Keir Starmer has “endorsed a genocide” with his stance on the Hamas-Israel conflict and Labour representatives should consider stepping down, a former councillor has claimed.
In a fiery rant on GB News, Taj Salam, who previously worked as a Labour councillor on the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, explained his decision to quit.
The Labour leader is at odds with a vast swathe of the party’s Muslim representation, with 150 councillors writing to him urging the party leadership to call for an immediate ceasefire in the region.
Sir Keir has come under fire after appearing to say Israel had the “right” to cut off water and energy to Gaza.
Taj Salam says Keir Starmer's comments led to him quitting the party
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He later stated he meant that the country only had a right to self-defence.
The explanation did not sit well with Salam, who said he was unable to carry on in his role after Starmer made his position clear.
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“I resigned directly regarding the comments made by Keir Starmer on 11 October to LBC”, he said.
“He has endorsed a genocide effectively. He has endorsed cutting off water, power, food. These are basic necessities and this isn’t in-keeping with the values of Labour.”
Questioned by Christys about Starmer’s clarification, in which he said humanitarian aid should be passed through to Gaza, Salam insisted the “damage has been done already”.
“He hasn’t said there should be a resolution politically”, he said.
Keir Starmer is under pressure over his stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict
PA“I condemn the actions of Hamas and those hostages should be released without condition.”
He continued by calling on fellow elected Labour representatives to step down from their posts.
“If the stance of the party does not change, then unfortunately we are not being listened to”, he said.
“If we cannot reflect the views of who we are representing, why are we in there?”
He accused Starmer of “gagging people” when it comes to imposing the party’s Gaza policy on its members.
“He should have thought twice before coming out of those comments”, he said.
“To gag and shackle people to say, ‘you can’t say anything, you can’t attend demonstrations’, that went too far.
“It’s like I am being dictated to. We are elected democratically. If I can not reflect the views of my residents, why am I in power?”
Starmer has so far refused to call for a ceasefire, instead saying Israel has the right to defend itself.
The Labour leader released a statement saying that the amount of aid and essentials going into Gaza is “completely insufficient to meet the humanitarian emergency on the ground” and calling for supplies to be “urgently ramped up”.
He said that “we support humanitarian pauses” and said there “can only be a political solution to this crisis” as he urged for a restart of the talks to broker a two-state solution.
