Starmer trying to ease backlash after visit to Welsh mosque

The row over Keir Starmer’s visit to a Welsh mosque shows the sensitivities that all political leaders here in the UK are facing as they work out where they stand but it has also highlighted a particular problem for the Labour Party. 

There is a strong tradition within Labour of support for the Palestinian people and criticism of the actions of the state of Israel.

There is also a concern that that position has in the past sometimes tipped over into antisemitism, accusations of which dogged the former leader Jeremy Corbyn and added to the current leadership’s strong stance against anything which could be presented as anti-Jewish racism rather than criticism of the Israeli government. 

So it’s no surprise that since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th, Keir Starmer has in his language and public statements taken a very similar approach to Rishi Sunak and backed Israel’s right to defend itself. 

Asked on LBC on October 11 if cutting off power and water was an appropriate response, Sir Keir replied: “I think that Israel does have that right.” 

He added that, “Obviously everything should be done within international law, but I don’t want to step away from the core principles that Israel has a right to defend herself and Hamas bears responsibility for the terrorist acts.”

Since then he has rowed back the remarks amid concerns within the party that it has angered voters, particularly in Muslim communities.

On October 2, he told broadcasters: “I know that LBC clip has been widely shared and caused real concern and distress in some Muslim communities, so let me be clear about what I was saying and what I wasn’t saying.

“I was saying that Israel has the right to self-defence, and when I said that right I meant it was that right to self-defence.

“I was not saying that Israel had the right to cut off water, food, fuel or medicines.”

All of which explains the political differences within Labour that the public statement by the South Wales Islamic Centre has served to highlight. 

And when the centre said that “We affirm, unequivocally, the need for a free Palestine. We implore all those with political authority to uphold international law, and to end the occupation of Palestine” a large number of Labour Party members will have wholeheartedly agreed. 

Today’s meeting of Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner with Muslim Labour MPs is one sign of the political difficulty his public statements have caused. 

But that difficulty seems to be spreading. The Politico website has reported what is says is “considerable dissent building on the Labour benches.”  

It quotes a shadow minister saying that “It’s united MPs on the left, right and centre of the party … There’s no recognition that we are haemorrhaging Muslim votes massively, enough to lose seats if there was an election tomorrow.”

The leadership has faced criticism from a number of councillors and local parties and according to the Nation Cymru news website, the outgoing executive committee of Ceredigion’s Constituency Labour Party published a statement expressing “dismay” about the leadership’s approach.

Whilst “unequivocally” condemning violence “whether committed by Hamas or the Israeli military” it went on to “condemn as a war crime the collective punishment of a whole population of Palestinians in the Gaza strip by the Israeli regime.”

Its statement also said that “we are dismayed that some in the Labour leadership and the wider Parliamentary Labour Party still continue to falsely label anti-Zionists and opponents of the Israeli regime as ‘anti-Semitic’.”

Labour MP Beth Winter spoke at a recent rally in Cardiff and similarly criticised Israel’s actions whilst saying that  “We condemn Hamas’ attack on Israeli civilians and children which are saw over 1400 killed.

"These horrifying, sickening acts cannot free Palestine. The hostages, including the children, must be released.

“We condemn the collective punishment of a whole population of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli state and the displacement of over a million people.

"Israel’s military assault is killing innocent children, whole families. And we know now 4000 Palestinian lives have been lost.

"At least a third of them are children. One Palestinian child killed every fifteen minutes.”

She’s also sponsored an Early Day Motion in Parliament which has been signed by 81 MPs.

The EDM condemns violence by Hamas but calls for an immediate ceasefire, something that isn’t an official Labour Party position.

At the same time others within Labour are urging Keir Starmer to hold firm. Part of his role, they argue, is to assure people that the party has changed since the days of Jeremy Corbyn. 

Sticking to the position, they advise, will continue that work of reassurance ahead of next year’s UK General Election. But sticking to it in the face of a deep divide within the wider party will be easier said than done. 

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