Shadow Financial Secretary James Murray MP has defended Labour leader Keir Starmer over his continued refusal to call for a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza.
Murray appeared on GB News’ Breakfast with Stephen Dixon and Anne Diamond. The conversation began with a discussion about the ongoing fallout between the Prime Minister and Home Secretary Suella Braverman, after she accused the Met Police of political bias.
Murray said, “Suella Braverman just feels out of control. She's using language which I don't think the Home Secretary should be using. I think it's not helping the police to do their job in a sensitive situation.
"What she should be doing is supporting the police to go after those who perpetrate hate crime or extremism whilst not using her language to ramp up community tensions.
“And frankly, I just think it shows that she's not the right person to be doing this job and Rishi Sunak probably knows that. What it also shows is that he's a weak Prime Minister because if he doesn't agree with what she's saying he should sack her.”
James Murray MP defends Keir Starmer over refusal to call for a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza
GB News
Anne chimed in: “He looks weak if he sacks her and you might argue he looks weak if he doesn't. So what could he possibly do? I mean, Keir Starmer has said it's time for a change. But at the moment we need some sort of stability, particularly over the next three days, don't we?”
Murray responded: “Well, I think the Conservatives have shown they're completely incapable of providing either stability on the one hand or the change that they concede the country needs.
“Rishi Sunak is in a mess because he can't bring himself to say that he agrees with what Suella Braverman said, but he also can't seem to bring himself to sack her. And frankly, the country needs stronger, stable leadership, you know, and that's what we would offer going to the next general election.”
Stephen moved the conversation onto Labour’s own controversies in recent weeks, centring primarily around its response to the situation in the Middle East since Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s attack on Israel.
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Starmer has held firm on his Israel stancePA“But in terms of stability, I mean, you've got your own problems, haven't you? I mean, the Labour Party, whether parliamentary or wider spread, can't work out if it wants to call for a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza or not.”
“No, that's not true,” said Murray, before Stephen cut him off, saying: “Of course it’s true! You've got councillors resigning across the country. You've got shadow ministers resigning over this issue. Of course it's a problem!”
Murray came back: “Now, some people, as you said, are calling for a ceasefire. But Keir Starmer has set out very clearly what our position is, which is to call for humanitarian pauses, which we think are the most achievable way to alleviate some of the immediate suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. So we're calling for humanitarian pauses for hostages to be released.
“And I think, you know, there are different opinions across the Labour Party… but Keir Starmer has listened to what people had to say and has set out our way forward.”
Activists demanded Sir Keir Starmer support a ceasefire in Palestine
PAAnne came back in to ask, “ And do you think that's right that basically he has listened to what people have to say? He's asked for humanitarian pauses, which are now happening, but he's not saying anything stronger than that.”
Murray replied, “Well, what he's been saying for days and weeks now is that those humanitarian pauses need to happen urgently to make sure that aid can get in to help Palestinians who are suffering in Gaza. He's also been very clear we need to support Israel's right to defend itself, to rescue hostages, to make sure its people are safe.
“I think through this very difficult, desperate situation - where we've seen huge suffering of the Israelis who were attacked in the terrorist attacks and now the suffering of people in Gaza as a result of the humanitarian catastrophe there - what Keir Starmer is setting out is the way through that.
“He's showing leadership in saying what we need now is immediate humanitarian pauses because that's the most achievable or the quickest way to get that aid in there to help Palestinians in Gaza.”
