'Weak!' Sir Keir Starmer refuses to sack Labour rebels as own top team undermine his authority

Tory MPs have heaped pressure on Starmer's failure to take action, telling GB News that he has been "weak" in the face of revolt.

Shadow Exports Minister Afzal Khan became the first Labour frontbencher to voice support for a ceasefire in Gaza as he described the Israeli bombing of a refugee camp as “unconscionable” even if it was to “target a Hamas fighter”.

WATCH NOW: Sir Keir Starmer addresses calls for a ceasefire

A total of 59 Labour MPs have called for a ceasefire, including around a dozen Shadow Ministers.

At least 330 Labour councillors have also signed a letter urging Starmer to back a ceasefire due to concerns about the violence “harming communities across the UK”.

However, Labour insiders suggested Starmer would act on dissent on an independent basis.

“All these things will be judged on a case-by-case basis," they told The Times.

“There has never simply been one way of enforcing collective responsibility.”

The principle of collective responsibility means members of both frontbenches are expected to resign or face the sack if they take a policy view which contradicts the official line of their respective party.

During his speech at Chatham House on Tuesday, which saw a number of pro-Palestine activists protest against the Labour leader's position, Starmer addressed calls for a ceasefire.

He said: “While I understand calls for a ceasefire, at this stage I do not believe that is the correct position now, for two reasons.”

The Leader of the Opposition instead argued that Labour’s current position of calling for humanitarian “pauses” in the fighting was “the only credible approach”.

Starmer went on to explain that he takes collective responsibility “extremely seriously” but “with an eye on the context” there remains a need for “proportionately”.

Calls for a ceasefire come after Gaza’s Health Ministry reported more than 9,000 Palestinians have died as Israel launched its response to Hamas' October 7 attack which resulted in 1,400 people being killed.

However, Security Minister Tom Tugendhat appeared to voice further concern about the terrorist group’s actions yesterday after Hamas official Ghazi Hamad threatened to “repeat” the onslaught until Israel is “annihilated”.

Tory MPs have suggested that Starmer’s refusal to fire frontbench rebels shows he is "weak" and vulnerable to buckle to allies of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

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Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant said: “Keir Starmer has been revealed as a weak leader.

“He fell at the very first hurdle. This is a very worrying trait in someone who aspires to be Prime Minister.”

Echoing concerns expressed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a ceasefire meaning surrender to Hamas, Buckingham MP Greg Smith told GB News: “Starmer needs to face down those in his own party who seem to want Israel to surrender to terrorism and if he doesn’t it will prove nothing has actually changed in the Labour Party.”

South Cambridgeshire MP Anthony Browne added: “Starmer is pretending to act tough, but his refusal to sack rebels proves reform of the Labour Party is skin deep, and it basically hasn’t changed.

“It is still controlled by the left-wing ideologues who British voters rejected at the last election.

“Starmer might have kicked Corbyn out of the Labour Party, but he is running scared of all Corbynistas that still fill his benches.”

Former Schools Minister Robin Walker also warned: “I think it reflects the fact that the Labour Party has not moved as far as they might like to think it has and that many of the people behind him are still closer to the Labour of Corbyn.”

A number of leading Corbynistas have been spearheading efforts to put pressure on the Leader of the Opposition to pivot the party’s position on Israel’s war with Hamas.

Ex-Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and former Shadow Equalities Secretary Dawn Butler were among the Islington North MP’s most prominent allies to support a ceasefire.

Corbyn, who lost the party whip and was blocked from standing as a Labour candidate at the next general election after claiming the EHRC “dramatically overstated” the issue of antisemitism under his leadership, continues to call for an end to violence.

Starmer also stepped in by suspending Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald for his “deeply offensive” reference to the land between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea.

Responding to comments from Tory MPs, a Labour Party insider accused Conservative critics of playing party politics.

The Labour source told GB News: “Tory MPs wanting to play politics on a serious issue, what a surprise.”

Another insider argued sacking frontbenchers would be "crass" and could risk turning an international issue into a "soap opera" about the Labour Party.

They added: "The most important thing is finding a way forward in the Middle East, not who is in the Shadow Cabinet."

However, Rishi Sunak appeared to respond differently to the dissent he has faced over the war in Israel.

The Prime Minister was forced to act after parliamentary private secretary Paul Bristow penned a letter calling for a “permanent” end to hostilities.

The Peterborough MP was fired from his post as his views were “not consistent” with collective responsibility.