Slough Labour councillors defy Starmer by calling for Gaza ceasefire

Slough Labour group leader Pavitar Kaur Mann said there was some common ground with Sir Keir Starmer

All 18 Labour councillors in Slough have called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza - a position at odds with party leader Sir Keir Starmer.

In a joint statement, they said "human rights and adherence to international law must prevail".

Slough group leader Pavitar Kaur Mann told the BBC they had "watched with absolute horror what's been happening".

Labour leader Sir Keir argued on Tuesday that a ceasefire would leave Hamas's infrastructure intact.

But he also said a humanitarian pause was "the only credible approach that has any chance of achieving what we all want to see in Gaza - the urgent alleviation of Palestinian suffering".

Slough Borough Council is currently Conservative-run - with the backing of the Liberal Democrats - after the party took control in May's elections for the first time since the 1980s.

Last week, Labour lost its majority of Oxford City Council after a wave of resignations due to the issue.

Slough's Labour group leader Ms Mann said constituents were raising "very significant concerns" about the "humanitarian impact on the Palestinian population".

She added: "We want that humanitarian access to be paramount and unimpeded… that's also what I heard Keir saying.

The Labour group in Slough called for "unimpeded, unconditional humanitarian access to Gaza"

"So I actually think there's a lot more in common with what the Labour Party as a whole is saying than there is actually a lot different."

The statement from the councillors said: "Israel suffered a terrorist attack at the hands of Hamas - Israel has a right to defend its citizens in line with international law and we are united in our call for the immediate release of all hostages. However, the Palestinian people are not Hamas.

"There must be unimpeded, unconditional humanitarian access to Gaza, to enable vital food, water, fuel and medical supplies to meet the urgent needs of innocent civilians."

It said that there was also a "worrying rise in both antisemitism and Islamophobic crimes in the UK".

By not backing a full ceasefire, Sir Keir is aligned with the UK government, as well as the US and EU.

Human rights group Amnesty International has accused the Labour leader of failing to show "the clear and principled leadership that this decades-old crisis needs".

Follow BBC South on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].