Is your Labour MP on this list?

[teqniq]

Unfortunately yes. Kevin Brennan. Probably factored in already that he won't be getting my vote.

He was never great, but at least in the past he's stood by some convictions (voting against the Iraq war).

At least it means I have absolutely no qualms about giving him a spunking cock next time.

As a side note, years ago, I lived in Canton briefly, a few doors down from him and every Halloween the kids would egg his house.

Yup my MP as well and not getting my vote.

 

[Eric Jarvis]

Yes my MP is Helen Hayes.

I did get an email from her explaining she supported a ceasefire but could not vote for the "divisive" SNP motion

She explained that she had been getting loads of emails about Gaza and this was a very difficult decision

She is in Shadow Cabinet so would have lost her job.

She said she had been arguing at the highest levels for Labour to support a ceasefire. That she had been on visit to West Bank as an MP and had seen how settler violence and the State of Israel was causing a lot of problems for Palestinians.

She must have been getting a lot of pressure from Whips and Starmer

It is said that last minute deal was that MPs like her could publicly say they wanted a ceasefire as long as they did not vote for one.

Make of that what you will

I was not impressed.

She could have pointed to all the emails she had got and said Im voting for ceasefire as that is what my constituents ask for.

I do not think around my way she would have got stick for that.

Now Im seriously thinking of not voting for her next election

She put loyalty to Starmer before her constituents.

She btw did not do that for the previous leader.

100% seconded. I am very disappointed in her and Flo Eshalomi. I was working on concentrating Transform on only standing against Steve Reed and Neil Coyle in this patch. I may rethink that.

 

[Eric Jarvis]

Mine is.

Rushanara Ali.

This could cause her real problems. Lutfur Rahman's Aspire managed to kick out the Labour Mayor and council and there are plenty of Palestinian flags around here. A huge Bangladeshi community, who are obviously very pro Palestine. If Aspire put up a candidate she could be in trouble. I hope they don't, I don't like him at all.

Word is that Aspire will be standing in at least one constituency in Tower Hamlets.

 

[story]

Pleased to see my MP mate is not on the list.

Same here.

But Jesus wept it’s a miserably long list, and there are names I’m not surprised but disappointed to see on there too

 

[spitfire]

Word is that Aspire will be standing in at least one constituency in Tower Hamlets.

Inevitable really.

 

[PTK]

Yes my MP is Helen Hayes.

I did get an email from her explaining she supported a ceasefire but could not vote for the "divisive" SNP motion

She explained that she had been getting loads of emails about Gaza and this was a very difficult decision

She is in Shadow Cabinet so would have lost her job.

She said she had been arguing at the highest levels for Labour to support a ceasefire. That she had been on visit to West Bank as an MP and had seen how settler violence and the State of Israel was causing a lot of problems for Palestinians.

She must have been getting a lot of pressure from Whips and Starmer

It is said that last minute deal was that MPs like her could publicly say they wanted a ceasefire as long as they did not vote for one.

Make of that what you will

I was not impressed.

She could have pointed to all the emails she had got and said Im voting for ceasefire as that is what my constituents ask for.

I do not think around my way she would have got stick for that.

Now Im seriously thinking of not voting for her next election

She put loyalty to Starmer before her constituents.

She btw did not do that for the previous leader.

My late friend's sister took part in the Athens Polytechnic uprising against the military regime in Greece. Some of the students were crushed to death by a tank. And this miserable specimen is worried about losing her front bench position.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Yes my MP is Helen Hayes.

I did get an email from her explaining she supported a ceasefire but could not vote for the "divisive" SNP motion

She explained that she had been getting loads of emails about Gaza and this was a very difficult decision

She is in Shadow Cabinet so would have lost her job.

She said she had been arguing at the highest levels for Labour to support a ceasefire. That she had been on visit to West Bank as an MP and had seen how settler violence and the State of Israel was causing a lot of problems for Palestinians.

She must have been getting a lot of pressure from Whips and Starmer

It is said that last minute deal was that MPs like her could publicly say they wanted a ceasefire as long as they did not vote for one.

Make of that what you will

I was not impressed.

She could have pointed to all the emails she had got and said Im voting for ceasefire as that is what my constituents ask for.

