Today’s the day! But will it be the day Labour sabotages the Gaza ceasefire motion in a bid to appease Israel?

As This Writer types, MPs in Westminster are set to vote on whether to demand a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in what is left of the Gaza Strip.

The motion has been tabled by the Scottish National Party and enjoys widespread support among the people of the United Kingdom. A petition demanding that MPs also support it has been signed by more than 50,000 people:

But Labour leader Keir Starmer has apparently told his MPs to reject it – because it correctly states that Israel is inflicting collective punishment, which is a war crime, on the non-combatant civilians of Gaza:

Instead, Labour and the Conservatives have tried to muddy the issue by tabling motions of their own. Here’s Lisa Nandy – is she still the chair of Labour Friends of Palestine? That would be hypocritical now, wouldn’t it? – talking a lot of nonsense about her party’s motion:

The Labour amendment sets conditions for a ceasefire that make it less likely to happen; the claim that the SNP doesn’t stipulate that the ceasefire should be by both Israel and Hamas is nonsense – a ceasefire must involve both sides, and the other conditions are mainly to offer Israel excuses to continue its genocide (or so it seems to This Writer).

Here’s commentary by the ever-brilliant Jess Barnard:

There will be consequences for this – but it seems Starmer is gambling that too few voters will impose those consequences on him:

This Writer abandoned the tactical vote campaign some time ago. I advocate voters actually carrying out their civic duty, which is to read the manifestos and election literature of all candidates in your constituency and vote for whichever of them offers the best package for you. Nothing else should matter to you – certainly not which of the mainstream Establishment parties (Labour, the Tories, possibly the Liberal Democrats) should form a government.

This is the only way to achieve the change the UK needs and it is ironic that it requires us to do nothing more than what we should always have been doing anyway.

It certainly seems that some Labour MPs will face stern repercussions – such as those in the left-wing Socialist Campaign Group – if they oppose a motion that may help end the murder of innocent people, including children:

The three-line whip claim has been confirmed by ITV political editor Robert Peston. Commentators are asking an obvious question about it:

He’s no kind of leader if he can’t inspire his people to follow him; it strongly suggests that his entire approach is wrong.

And that suggests that we would be wrong to vote for him or his party in an election.

Commentators have already chosen their sides. You can tell from the tone of this article where This Writer stands, and here’s John Smith, son of the late and much-loved Harry Leslie Smith:

If the ceasefire motion is voted down, it will be a clear indication that our MPs are indeed in Parliament for the welfare of the few – the few in question being the Israeli government, its supporters, lobbyists and mouthpieces.

We know from events leading up to the start of World War II that appeasement does not work. If our MPs offer Israel an inch, it will try to take every square mile of Gaza. We must therefore judge our MPs on what they choose today – and respond harshly if their choice is wrong.

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