If Starmer wants to be PM, he must not U-turn on Israel ceasefire

The Israeli airstrikes on a refugee camp has made the Labour leader’s refusal to budge ever more incendiary within his party – but for British voters (and our US allies) it’s a chance to observe how a PM-in-waiting handles pressure, says Andrew Grice

Keir Starmer has called for a ‘humanitarian pause’ in the Israel-Hamas conflict, but not a ceasefire (PA)

Keir Starmer’s response to the Israel-Hamas war is a story of one step forward, one step back. His overdue speech yesterday was rightly more balanced than his original stance; he acknowledged the suffering of the Palestinians and that Israel’s right to self-defence is “not a blank cheque”.

But the Labour leader rejected pressure from many in his party, including 14 frontbenchers, for a full ceasefire, saying this would allow Hamas to mount future attacks on Israel. He stuck to his call for a temporary humanitarian pause, but left himself a little wriggle room by saying a full ceasefire is not the right argument “at this time”.

This was an insurance policy in case the catastrophe in Gaza gets even worse – and indeed it has since the speech. Today, David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, demanded an explanation from Israel for its bombing attack on the Jabalia refugee camp, which killed civilians.