Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer

THIRTEEN of the Town Hall’s Labour councillors have signed an open letter to Sir Keir Starmer demanding that he back a ceasefire in the Middle East.

The letter is signed by more than 330 Labour councillors across the country who have said: “We cannot stay silent while even the sick and dying who are accessing urgent care in hospitals are not safe.”

Israel has met the October 7 Hamas attacks, which saw more than 1,400 civilians killed or taken hostage, with aerial bombings of targets in Gaza, and this week began a ground operation with a warning that a war would be lengthy. It also cut off food, water and the energy supply in a move which has been criticised as a collective punishment in breach of international law. With thousands of Palestinians now dead, Mr Starmer is under pressure to urge Israel to stop the attacks – a demand he has repeatedly refused.

Councillor Phil Graham

In some local authorities, Labour councillors have resigned from the party including Islington, where Asima Shaikh announced she was leaving last week and is sitting as an independent.

Now Mr Starmer has the letter from the councillors still upset at his position. It said those who signed it were “supporting our residents by speaking to faith and community groups and working to protect our communities who are facing rising hate crime and racially motivated violence”, adding: “The intensified human catastrophe in Gaza impacts us all, and the Labour Party’s failure to call for an end to violence is causing hurt in our communities.”

Councillors Ruth Hayes and Nurullah Turan were among the signatories

In a separate letter, 250 Muslim Labour councillors also demanded that the Labour leader back a ceasefire.

Mr Starmer, the Holborn and St Pancras MP, made a speech at Chatham House this week, during which he said: “While I understand calls for a ceasefire at this stage, I do not believe that it is the correct position now.” He argued that a ceasefire would give Hamas the opportunity to carry out another attack, and that he is already calling for pauses in the fighting for humanitarian purposes.

Bunhill councillor Phil Graham, who is one of the signatories, said he was “distraught” at how Mr Starmer has handled this situation, calling it “disgraceful”.

He said: “What Hamas did on October 7 was outrageous. It was disgusting, and it should never have happened, but you don’t punish an entire people for the acts of a handful. The way the Israelis have retaliated, the collateral damage to women and children, is too big a price to pay.

“It would be very unlikely that Starmer would talk to me, but if he did, I would say that we expect this kind of behaviour from the Tories, but we don’t expect it from Labour leadership.”