Keir Starmer has been dealt a fresh blow after a Labour frontbencher quit over the leadership’s refusal to demand a Gaza ceasefire.
Bradford East MP Imran Hussain resigned as Shadow Minister for the New Deal for Working People so he could "strongly advocate" for a ceasefire. In a letter to party chief Mr Starmer, he said he was "deeply troubled" by the Labour leader's interview on LBC in which he appeared to suggest the Israeli government had a right to withhold water and power from citizens in Gaza - comments Mr Starmer later clarified. It is with a heavy heart that I am writing to tender my resignation as Shadow Minister for the New Deal for Working People after eight years on the Labour Party frontbench," said Mr Hussain, 45.
He said he had been "proud" to work alongside Mr Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner in developing a plan for employment rights, but could not "in all good conscience" push for a cessation of hostilities while remaining on the frontbench. Mr Hussain said: "It has become clear that my view on the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza differs substantially from the position you have adopted."
The Labour leader has faced a deepening battle to maintain discipline in his top team on the Gaza conflict. At least 16 shadow ministers have either called for a ceasefire or shared others' calls on social media, including Yasmin Qureshi and Jess Phillips.
Mr Starmer has insisted collective responsibility remains important, but refused to say whether frontbenchers would be sacked for breaking ranks to urge an end to fighting.
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A Labour spokesman said: "Labour fully understands calls for a ceasefire. Everybody wants to see an end to the shocking images we are seeing in Gaza. We need to see all hostages released and aid getting to those most in need. But a ceasefire now will only freeze this conflict and would leave hostages in Gaza and Hamas with the infrastructure and capability to carry out the sort of attack we saw on October 7. International law must be followed at all times and innocent civilians must be protected. Labour is calling for humanitarian pauses in the fighting. This is the best and most realistic way to address the humanitarian emergency in Gaza and is a position shared by our major allies."
Burnley's council leader, Afrasiab Anwar, and 10 other councillors quit the party on Sunday, describing their memberships as "untenable" given the leader's refusal to go beyond his call for "humanitarian pauses" amid the escalating conflict. Mr Hussain said he unequivocally condemned Hamas's October 7 terrorist attack but it could not "become a right to violate international law on protecting civilians or to commit war crimes".
"As I write, more than 1,400 Israeli and over 10,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed in the last month," he wrote. "This shocking number of fatalities is set to grow as indiscriminate attacks and the siege of Gaza continues." Mr Hussain had served on Labour's frontbench for almost eight years, serving under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership as Shadow International Development Minister in 2016.
Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson today urged Labour members to "always carefully choose their words" when expressing views about the Israel-Hamas conflict. "The difficulty with calls for a ceasefire is that it risks freezing the conflict in time, and also allowing Hamas to regroup and perpetrate further atrocities which they said, given the chance, they would absolutely do time and again,” she told Times Radio.
Pressed on Mr Hussain's view Israel had breached international law and committed war crimes, Ms Phillipson said all Labour MPs "have to tread with a degree of caution" and "Imran has reached his own decision". She added: "I would urge colleagues to always carefully choose their words where it comes to fast-moving international events, and where it isn't always clear or apparent very quickly what is happening on the ground."
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