Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy will embark on a three-day visit to the Middle East this week for talks with his counterparts about the Israel-Hamas conflict, as the UK’s biggest opposition party faces internal splits over its response.
Lammy, a key lieutenant of leader Keir Starmer, will arrive in Jordan on Monday, where he’ll meet with the country’s deputy prime minister. He will also meet Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s foreign minister to discuss de-escalation in the region, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the release of hostages and a long-term political peace process.
Starmer has been forced to confront internal divisions over his stance on Israel’s response to attacks from Hamas earlier this month. While Labour has recently called for humanitarian pauses, a number of high-profile party figures have expressed support for a total cease-fire in recent days. Starmer has so far aligned Labour with the British and US governments in calling for “pauses” in the fighting rather than a complete halt.
Starmer Under Pressure as UK Labour Figures Urge Gaza Cease-fire
Sadiq Khan, a Muslim who has been mayor of London since 2016, said the situation in Gaza is making it impossible to deliver aid and called for a cease-fire on social media platform X on Friday. His appeals were echoed by the leader of Labour’s Scottish wing Anas Sarwar, also Muslim, and Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester.
“It is a strength of the Labour party that within our party, we have people who have a lived connection to both sides in this conflict,” Peter Kyle, a Labour shadow minister told Sky News on Sunday. “And they express their views absolutely forthrightly, as they should.”
Lammy will restate Labour’s support for humanitarian pauses and immediate access for food, water, fuel, medicine and electricity into Gaza in his discussions with Middle Eastern leaders this week.
