Over 300 Labour councillors have signed a letter urging Keir Starmer to back a ceasefire in Gaza. The statement says: ““The intensified human catastrophe in Gaza impacts us all, and the Labour party’s failure to call for an end to violence is causing hurt in our communities.”

The letter came as another Labour front bencher, Taiwo Owatemi, a Labour whip, broke ranks with the leadership line.  She became the 14th frontbencher to call for a ceasefire.

Hillingdon Council Labour Group became the latest to join more than twenty other Labour groups calling for a ceasefire. Keir Starmer was also criticised by Amnesty International for his stance.

The letter to Starmer from over 330 Labour councillors came in the wake of the leader’s Chatham House speech on the issue yesterday, in which he refused to call for a ceasefire in the war on Gaza. The event was picketed by protesters, including Palestinian and Jewish groups. There were further protests yesterday, at the Foreign Office, organised by Na’amod, a movement of Jews in the UK seeking to end the community’s support for Israel’s occupation and apartheid, with former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP in attendance, and a mass sit-in at London’s Liverpool Street station, organised by direct action feminist group Sisters Uncut.

A Momentum spokesperson responded to Starmer’s speech, saying: “For all the fine words, Keir Starmer hasn’t shifted one inch: his speech today still backs Israel’s war on Gaza and opposes the ceasefire demanded by everyone from the UN to Save the Children.

“Thus Starmer backs a pause in hostilities – then a resumption of Israeli bombing which has already killed more than 3,000 children. To call this ‘humanitarian’ is an insult to the Palestinian people.

“Worse, in his speech Starmer makes empty references to international law, but fails to condemn the blatant war crimes Israel continues to commit in its war on Gaza. In doing so, Starmer is giving a tacit nod to further Israeli war crimes while washing his hands of them.

“The truth is that Starmer’s support for more war, more bombing and more Palestinian deaths is wholly out of touch with his own party and the public at large, who overwhelmingly back an immediate ceasefire. Those calls will only get louder.”

Meanwhile Keir Starmer’s disciplining of Andy McDonald MP continues to generate criticism. The Labour Muslim Network said, “The suspension of the Labour whip to Andy McDonald MP today is both obscene & deeply offensive. The fundamental right to live in peace, with liberty and self-determination is one which should be applied to all peoples.

“The only conclusion that can be drawn is that those who have made this decision do not see Palestinian & Muslim life as deserving of this fundamental principle.”

The Fire Brigades Union General Secretary and TUC President Matt Wrack also slammed the decision as “absolutely wrong”.

Solidarity with the plight of the Palestinians is mounting here and internationally. Yesterday, Belgian transport unions refused to load and unload weapons going to Israel and called for an immediate ceasefire.

Image: Protest in Chelmsford, October 28th, c/o Bryn Griffiths