Frustration spilled over in the Commons on Tuesday – from Labour MPs and others – over the time it has taken for Keir Starmer’s government to step up and take action against Israel over the Gaza crisis.
As the UN warned that 14,000 babies risked death from malnutrition by Thursday without urgent aid, there was a sense that, by the time foreign secretary David Lammy got to his feet, it was already too late and not enough.
He announced a largely symbolic move of suspending trade talks with Israel and sanctions against some extremists in Israel connected to settlers. But there was no full suspension of arms sales nor sanctions against ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
But the question was why had it taken so long for the UK government to act even in this limited way? Why was it only now that they were tightening the screw?
In some ways the anger felt over the delay was best expressed by a Tory MP Kit Malthouse who just recently authored a letter, signed by senior colleagues, demanding the recognition of the state of Palestine.
Confronting Mr Lammy in the Commons, he said: “Many of us in this chamber have been trying to spur the government into action over the past few months. We have tried anger and outrage and got nowhere, and we have tried shaming ministers into action and got nowhere, so maybe we need to beg. Do those on the Treasury bench need us to beg for the lives of those Palestinian children before they will trigger that concrete action, whatever it might be?”
The government did suspend 30 export licences for arms sales last year and has previously sanctioned individuals. But Labour has held back from taking the further action that so many have demanded for months.
This is despite the fact that Labour lost a number of seats as a result of pro-Gaza independent candidates at last year’s general election, including Jon Ashworth’s seat in Leicester. Two cabinet ministers – Wes Streeting and Shabana Mahmood – only just held their seats.
Antisemitic conspiracy theories suggesting Labour is being held back by Zionist interests can readily be found on social media, but none of this is true.
In reality, Labour under Sir Keir Starmer has been held back by a sense of shame.
A visible reminder of this came when former leader Jeremy Corbyn got to his feet to challenge Lammy. Under Corbyn’s leadership, Labour became so immersed in antisemitism and so marginalised the Jewish community that the party has had to continue working hard to restore its reputation.
For this reason, Sir Keir and Mr Lammy have worked hard to support Israel’s right to defend itself in the wake of the horrific 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas.
As attacks on Gaza by Israel have intensified, Labour has softly attempted to pressure Netanyahu’s government into restraint but never been willing to go the extra mile. Arguably, as Mr Malthouse and other MPs from five different political parties claimed in the chamber, they still have not gone far enough.
But the reality is that the urgency and horror of the situation now facing the people in Gaza is the tipping point where the imminent catastrophe outweighs the shame of Labour’s recent political past.
Sir Keir’s government is already coming under pressure internally from Labour MPs over his harsh rhetoric on migration, welfare and winter fuel payments and the lack of action against Israel is adding fuel to a growing rebellion.
The government had no choice but to send Mr Lammy out to make a statement in the Commons – not only to quell the fury of backbenchers but also because they are faced with a situation that even Donald Trump finds unacceptable.
As the prime minister himself said: “It is utterly intolerable.”
The issue will be though whether these latest measures are too little too late.