I do not think around my way she would have got stick for that.

Now Im seriously thinking of not voting for her next election

She put loyalty to Starmer before her constituents.

She btw did not do that for the previous leader.

None of the Labour MPs who voted for the ceasefire will get stick at a local level for it. It's what the overwhelming majority of their own voters supported, and events sadly have only proven this position even more right. 'humanitarian pause' my fucking arse.

I don't doubt that, like the overwhelming majority of her own voters, Hayes would have liked to have supported calling for a ceasefire. But she put loyalty to her own career before doing the right thing. Fuck her and every single MP who did this. They're even worse than the MPs who genuinely didn't think calling for a ceasefire was right. Knowing what the right thing to do was and not doing it.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Yeah she's on the list. I won't be voting for her anyway though.

 

[pbsmooth]

ah yes, the SNP asking for a ceasefire - that should do it!

this is one of those ridiculous lists that doesn't grasp how UK politics works, let alone the zero affect it would have had on the situation in Gaza. MPs vote with the party.

 

[planetgeli]

ah yes, the SNP asking for a ceasefire - that should do it!

It's about a show of solidarity and a vote against barbarism. Symbolic or not, the British parliament is meant to be important. Are you saying it isn't?

this is one of those ridiculous lists that doesn't grasp how UK politics works, let alone the zero affect it would have had on the situation in Gaza. MPs vote with the party.

Apart from the 56 who didn't.

But sorry, you're the only one who understands how UK politics works right.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

MPs vote with the party.

Except those who don't.

And you also seem not to understand concepts like collective action or solidarity. Of course the vote on its own would have achieved little - tories voting against would still have won anyway. But it would have added to the collective pressure and solidarity that just might make a difference. From a purely selfish Labour point of view, it would have avoided alienating millions of voters who are utterly disgusted by the attitudes of Sunak and Starmer.

 

[Gramsci]

ah yes, the SNP asking for a ceasefire - that should do it!

this is one of those ridiculous lists that doesn't grasp how UK politics works, let alone the zero affect it would have had on the situation in Gaza. MPs vote with the party.

The list was those that abstained.

Starmer was facing a full scale revolt.

The last minute compromise was to allow abstentions.

Politics also works due to public pressure.

I have dealt with Helen Hayes and on constituency matters she is hard working MP.

Her long email to those who emailed her on ceasefire shows that she , I think genuinely, was torn in two different directions.

If she had not been given last minute option of abstaining I think she would have felt compelled to vote for ceasefire

 

[PTK]

ah yes, the SNP asking for a ceasefire - that should do it!

this is one of those ridiculous lists that doesn't grasp how UK politics works, let alone the zero affect it would have had on the situation in Gaza. MPs vote with the party.

Some people have principles; others do not. I am with the ones who do.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

If she had not been given last minute option of abstaining I think she would have felt compelled to vote for ceasefire

If any Labour MPs thought they would be looked better upon for abstaining rather than voting against a ceasefire, they were pretty amazingly naive tbqh. An abstention is a vote against.

 

[scifisam]

Mine is.

Rushanara Ali.

This could cause her real problems. Lutfur Rahman's Aspire managed to kick out the Labour Mayor and council and there are plenty of Palestinian flags around here. A huge Bangladeshi community, who are obviously very pro Palestine. If Aspire put up a candidate she could be in trouble. I hope they don't, I don't like him at all.

Huge protests outside her HQ. I reckon she's definitely out next election. Not just an unethical decision but incredibly stupid.

No way am I voting Aspire. Might be the first general election I choose not to vote in at all.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

They're all over the place. The justification that the SNP motion was divisive is just idiotic. Labour itself had proposed a mealy mouthed, non-ceasefire motion before it. If the SNP motion was divisive or not appropriate or just plain worthless, why was there a Labour one?

As more and more people die in Gaza (700 in the last day alone), this isn't going away.

 

[PTK]

They're all over the place. The justification that the SNP motion was divisive is just idiotic. Labour itself had proposed a mealy mouthed, non-ceasefire motion before it. If the SNP motion was divisive or not appropriate or just plain worthless, why was there a Labour one?

