Leader of Burnley Council and 10 councillors quit Labour Party over Starmer’s Gaza ceasefire stance | Politics News
The leader of Burnley Council and 10 other councillors have resigned from the Labour Party this evening over Sir Keir Starmer’s decision not to push for a ceasefire in Gaza, Sky News understands.
Afrasiab Anwar, who has been in the party for 10 years, was among those calling for the leader to step down on Thursday.
In a statement, they said: “It has become apparent that Keir Starmer and the leadership either cannot or will not heed our concerns or acknowledge the sentiments within our communities.”
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It added: “In response to our calls for him to resign he responded that the individual concerns of members are not his focus, further illustrating that he does not value the voice of the grassroots of the party.”
On Thursday, Mr Anwar said: “I and colleagues across Burnley over the last few weeks have seen the sad loss of people including young children in Palestine and Israel and this has to stop immediately.
“I joined the Labour Party because of the values of standing up and speaking out against injustices across the world. Sadly, Keir Starmer has not stood up for Labour values, hence why we are calling upon him to step down.
“Blindly following the position of Mr Sunak is not acceptable to us and our residents who we represent.”
The leader of Pendle Council, which is also in Lancashire, also called on Sir Keir to resign on Thursday.
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It came after calls from senior Labour figures London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who broke ranks to also challenge Sir Keir’s stance.
Sir Keir has remained united with Rishi Sunak, the US, and most recently the EU in pushing for “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting, while supporting Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas.
The Labour leader has been holding meetings within his party to address concerns over his position and held talks with Muslim Labour MPs in parliament on 25 October, who urged him to back a ceasefire – believing the British public would back the move as well.
