Labour Conference will tomorrow debate an emergency motion supported by UNISON, TSSA, ASLEF and many CLPs which acknowledges Israel is committing a genocide. It calls for the Government to “employ all means reasonably available to them to prevent the commission of genocide in the Gaza Strip” including a full arms embargo.

There will also be another emergency motion which is compatible with the Government’s current position of not describing Israel’s actions as genocide and continuing arms sales.

Sasha das Gupta, Momentum Co-Chair, responded: “We welcome the news that Labour Conference will debate a full arms embargo of Israel for the first time since Israel began its genocide in October of 2023. It is thanks to the committed work of pro-Palestine campaigners, CLP activists, and trade unionists that this vital debate will happen.

“The labour movement is clear: Israel’s genocide must end and the Government must do everything it can to stop it. That means a full arms embargo and sanctions.”

Labour’s Conference Arrangements Committee last night allowed the Gaza situation to be debated as an emergency motion. Earlier, it had blocked discussion on Palestine in the contemporary motions category – along with any discussion on council housing and trans rights.

A debate on the two-child benefit cap was ruled in order by the CAC following an appeal – but the topic failed to get enough support from CLP delegates in the Priorities Ballot. It therefore fell off the agenda – a sign of the domination of the Conference by the Party’s right wing.

It’s estimated that only 101 CLP motions have been accepted at this year’s Conference. 146 CLP were ruled out as not “contemporary resolutions”, either referred to the National Executive Committee or the National Policy Forum. Four motions on housing were accepted, but were placed in four separate categories, rather than housing!

As in years past, when the Conference agenda is stitched up, attention moves to the fringe. Yesterday, former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP spoke to a packed fringe meeting about the genocide in Gaza and the government’s legal responsibilities.

One day earlier John finally had the Labour whip restored after voting last year against the two-child benefit cap. Apsana Begum also had the whip restored and issued a defiant statement, saying: “I want to be clear: I will continue to oppose the two-child limit at every opportunity.”

She added: “I will continue to oppose austerity, welfare cuts, and the ongoing dispossession and oppression of the Palestinian people. I will continue to stand for investment in our public services, the strengthening of workers’ rights, trade union freedoms, and human rights and civil liberties – as my constituents elected me to do.

“It is unconscionable that other colleagues remain suspended for voting with their conscience against cuts to disability benefits, along with the longest serving Black MP Diane Abbott, while others retain the whip, like Lord Mandelson.”

While Starmer loyalists pretended to be upbeat and dismissive of a potential leadership challenge, there is no doubt that Labour’s leader is facing a deep crisis. A new poll has placed him as the most unpopular Prime Minister in history, with a lower approval rating than even Liz Truss.