Sir Keir Starmer told to QUIT as Labour politicians revolt over Gaza response
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer speaks during a campaign event with Scottish Labour’s candidate for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election
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Sir Keir Starmer should step down as Labour leader for refusing to support a ceasefire in Gaza, two council leaders have argued.
Burnley Council leader Afrasiab Anwar and Pendle Borough Council leader Asjad Mahmood heaped pressure on Starmer as the pair suggested they were making the call on behalf of Labour councillors in their respective areas.
Anwar claimed Starmer had “not stood up for Labour values” and argued the Leader of the Opposition is “blindly following the position of Rishi Sunak”.
Mahmood, meanwhile, said Starmer “failed to listen” to calls for a ceasefire, adding he should step aside to enable “someone to lead our party who has compassion and speaks out against injustice and indiscriminate killing of innocent human beings”.
WATCH NOW: Starmer pleads for unity over Gaza
The comments will come as a blow to the Labour leader as he tries to quell an internal revolt about the party’s stance on Israel.
A total of 59 Labour MPs have called for a ceasefire, including around a dozen Shadow Ministers.
A growing number of councillors have gone further by resigning from the Labour Party, with nine quitting in Oxford alone.
Factional infighting has given Tory MPs the opportunity so slam Starmer as several told GB News that it showed little has changed since the days of Jeremy Corbyn.
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Burnley Council leader Afrasiab Anwar and Pendle Borough Council leader Asjad Mahmood
BURNLEY COUNCIL/PENDLE COUNCIL
However, Starmer reiterated his position earlier this week by saying: “While I understand calls for a ceasefire, at this stage I do not believe that is the correct position now, for two reasons.”
The Leader of the Opposition instead argued that Labour’s current position of calling for humanitarian “pauses” in the fighting was “the only credible approach”.
Starmer went on to explain that he takes collective responsibility “extremely seriously” but “with an eye on the context” there remains a need for “proportionately”.
“All these things will be judged on a case-by-case basis," a Labour insider told The Times.
Labour leader Sir Keir StarmerPA“There has never simply been one way of enforcing collective responsibility.”
However, Starmer jumped into action as Labour suspended Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald for his “deeply offensive” reference to the land between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea.
But Tory MPs have been calling on Starmer to take on his Labour rebels, particularly those on his frontbench.
Theresa Villiers, vice chair of the Conservative Friends of Israel group, told GB News: “Labour’s recent attempts at unity are falling apart.
Labour leader Keir Starmer and the Parliamentary Labour Party welcome newly elected MPs Alistair Strathern and Sarah EdwardsPA“Mr Starmer says he has changed Labour but his Shadow Ministers are lining up to defy the party line on Israel.”
The former Environment Secretary added: “The Corbynite hardliners haven’t gone away.
“They are still there and Keir Starmer is letting them get away with their usual anti-Israel stance.”
A Tory Minister also said: “He’s weak and clearly not ready to lead, which requires tough decisions dozens of times a day.”
However, Labour insiders yesterday accused Conservative MPs of "playing politics" by criticising Starmer and argued the Leader of the Opposition’s response will avoid turning a diplomatic issue into a "soap opera".