SCOTTISH Labour MPs have been urged to back the SNP’s Commons motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza as the party’s conference passed a motion demanding an end to the violence.
On the second day of the party’s conference, delegates debated a motion supporting leader Anas Sarwar’s call for a humanitarian ceasefire.
It comes as a pro-Palestine protest is set to descend on the SEC in Glasgow.
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Shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray said earlier on Saturday morning that he would need to see the content of the SNP’s motion before deciding whether or not to vote for it.
During the SNP’s amendment to the King’s Speech when the SNP called for a ceasefire, Murray and fellow Scottish Labour MP Michael Shanks backed a Labour amendment calling for “humanitarian pauses” instead.
And now, delegates at the party’s conference have called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.
Nairn McDonald (below), Scottish Labour North Ayrshire councillor, spoke in favour of the motion and said that party members “demand” Murray and Shanks support the SNP’s motion in the House of Commons when it comes up for debate.
He told the conference of the “unimaginable suffering” of those living in Gaza as the conflict continues, adding that the party cannot “turn a blind eye”.
“I also call on the UK leadership Keir Starmer and David Lammy to stop equivocating and take a stand, call for a ceasefire now,” McDonald added.
“And the message must go out from this conference that when this becomes our policy we expect, no we demand, Scottish Labour MPs vote for a ceasefire when given an opportunity.”
Earlier, Scottish Labour MSP Pauline McNeill called for a two-state solution and urged Israel to abide by its “moral obligations”.
READ MORE: Anas Sarwar mocked for vowing to 'stand up to Keir Starmer'
The party’s motion acknowledged the “importance of preventing an escalation of conflict” in the region.
“Conference supports Israel’s right to protect its citizens, in line with International Law, affirms that Hamas remaining in Gaza is not tenable and agrees there is no justification for the collective punishment of 2.2 million citizens in Gaza,” it reads.
It added that for a “successful and sustainable ceasefire” both sides would have to “comply”, with measures such as an end to rocket fire in and out of Gaza, Hamas to release hostages, and a pathway to a peace process to be established.
We told how the SNP is set to use its opposition time in the Commons next week to force a debate on the issue and reiterate calls for a ceasefire.
Following the Scottish Labour party conference passing the ceasefire motion, Stephen Flynn MP said:
"It's time for Sir Keir Starmer to commit to supporting our motion for an immediate ceasefire. There can be no more delays.
"Thousands of children, women and civilians have lost their life since both the Tories and Labour cowardly rejected our last motion - they cannot make that same mistake again.
READ MORE: SNP: Scottish Labour MPs should be whipped in Gaza ceasefire vote
"History will remember this vote.
"Questions must also be asked of Scotland's two Labour MPs. Will they follow their Scottish Leader, or their Leader in London? That decision will tell you exactly where Scottish Labour MPs loyalties truly lie.
"With each day Sir Keir Starmer equivocates, the more innocent civilians die. This has to end - and end now."
“Everybody wants the fighting to stop, and to stop now”
— Alan Smith (@Political_AlanS) February 17, 2024
Speaking with Labour Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray about the Gaza demonstration expected outside conference later
I also asked whether he’d support the SNP motion on a ceasefire in the Commons this week pic.twitter.com/h4pSA2ZAZn
Murray was asked by Clyde News if he would vote for the SNP’s motion.
He replied: “Well we all want the same thing, it’s the fighting to stop and to stop now, Keir’s been pretty clear on that, David Lammy’s been clear on that and writing to the Foreign Secretary this week.
“We haven’t seen the motion yet. We need to see what the motion says, so we can’t make a determination of what we’ll vote otherwise.”
At least 28,663 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its military operation in the strip in October in response to the October 7 attacks, where Hamas militants killed some 1200 people and took another 250 hostage.
Israel is now being urged not to send ground forces into Rafah on the Egyptian border, where many of the strip’s citizens are now living after areas closer to their homes became engulfed by fighting.
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