Keir urged not to bow to Muslim Vote’s demands
SIR Keir Starmer has been urged not to give in to a ‘dangerous’ set of demands from a Muslim pressure group.
The Labour leader was hit with the extraordinary list of 18 orders by The Muslim Vote after he promised to win back the trust of voters alienated by his stance on the Middle East conflict.
He was told he must apologise for his failure to back a ceasefire last autumn and for ‘greenlighting a genocide’ when he appeared to say Israel had the right to cut off water and power in Gaza.
On foreign policy, he was told he must recognise the state of Palestine, impose sanctions on Israeli politicians and cut military ties with the country.
Domestically, the group said he must ensure Muslim pupils can pray at school, ditch a new Government definition of extremism and guarantee ‘Sharia-compliant’ pensions are available in every workplace.
The Muslim Vote – which is endorsing pro-Palestine candidates ahead of the general election – said if Sir Keir ‘can’t commit’ then the Green Party or Liberal Democrats ‘would be happy to take the votes’.
Labour has not yet responded to the group publicly and last night declined to say if it would do so. But the party was urged by senior MPs not to cave in to its demands.
Tory MP Andrew Percy, who previously said in the Commons that he feels safer in Israel than Britain, told the Mail: ‘Some of these demands are outright dangerous for the security of the UK and the future of our democratic values. Starmer has a choice to make. He can either be on the side of the liberal mainstream majority in this country or he can lean into sectarian identitybased politics.
‘ UK politics is facing an increasing threat from extremism and division and many of these demands would do nothing to prevent that and everything to increase divisions.’
He added: ‘If Keir Starmer really has changed the Labour Party and moved on from the anti- Semitism scandal that plagued it, he should show leadership by rejecting calls that specifically target the world’s only Jewish state.’
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘ This is shaping up to become a very big issue. It is a threat to our democracy and this amounts to nothing more or less than political blackmail.
‘The threat is that they won’t vote for Labour. If you give in to blackmail it never stops and others will see you are weak.’
It comes after the Mail reported that dozens of councillors were elected in last week’s local elections after campaigning primarily on the issue of Gaza, in many cases either defecting from the Labour Party or beating its candidates.
Labour chairman Anneliese Dodds insisted yesterday the party ‘did call for that immediate humanitarian ceasefire and ensured that Parliament had a vote on it’.
Asked on ITV why some voters were still calling for a stronger position on Gaza from Sir Keir, she said: ‘I said it was important that Labour had that discussion with people, that we understand why people may have previously supported Labour and have shifted away from that support. All of the party is committed to that.’
‘Threat from extremism’