethinking on neck protection in the pro leagues has begun. On Monday a separate organisation, the English Ice Hockey Association, made neck guards mandatory as of next year. Meanwhile, the NHL’s deputy commissioner said that the league is strongly recommending cut-resistant equipment.”
The front pages
“Pandemic hit brain health of over-50s, study finds” is the Guardian print splash today. “First Britons are allowed to flee Gaza into Egypt” says the Times while the Daily Telegraph has “Britons leave Gaza as border is opened”. “First Britons flee Gaza hell” is how the Daily Express puts it. “Escape from hell” says the Daily Mirror adding “Injured among few allowed to flee Gaza”. The i puts a number on it: “400 escape from Gaza hell”. The Sun takes a different angle with “Bring them home” highlighting “32 innocent children snatched” and held hostage by Hamas. “The king and AI” – the Metro says Charles has urged the world to unite to combat the risks of artificial intelligence. Elon Musk took part in the Bletchley summit and delivered a “chilling alert over AI” says the Daily Mail. Top story in the Financial Times is “Fed keeps rates at 22-year high as investors bet on BoE following suit”.
Today in Focus
How the Israel-Gaza conflict is dividing Labour
Since a show of unity at Labour conference, anger and upset have been growing over the leader’s stance. Can Keir Starmer heal the rift? Aletha Adu reports
Cartoon of the day | Ella Baron
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
A retirement home in Southwark is gaining attention for facilities so lavish you may mistake it for an upmarket retreat. Appleby Blue, the name of this new building, holds yoga classes, film nights and constant social gatherings for the over 65s to bond over a glass of wine.
The new social housing concept is the perfect environment for those who have been pushed to the limits by life and simply want to relax in their later years. The thinking behind this concept is to tackle the loneliness and social isolation that creeps up for many in later life.
Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday
Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
