Former Tory leader says party is ‘very fortunate’ to have Sunak as prime minister as judgment set to be delivered on Rwanda deportation
Last night Labour published its amendment to the king’s speech motion – amendment r, on page 15 here – and it calls for longer humanitarian pauses in Gaza, but not a full ceasefire. Many Labour MPs would rather vote for the SNP amendment – amendment h, on page 10 here – which does call for a full ceasefire. The speaker has not announced yet which amendments will be put to a vote, but in the queen’s speech debate last year the SNP amendment was called, and so that is likely to happen again this evening.
Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign coordinator, confirmed this morning that Labour MPs would not get a free vote on the SNP amendment. And he would not deny reports that frontbenchers who do vote for the SNP ceasefire proposal will be sacked. He told Sky News:
Like every frontbencher, I serve at the pleasure of the leader. Who is on the frontbench is a matter for him and the chief whip.
It deals with the three critical aspects of this, which are: how this began on October 7 with the greatest slaughter of Jews since the end of the Second World War; it deals with the current humanitarian situation unfolding in Gaza, calling for pauses in the fighting for more aid for more electricity, water, medicine to get into help the people there and, critically, it also deals with the future.
And in setting it out in a comprehensive way, just as Keir Starmer did in his Chatham House speech a couple of weeks ago, we have given a position that Labour MPs can vote for.
