Labour will not sack shadow cabinet members rebelling over the party’s position on the Israel-Hamas war, Peter Kyle has suggested.
The shadow science secretary said the Labour leadership would likely “continue engaging” with its own frontbenchers who do not agree with Sir Keir Starmer’s stance on the conflict.
Sir Keir has called for a humanitarian pause in the fighting to allow for aid to be delivered to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, a call echoed by the UK’s allies, including the United States.
But he finds himself at odds with senior Labour figures, including shadow equalities minister Yasmin Qureshi, who called during Prime Minister’s Questions for Rishi Sunak to back a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Imran Hussain, a shadow minister working in deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner’s team, is among 39 Labour MPs who have signed a parliamentary early-day motion calling for “an immediate de-escalation and cessation of hostilities.”
A host of frontbenchers, including shadow Home Office minister Jess Phillips, also broke ranks on Saturday to voice their support for a ceasefire.
Speaking to the BBC’s “Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg” programme, Mr. Kyle suggested there was little to distinguish a humanitarian pause from a ceasefire.
“People are calling for a ceasefire. We are calling for a pause. We can dance on the head of a pin about what the nature of a ceasefire is,” he said.
Other Labour heavyweights who have backed a ceasefire include Manchester metro mayor Andy Burnham, London mayor Sadiq Khan, and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
Local councillors across England have also resigned from Labour to sit as independents amid the rift with the leadership’s position.
Asked if those speaking against Sir Keir should be sacked, Mr. Kyle told the BBC: “Well look, what we are going to do, I suspect, is continue engaging with them.”
Asked about the debate within Labour, he said: “I think the fact that we have a vigorous debate within our party, as we are doing as a country, and as we are doing actually as a globe right now, reflects a strength because we have a leader that has channelled that and turned it into a policy that is in step with all of our international partners.”
Speaking to Sky News, Mr. Kyle had earlier suggested Labour was not thinking about whether it would lose or win the support of different groups of voters with its stance on the Middle East conflict.
He was asked on Sky’s “Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips” programme whether Labour was attempting to win back Jewish voters after the party’s antisemitism crisis while at the same time taking Muslim voters for granted.
Mr. Kyle responded: “We are not thinking ‘how do we win votes?’ or what votes we will lose at a time when there is war and conflict unfolding before us, and there are human tragedies of a scale we have not seen for a very long time.
“There are two truths here that are unfolding. The first is that everybody has the legitimate right in a democratic society, as ours is, to advocate for two sovereign solutions within the area, the territory we are talking about.
“There is also a right and a wrong. What Hamas did was wrong, and we stand on the side of Israel, within international law, to defend itself.
“These two things can happen if we get it right.”
Mr. Corbyn refused to accept the findings in full, saying the scale of the problem had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons.”
The now Independent MP has joined tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters in London in the past three weekends.
His criticism was echoed by Tory MP Bob Blackman, who told the publication he believes Israel “should cease fire when Hamas is no longer a threat.”
Earlier this month, the UK also abstained from voting on a U.N. Security Council proposal that would have called for a “humanitarian pause” over its lack of clarity on Israel’s right to self-defense. The resolution was vetoed by the United States.
