The Labour leadership is understood to have held a meeting with councillors after a number of resignations in protest at Keir Starmer’s stance over the conflict with Hamas.
Amna Abdullatif, the first Arab Muslim woman elected to Manchester city council, said on Monday she would quit Labour.
Abdullatif, a councillor in Ardwick since 2019, accused Starmer of making “horrifying comments about Israel having the right to withhold fuel, water, food and electricity from the 2.2 million Palestinians trapped in Gaza, effectively endorsing a war crime”.
Two Labour councillors in Oxford, Shaista Aziz and Dr Amar Latif, quit the party last week for similar reasons, while Lubaba Khalid, a Palestinian photographer who had been Young Labour BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) officer, said last week that she had handed in her resignation.
Starmer’s chief of staff, Sue Gray, and the shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, held talks with council leaders on Monday night amid fears over pending resignations, ITV News reported.
A source in the Labour leader’s office confirmed a meeting had been held with elected representatives where “emotion and strong views” were expressed but said they “did not recognise” reports it had been “heated.”
“The meeting was one of a series with elected representatives, as you would imagine from a serious grown up government-in-waiting on such a difficult and sensitive issue,” they said.
“Of course there was emotion and strong views but that is what you would expect.
“It was acknowledged that councillors are on the front line dealing with some difficult circumstances.
“Support was offered, and our position made clear.”
The Labour leader had said during an interview with LBC last week that Israel has “the right” to withhold energy and water from Gaza.
“Obviously, everything should be done within international law,” he added.
It comes as thousands of British Muslim councillors, imams, doctors and other professionals have signed an open letter online saying they have lost confidence in Starmer as the leader of Labour following his comments on Gaza.
The letter, addressed to Starmer, states: “Your consistent defence of Israel’s actions, often with limited regard for the humanitarian plight of the Palestinians, has left many members of the Muslim community feeling unheard and unrepresented.
“It is essential to acknowledge the human rights concerns raised by international organisations regarding Israeli policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian territories.”
It added Labour’s position that Hamas is solely responsible for impeding the possibility of peace in the region is a narrative that “we the Muslim community views with concern”.
The letter adds: “If these concerns are not adequately addressed, your position as the Leader of the Labour Party will become untenable for the Muslim community.”
Khalid wrote on X, formerly called Twitter, that she was “absolutely appalled” by Starmer’s comments, which she said were “reaffirmed” by the shadow attorney general, Emily Thornberry. Labour was “no longer a safe place for Palestinians and Muslims”, she said.
Abdullatif said she had been a Labour member for 10 years but would henceforth sit as an independent.
“Collective punishment is illegal under international law. It is inhumane and unconscionable,” she wrote on X. “I cannot fathom how the leadership of the party I represent has not called for a de-escalation to violence, and a ceasefire. This is deeply irresponsible and dangerous.”
Aziz, a councillor since 2018, told the Oxford Mail: “Like all decent-minded people, we are devastated by the atrocities carried out by Hamas in Israel. However, we are appalled by the words of Keir Starmer.”
• The standfirst of this article was amended on 18 October 2023.