As more and more people die in Gaza (700 in the last day alone), this isn't going away.

Tony Blair thought that the foundation of the Labour Party was divisive. The split in the radical tradition, as he called it.

 

[Dogsauce]

Mine isn’t on the list, but did ‘abstain’ in the ceasefire vote, yet some of those on the list did actually support the ceasefire (Jess Philips for one).

 

[scifisam]

Mine isn’t on the list, but did ‘abstain’ in the ceasefire vote, yet some of those on the list did actually support the ceasefire (Jess Philips for one).

Two lists - one of those who abstained, in the first post, and then a later one of those who voted.

 

[Gramsci]

If any Labour MPs thought they would be looked better upon for abstaining rather than voting against a ceasefire, they were pretty amazingly naive tbqh. An abstention is a vote against.

I totally agree.

Helen Hayes is what I would call a good constituency MP for local issues.

But when it comes to the larger issues like this she cant handle it.

Despite going to West Bank as an MP.

This does not surprise me from my knowledge of dealing with Labour party in Lambeth over the years.

 

[philosophical]

Disappointed with Janet Daby who I know quite well.
She is not really a careerist, but majored on ‘loyalty’ on this occasion, when she had nothing to lose voting for a ceasefire.
A shame, but in other respects she is a good guy.

 

[nino_savatte]

No. Andy Slaughter, was in fact one of the front bench resigners. He's always been strong on the issue, as long as I've been here anyway - I think it does help his vote but that doesn't appear to be why he takes that position.

He was a Cooper supporter during the leadership election of 2015 and resigned his brief in the so-called Chicken Coup of 2016. He's certainly no left-winger.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

It shouldn't be a left/right issue anyway should it. I mean obviously it has historically formed up like that for various reasons but I don't think there's an ideological block to supporting the Palestinians from a right wing position (in the more mainstream sense here, not talking about the far right). It's just the current Labour right has dug itself a massive hole through their cynical triangulation bullshit over the last few years.

 

[PTK]

It shouldn't be a left/right issue anyway should it. I mean obviously it has historically formed up like that for various reasons but I don't think there's an ideological block to supporting the Palestinians from a right wing position (in the more mainstream sense here, not talking about the far right). It's just the current Labour right has dug itself a massive hole through their cynical triangulation bullshit over the last few years.

Yes. Since when was supporting the application of international humanitarian law just a "left-wing" issue?

 

[hitmouse]

No. Andy Slaughter, was in fact one of the front bench resigners. He's always been strong on the issue, as long as I've been here anyway - I think it does help his vote but that doesn't appear to be why he takes that position.

As with James Cleverley, seems like a bit of the opposite of nominative determinism going on there.

Anyway, a few weeks into the conflict/massacre, my local constituency MP hadn't been calling for a ceasefire, and we had a small protest outside his constituency office asking him to speak out. I had a look at the instagram post about it, and some useless div from the RCG was slagging the organisers off for using slogans about "Labour's silence", because Labour hadn't been silent but had been vocally supportive of Israel's actions, which is true enough if you're talking about Starmer and the like, but not the case for the specific MP this protest was targeting, and this bloke seemed convinced he was scoring some proper big brain internet points by proving that the protest organisers were soft on Labour because they'd adapted their message to the specific MP being pressured. Anyway, when it came to the actual vote my MP voted for the ceasefire. I appreciate some RCG bellend being wrong on instagram isn't the main thing here, but god that bloke was annoying.

 

[PTK]

As with James Cleverley, seems like a bit of the opposite of nominative determinism going on there.

Anyway, a few weeks into the conflict/massacre, my local constituency MP hadn't been calling for a ceasefire, and we had a small protest outside his constituency office asking him to speak out. I had a look at the instagram post about it, and some useless div from the RCG was slagging the organisers off for using slogans about "Labour's silence", because Labour hadn't been silent but had been vocally supportive of Israel's actions, which is true enough if you're talking about Starmer and the like, but not the case for the specific MP this protest was targeting, and this bloke seemed convinced he was scoring some proper big brain internet points by proving that the protest organisers were soft on Labour because they'd adapted their message to the specific MP being pressured. Anyway, when it came to the actual vote my MP voted for the ceasefire. I appreciate some RCG bellend being wrong on instagram isn't the main thing here, but god that bloke was annoying.

