Oh dear. Just hours after Keir Starmer was touting Labour as a government-in-waiting, he lost his first frontbencher over the ongoing Gaza conflict. Imran Hussain last night quit as Shadow Minister for the New Deal for Working People, after eight years serving as a party spokesman. Hussain was one of fifteen Labour frontbenchers who have called for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestine. Will others now follow suit?
In his resignation letter to Starmer, Hussain said: ‘Over recent weeks, it has become clear that my view on the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza differs substantially from the position you have adopted… I believe the party needs to go further and call for a ceasefire.’ He also explicitly criticised the Labour leader’s much-criticised LBC interview, writing that he was ‘deeply troubled’ by comments in which Starmer appeared to endorse an Israeli blockade of water and electricity supplies.
The resignation by the Bradford East MP comes barely a week after Sir Keir’s surprise speech in which he desperately tried to walk the thin line between defending his position on Gaza and pacifying his party critics.
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