Scottish Labour unanimously backs speedy ceasefire in Gaza

Feb 17, 2024 at 7:43 PM
Scottish Labour unanimously backs speedy ceasefire in Gaza

Scottish Labour has unanimously backed an instantaneous ceasefire in Gaza, with MSPs calling for “unequivocal” help and placing stress on the remainder of the occasion.

All delegates backed Scottish Labour chief Anas Sarwar’s requires an instantaneous finish to the Israel-Hamas struggle on the occasion convention in Glasgow.

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He stated on X that he was “proud” the occasion had handed the movement, and advised delegates throughout his speech on the convention that “the fighting must stop now”.

The unopposed Labour movement requires an finish to rocket hearth in to and out of Gaza, the unconditional launch of hostages taken by Hamas, the restoration of important provides and a pathway to peace.

It additionally condemned Hamas’s assaults on Israel on 7 October and famous Israel’s proper to guard its residents, however stated there was “no justification for the collective punishment of 2.2 million citizens in Gaza”.

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The vote got here as hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched by way of Glasgow to protest exterior the convention.

Neil Bibby, the occasion’s structure spokesman, stated forward of the vote: “It is simply heartbreaking that countless children in Gaza are currently dying, and there are heartbroken parents in Israel too.

“That is why we have now an ethical obligation to be unequivocal. There should be an finish to the preventing now and a sustainable ceasefire. An finish to the fear and finish to the violence.”

Scottish Labour’s help for an instantaneous ceasefire places the occasion at odds with Labour chief Sir Keir Starmer, who has been calling for a “sustainable ceasefire”.

Party delegate Nairn McDonald told the conference that Sir Keir must stop “equivocating”, before adding: “We demand that Scottish Labour MPs vote for a ceasefire within the Commons when they’re given the chance.”

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The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn also called for Scottish Labour’s two MPs to support their motion for a ceasefire in the House of Commons next week

“Questions should even be requested of Scotland’s two Labour MPs,” he said. “Will they observe their Scottish chief, or their chief in London? That choice will let you know precisely the place Scottish Labour MPs’ loyalties really lie.”

Pro-Palestine protestors gather outside the Scottish Labour conference. Pic: Jane Barlow/PA Wire
Image:
Pro-Palestine protestors gathered exterior the Scottish Labour convention. Pic: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

While Sir Keir additionally stated that “the fighting must stop now” on the Munich Security Conference, his choice to not again a ceasefire in November sparked a rift in Labour.

Last November, 56 Labour MPs defied a three-line whip and voted for the SNP’s movement calling for a ceasefire. Ten shadow frontbenchers stood down over the row.

Mr Sarwar has nonetheless downplayed a rift between him and Sir Keir over requires a ceasefire, telling BBC Radio Scotland: “I don’t think there’s as much distance in this as people now believe.

“Keir Starmer has stated he desires the preventing to cease proper now and for that to be a sustainable ceasefire. I feel we finally have the identical place.”