Which I'm not surprised by, though of course it's disappointing. But you wouldn't expect the Tories (being a sociopathic lot in the main) to vote for a ceasefire. And Starmer certainly wouldn't. Either he believes in waging war or he hasn't the bottle to oppose it.
But the Labour MPs who voted to support a ceasefire have made some very good points in the process. Those points need to be made - someone needs to be talking sense, needs to be looking at things in a humane way, needs to be voicing the deadly consequences of prolonging the violence, needs to be speaking up for the around 1 million children living in Gaza, even if the majority refuses to listen.
After the vote, Shah said: “We have to make our positions clear … our job in parliament is to use our platforms to convince people, which is what I did in the chamber earlier.
“I’m not alone in calling for a ceasefire … my inbox has thousands of emails about a ceasefire,” she told Sky News. “This is an issue that the British public feel strongly about.
“At some point there will be a ceasefire. Had we called for a ceasefire yesterday, 144 children might still be alive. A child dies every 10 minutes.”
Earlier, she told the Commons: “Our values push us to do better and this is why, despite all the risk to our personal positions, we must do what is right.
“Whilst it may be a matter of convention to follow our closest ally, the US, in interests of foreign policy, it is a matter of conscience to step away from our closest ally in the interests of peace.
“We know that eventually there will be a ceasefire in this current crisis – every war ends with a cessation of hostilities.
“The question is not if there will be a ceasefire but when. For the people of Palestine, every minute, every hour, every day we wait is another orphan, another grieving mother and another family wiped out.”
The Guardian understands that Khan notified Starmer of his intention to vote for a ceasefire not long before he spoke in the Commons. It is understood Khan was asked if there was anything the leadership could do to change his mind.
Khan told the Commons: “If we had a ceasefire yesterday, 144 Gazan children would still be alive today. Israel has already crossed every red line imaginable and broken international humanitarian laws.”
