29 October 2023 , 21:25
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By failing to heed calls in his own party, wider Britain and the world for a ceasefire in Gaza, Keir Starmer risks repeating Tony Blair’s catastrophic Iraq error.
Back in 2003, a Labour leader in Downing Street, foolishly desperate to march in lockstep with US President George Bush, joined an invasion that cost a massive number of lives, fuelled terrorism, including IS, and ultimately destroyed his own Premiership. In 2023, the eagerness to avoid breaking ranks with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is shaking Starmer’s steady march to No 10, presumably to the quiet satisfaction of the Conservative PM.
Starmer’s team are battling what they judge to be the gravest challenge to their man’s authority as collective responsibility breaks down and frontbenchers are effectively given a green light to demand a ceasefire after more than a dozen broke the party line. Add calls for an immediate end to the Israeli bombardment and Hamas rockets from London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who defied Starmer’s private plea to hold fire, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, and he’s fighting on a broad front.
An injured woman carries a baby in the aftermath of Israeli bombing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip (AFP via Getty Images)The Tories, in comparison, remain pretty united in public despite private concerns of a significant number of MPs at the mass killing of Palestinians, with only a couple signing a Commons ceasefire motion largely supported by Labour and SNP MPs. The fact is Starmer is caught between a rock and a hard place. Demanding a ceasefire after the Hamas butchering of 1,400 Israelis could alienate some in the British Jewish community he’s strained to woo after the problems of the Jeremy Corbyn era.
Failing to demand a ceasefire when five or six times as many Palestinians may have already died is alienating Britain’s larger Muslim population, and the huge crowds marching weekly in central London. It’s also true, as a Starmer loyalist stressed to me, that it is unlikely an opposition party supporting a ceasefire would halt the bombs and missiles falling.
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But for many, this is being on the right side, doing the moral thing, believing Palestinian children are as precious as Israeli ones. Preventing his party tearing itself apart over Israel and Gaza is an unexpected, momentous challenge for Starmer. Blair’s mistake was in Government. Will Starmer’s be in opposition, jeopardising his prospects of leading a Labour Government?