Elham Asaad Buaras
A Labour MP, now sitting as an independent, has claimed that colleagues who disagree with Sir Keir Starmer on the Israel-Hamas conflict are “afraid for their jobs.” Zarah Sultana, suspended from the party for six months after defying the Prime Minister over the two-child benefit cap, was asked how many Labour members shared her pro-Palestinian views.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said, “Many do because we are witnessing the deaths of 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
“We are seeing casualties in Lebanon, and it’s clear the UK Government could pursue a different path, one that values all lives equally, prioritises peace and ceases arms sales. I find it deeply worrying that people feel unable to speak out because they fear losing their jobs.”
Presenter Nick Robinson mentioned that he had contacted six current Labour MPs, but none agreed to appear on the programme. One MP reportedly told him, “It would cost us our jobs.”
In July, Sir Keir Starmer suspended seven Labour MPs after they supported an amendment to the King’s Speech, advocating for the removal of the two-child benefit cap.
In July, former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, ex-Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Sultana, and Imran Hussain were all suspended from the Labour Party for six months following the Commons rebellion.
At the time, Sultana remarked that she felt targeted by a “macho virility test,” but stood by her actions, saying she “slept well knowing that I took a stand against child poverty” after receiving her six-month suspension.
Photo: Zarah Sultana, MP for Coventry South
(Credit: Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament)
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