Sir Keir Starmer has been hit by three resignations from his top team, as he faced a frontbench rebellion over his refusal to back a ceasefire in Gaza.
Three shadow ministers – Yasmin Qureshi, Afzal Khan and Paula Barker – quit on Wednesday evening, pledging to vote for an SNP amendment to the King’s Speech backing a ceasefire. It comes as comes as frontbenchers Naz Shah and Helen Hayes face being sacked after they broke ranks with their party leader and signalled plans to vote for the rival amendment.
MPs voted 293 to 125, majority 168, to reject the SNP’s King’s Speech amendment calling for “all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire” in Gaza.
The Labour leader has called for a humanitarian pause in the war, but he has warned a ceasefire would only allow Hamas to regroup and plan more atrocities.
Labour MPs are under a three-line whip to back the party’s amendment to the King’s Speech, which calls for longer humanitarian pauses in the besieged enclave.
This comes as Israel says its forces have entered the Al Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest medical facility, as part of the IDF’s ground offensive against Hamas.
The Israeli military said it had killed several militants at the outset of the raid, and claimed they had been confronted by “explosive devices and terrorist squads”.
