As you may know, Parliament passed Labour’s amendment calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and for a pathway to long-term peace.

You can read the full text of our Labour motion here: https://commonsbusiness.parliament.uk/Document/85314/Pdf?subType=Standard [Amendment (a) on page 6]

You’ll see we argued for an immediate ceasefire, stressing the urgent humanitarian purpose in telling Israel their threatened assault on Rafah cannot happen and using the same language as close allies like Australia, Canada and New Zealand to reinforce the pressure on Israel.

So as your MP, I voted for this Labour motion which made clear that:

  • We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. The fighting must stop now.  Our amendment calls on the UK Government to convene an urgent session of the UN Security Council to press this demand.
  • All sides must comply with a ceasefire. One-sided demands that do not recognise the need to ensure that an attack like October 7th cannot happen again or do not condemn Hamas terrorism will not succeed.
  • The Rafah offensive must not take place and aid must reach those in need. An offensive in Rafah would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences for Palestinian civilians and must be averted. Civilians in Gaza need rapid and unimpeded humanitarian relief.
  • Hamas must release and return all hostages. The families of the remaining hostages are frozen in uncertainty and anguish and their continued detention is prolonging this war.  They should be released and returned immediately.
  • Israel must comply with the ICJ ruling. As Labour has made clear, the binding provisional measures issued by the court must be implemented in full.
  • Settlement expansion and settler violence must end. Settlements are illegal under international law and a serious barrier to peace that threaten the viability of a two-state solution. Settler violence has reached dangerous new levels since October 7th.
  • We need a political process towards a two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a sovereign and viable Palestinian state. This is the only path to a just and lasting peace. A ceasefire with no political horizon will not be sustainable.
  • We support the recognition of Palestine. A Labour government would work with international partners to recognise Palestine as a contribution to rather than the outcome of a two-state solution. Statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and not in the gift of any neighbour.

If you want to compare our comprehensive Labour motion with the SNP’s, you can read theirs on page 5 using the same link above.

The priority for me – both as your local MP and as Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary – is to end the fighting. That’s why I’ve been working for the last few months closely with Keir Starmer and others in Labour’s shadow cabinet to pursue diplomatic talks – in public and in private – with many of the main nations in the region to press the case for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the protection of Palestinian civilians.

If we win a Labour Government this year, then Britain will lead a new push for peace with a two-state solution and Keir Starmer has declared ‘Labour will fight for that cause’.