(CN) — The leader of the U.K.’s main opposition party is facing a growing leadership crisis over his response to the Israel-Hamas war, after local government leaders began calling for his resignation on Friday.
Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, has resisted calls for a cease-fire in the escalating and emotive conflict, in defiance of a growing consensus throughout the party — both amongst grassroots members and several senior elected representatives.
In contrast Starmer has so far been supportive of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, stating in a speech on Tuesday that a cease-fire would embolden Hamas-aligned militants to prepare “for future violence.” He has instead echoed the Biden administration’s calls for a “humanitarian pause” to the fighting.
Friday’s open letter to Starmer is the first time that high-profile councilors have called for his resignation over the issue, with the leaders of Burnley and Pendle councils complaining that Starmer has “failed to listen” and “not stood up for Labour values.” The letter is indicative of a rapidly growing revolt over the issue within the party’s local government apparatus.
This week the party lost control over Oxford City Council after nine representatives resigned over the issue. Among other high-profile internal opponents of Starmer’s position are the mayors of both London and Manchester, Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham respectively.
The leader of Scottish Labour Anas Sawar has also issued rare criticism of Starmer over the issue, suggesting his response has lacked empathy and humanity toward Palestinian lives.
“It shouldn’t take a Muslim voice in Scotland to be getting people to understand the impact on Asian communities across the country of what language is being said, but sadly that’s what it’s been,” Sawar is recorded as having said in a transcript leaked to Scottish newspaper The Daily Record.
The internal crisis over Starmer’s response to the war began on Oct. 11, when he appeared to offer support to the siege on Gaza during a radio call-in program. When asked by radio host Nick Ferrari whether cutting off power and water from Gaza was an appropriate military response, Starmer replied: “Israel does have that right.”
His comments sparked fury within the party, and were particularly controversial among the British Muslim community which traditionally supports the Labour Party. Polling by the group Muslim Census suggests that the party has lost an extraordinary amount of support among Muslims since Starmer’s comments. Whilst 71% of British Muslims had previously said they would vote Labour, this has since collapsed to just 5%.
Starmer was subsequently warned by council leaders that his stance could provoke mass resignations within local government, with Labour potentially risking the loss of more than 15 councils over the issue. A spokesperson for Labour subsequently suggested that Starmer had misunderstood the question, with the Labour leader later writing on X, formerly Twitter, that “it is not and has never been my view that Israel had the right to cut off water, food, fuel or medicines. International law must be followed.”
In a speech on Tuesday Starmer softened his stance further, stating his support for the “cessation of fighting as quickly as possible” and emphasizing “the inalienable right of the Palestinian people” to statehood. While the speech helped to stave off a more public parliamentary rebellion, it did not relieve the pressure on Starmer to change tack.
Starmer’s shifting position on the war is a reflection of the tightrope he is attempting to walk over the issue. The Palestinian cause is important to much of the grassroots Labour movement and the party’s electoral base. It is also popular amongst parliamentarians. Sixteen frontbenchers — members of Starmer’s top team in Parliament — have now called for a cease-fire in defiance of their leader. Breaking ranks in this way would normally result in a demotion, yet Starmer has not punished the shadow ministers' contradiction for fear of triggering mass resignations — demonstrating the strength of feeling among his colleagues.
Yet at the same time Starmer has also been at pains throughout his leadership to distance himself from his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, a lifelong advocate of Palestinian rights and critic of Western foreign policy. Writing on X this week, Corbyn has said “history will not forgive those who refused to treat Israeli and Palestinian lives with equal worth,” in a veiled reference to his successor.
In contrast to Corbyn, Starmer has made support for NATO and Western foreign policy objectives a cornerstone of his leadership, stating last year that he had a zero tolerance approach to “anti-NATO sentiment” in the party. As such, his line on foreign policy has consistently sought to closely mirror that of the U.S. administration — much the same approach taken by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the international stage.
The internal divisions come at a deeply unhelpful moment for the Labour Party, which seeks to project an image of unity as they position themselves as a government-in-waiting. Starmer has taken a cautious approach to his party’s leadership since assuming the role in 2020, reluctant to take any contentious positions which could open him up to attack from opponents.
Instead, he has allowed his opponents to do much of the work for him, benefiting from the spectacular implosion of the ruling Conservative Party in 2022, as well as a crisis this year within the Scottish National Party — Labour’s main opponents north of the border. The end result is that Labour now looks set to win a thumping parliamentary majority at the next general election, which is due at some point over the next 14 months.
However, given his avoidance of contentious issues, Starmer is less well tested when it comes to dealing with highly divisive “wedge” issues, such as the emotions evoked by the Israel-Hamas conflict. With his own parliamentary party becoming increasingly vocal on the issue of a cease-fire, he alone will be left to judge whether it is sustainable to hold a line that has provoked so much fury among the rank-and-file.
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