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Prominent Member of Parliament Jess Phillips was one of ten frontbenchers to resign or lose their positions when Keir Starmer faced widespread opposition for not supporting a cease-fire in Gaza.
Yasmin Qureshi, Afzal Khan and Paula Barker are among the eight shadow ministers who resigned on Wednesday evening in order to vote for an SNP amendment to the King’s Speech backing a ceasefire.
MPs voted 293 to 125, majority 168, to reject the SNP’s King’s Speech amendment calling for “all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire” in Gaza. A total of 56 Labour MPs voted for the amendment.
Yesterday I voted to support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. However, I also believe in taking practical action, and that is why I have launched the following campaign to raise as much money as possible for Medical Aid for Palestinians.https://t.co/s9AisGFOaU
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— Jess Phillips MP (@jessphillips) November 16, 2023
Technically, two of the resignations were from parliamentary private secretaries, but Labor declared that ten frontbenchers had left the party.
when part of the Israeli Defense Forces’ ground attack against Hamas in reprisal for the horrific massacre on October 7, Israel reported that its forces killed multiple militants when they approached the Al Shifa hospital, the largest medical institution in Gaza.
Also read: What did Israel find in Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital?
Announcing she was quitting her role as shadow domestic violence minister, Ms Phillips said she was voting with “my constituents, my head, and my heart”.
“I can see no route where the current military action does anything but put at risk the hope of peace and security for anyone in the region now and in the future,” she added.
The voting took place amid demonstrations from pro-Palestinian supporters, who chanted “ceasefire now” outside Parliament.
The UK has seen a series of protest marches demanding a ceasefire in recent weeks, with an estimated 300,000 people taking part in a rally over the weekend, the biggest in the UK since the war began.
