Keir Starmer has nobody to blame but himself for the latest controversy affecting the Labour Party.

For once, he can’t claim Jeremy Corbyn is responsible for the words that came out of his mouth about Israel’s unrelenting assault on the innocent people of Gaza (the Hamas terrorists Israel claims to be attacking are all underground, remember). These words (although the LBC clip below is more widely-known):

His words sparked a flurry of resignations among Muslim Labour Party members and representatives, and a collective turning-away from the party among Muslim voters.

Starmer then tried to claim that he had misunderstood the interview question (twice?) and gave a further interview, apparently reversing what he had said before. This is nothing new to those of us who have followed his career as leader of the Labour Party:

In an attempt to soothe the Muslim community, Starmer visited the South Wales Islamic Centre in Cardiff. But his subsequent post on ‘X’ made matters worse:

Jo Coburn explained the situation on the BBC’s Politics Live:

Here are two statements from the Islamic Centre, supporting what she said:

Now, Labour MPs are openly calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, in defiance of Starmer’s own position.

This would normally trigger a backlash against the rebels from the party leadership – but he seems to be keeping quiet instead.

Politics Live, again, explored the reasons for this:

Starmer stands, now, in a much weaker position than before – entirely because of his own personal biases.

He did not have to say that as party leader he, let alone Labour as a whole, supported Israel’s actions unquestioningly – but he did, because that was his personal, emotional response.

And public opinion deserted him.

Now he’s having to backpedal fast, in what’s looking like an increasingly vain bid to regain the confidence, not only of UK Muslims, but his own backbenchers and Shadow Cabinet.

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