‘From the scale of both the demonstration outside parliament and the strength of rebellion inside the House of Commons, it’s clear that the pressure of protest is working’
By Sam Browse, Labour Outlook
Tonight, as MPs voted on an amendment to the King’s speech which would support a ceasefire in Gaza – and as the Labour front bench whipped to abstain – thousands gathered outside Parliament to call for an end to the bombing. 56 Labour MPs defied the whip to vote for a ceasefire, including 8 frontbenchers. They were –
Tahir Ali (Birmingham, Hall Green)
Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting)
Paula Barker (Liverpool, Wavertree)
Apsana Begum (Poplar and Limehouse)
Clive Betts (Sheffield South East)
Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central)
Karen Buck (Westminster North)
Richard Burgon (Leeds East)
Dawn Butler (Brent Central)
Ian Byrne (Liverpool, West Derby)
Liam Byrne (Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton)
Sarah Champion (Rotherham)
Stella Creasy (Walthamstow)
Jon Cruddas (Dagenham and Rainham)
Judith Cummins (Bradford South)
Marsha De Cordova (Battersea)
Peter Dowd (Bootle)
Julie Elliott (Sunderland Central)
Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham)
Barry Gardiner (Brent North)
Margaret Greenwood (Wirral West)
Fabian Hamilton (Leeds North East)
Kate Hollern (Blackburn)
Rachel Hopkins (Luton South)
Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton)
Imran Hussain (Bradford East)
Afzal Khan (Manchester, Gorton)
Ian Lavery (Wansbeck)
Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields)
Clive Lewis (Norwich South)
Rebecca Long Bailey (Salford and Eccles)
Khalid Mahmood (Birmingham, Perry Barr)
Rachael Maskell (York Central)
John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington)
Ian Mearns (Gateshead)
Grahame Morris (Easington)
Kate Osamor (Edmonton)
Kate Osborne (Jarrow)
Sarah Owen (Luton North)
Jess Phillips (Birmingham, Yardley)
Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East)
Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Streatham)
Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton, Kemptown)
Naz Shah (Bradford West)
Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith)
Cat Smith (Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Alex Sobel (Leeds North West)
Zarah Sultana (Coventry South)
Sam Tarry (Ilford South)
Stephen Timms (East Ham)
Jon Trickett (Hemsworth)
Valerie Vaz (Walsall South)
Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East)
Beth Winter (Cynon Valley)
Mohammad Yasin (Bedford)
Mick Whitley and Olivia Blake were both unable to make the vote for personal reasons (Whitley had a family emergency and Blake was undergoing a medical procedure) but both expressed support for the ceasefire amendment in the the run-up to the vote.
From the scale of both the demonstration outside parliament and the strength of rebellion inside the House of Commons, it’s clear that the pressure is working – it’s vital we continue to struggle for a ceasefire and a just peace for Palestine in the days ahead.
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Thank goodness there are still some honourable labour members prepared to stand up and be counted people do not deserve to die in this way no matter how this episode of the fighting started.