Karen Buck MP

KAREN Buck rebelled against Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer when she backed calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Labour MP for Westminster North was one of 56 Labour members to vote in support of the Scottish National Party’s King’s Speech amendment calling for “all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire”.

Ms Buck has been a big supporter of Sir Keir Starmer up until this week when he demanded MPs back his stance on the conflict in a debate in the House of Commons on Wednesday night.

He said Labour’s position should be to call for pauses in the conflict to allow delivery of aid.

High-profile MP Jess Phillips was among 10 frontbenchers to quit or be sacked from their roles on Wednesday night.

Ms Buck was replaced in her role as shadow minister for social security in September, a position she had held for two-and-a-half years.

She made no public statement before or after the vote and did not respond to a request for comment yesterday (Thursday).

Last month she retweeted a post by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan calling for a ceasefire.

Among the Labour MPs voting in favour of a ceasefire was Stella Creasy, who told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that while she respected Sir Keir’s position she defied party instruction as a matter of principle.

“Nobody is under any illusions that a single vote in the UK parliament is going to change the situation on the ground,” she said, but “advocating for a ceasefire is far better than the alternative of being silent.”

Supporters of Sir Keir’s stance have suggested Israel must be allowed to wage war on Hamas following its brutal series of coordinated attacks on Israel in October.

A peaceful protest calling for a ceasefire was held outside parliament on Wednesday night as MPs voted on the motion.

In a statement after the vote, Sir Keir said he regretted the vote of some of his party.

“I regret that some colleagues felt unable to support the position tonight. But I wanted to be clear about where I stood, and where I will stand.”