If the RCG did not exist you would have to invent them.
Someone once said that a sectarian is an opportunist in fear of themselves.

Well done on your picket. Well done on that MP for voting for a ceasefire.

 

[Sue]

Spotted locally this morning (also posted on the Hackney thread):

 

[Knotted]

FYI. Email I got from my MP Sarah Owen who was sacked from the front for backing the SNP motion:

I am emailing to keep you updated on the steps I have taken to represent your views on the ongoing situation in Israel and Gaza.

This continues to be an extremely challenging time for our communities, and I appreciate and understand the strength of feeling on this issue. As your MP it is important that I am able to put across your views in Parliament and be Luton North’s voice in Westminster. The strength of feeling, that I also share, has been demonstrated across the town by the sheer volume of correspondence in the last few weeks.

On the evening of the 15th November, I took the only opportunity we have had to vote for an immediate ceasefire on all sides, to see the end to violence against innocent civilians, the release of all hostages and vital access of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
In order to do this, I broke the Labour Party line and had to resign from my position as a Shadow Minister. But I had to vote with my constituents, my head and my heart for a ceasefire, as I believe this is the best pathway to peace in the Middle East.

This vote echoes the statements I have been making in support of a ceasefire over the past few weeks. These calls are reflected by the overwhelming majority of the British public and respected organisations such as the UN International Rescue Committee, Save The Children, Oxfam, Islamic Relief and faith figures ranging from the Pope to our local Mosque leaders.

This is alongside the actions I have already taken, including speaking four times in the House of Commons to highlight humanitarian concerns, writing to the Prime Minister to urge a ceasefire on all sides, to get more food, water and medicine into Gaza, remaining in ongoing contact with organisations working in the region and meeting with Bedfordshire Police about the alarming increase in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia on our streets.

I have worked every Parliamentary avenue to progress these aims, and voted with my conscience, which is a feeling I share with our diverse town who want to see peace across the Middle East. I appreciate that the images we continue to see from Gaza are deeply upsetting and I share your grief at the ongoing levels of violence against innocent civilians.

Rest assured, I will continue to push the Government to call for an immediate ceasefire and continue my meaningful action and stand up for the views of people in Luton North from the back benches.

Kind regards,

Sarah Owen MP
Member of Parliament for Luton North

 

[WhyLikeThis]

Here’s the reply from my Labour MP who is also in the shadow cabinet…

Thank you for contacting me about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

We have all been appalled by the scale of civilian suffering over the past month. Far too many Palestinian civilians and children have been killed.

Whilst Israel has a right to self-defence following the brutal and horrible attacks of 7 October, this by no means can be a blank cheque. Any targeting of civilians, hospitals, schools or refugee camps is completely unacceptable, as is the fact that Israel has not lifted the siege conditions. Degrading the capabilities of Hamas must be targeted and proportionate. Civilian deaths cannot be written off as collateral damage.

We must move to a full cessation of fighting as quickly as possible. Civilian lives must be the most important consideration. With both sides disagreeing on a ceasefire and Hamas stating they have the capacity and intention to repeat the attacks of 7 October, we need a full and immediate humanitarian pause in the fighting across the whole of Gaza to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians and for Hamas to release the hostages. The full pause must start now to get sufficient food, water, electricity, medicine, and fuel into Gaza and address the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe. Neither the long-term security of Israel, nor the long-term justice for Palestine, can be delivered by bombs and violence.

Allegations of breaches in international humanitarian law must be taken with the utmost seriousness, and I support the independence of the International Criminal Court to assess specific violations.

I completely condemn acts of violence by Israeli settlers on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. The Israeli Government must do all it can to prevent settler violence, ensure accountability for perpetrators, and condemn extremist rhetoric.

I want to see an end to the violence and a lasting peace for Palestine and Israel, based on a two-state solution. This will require focused diplomatic efforts, based on the recognition and safety of an independent Palestine, and a secure Israel. This must be the end goal.

Thank you again for contacting me.

Best wishes,

…and then abstained.