Keir Starmer faces calls to resign from within Labour over refusal to back Gaza ceasefire

LABOUR leader Sir Keir Starmer is facing calls to resign from within his own party over his refusal to back a ceasefire in Gaza.

The calls came from Burnley Council leader Afrasiab Anwar, who has stood down from the party along with ten others.

He said “blindly following Rishi Sunak” was “not acceptable”.

And Pendle Borough Council leader Asjad Mahmood also claimed Starmer “failed to listen” to calls for a ceasefire to “stop the innocent loss of lives”.

He added that Sir Keir should resign to “allow someone who has compassion to lead our party”.

There are now 22 Labour councillors on Burnley Council and nine on Pendle Borough Council.

It comes after the opposition chief insisted in a major speech on Tuesday that an immediate ceasefire would only allow Hamas to regather strength and plot more barbaric terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.

Before speaking Sir Keir was met by dozens of pro-Palestine protestors who waved banners calling for a ceasefire and yelled profanities in his face.

At the end of the speech the chaos continued, with Met cops even having to step in to guard the Labour Leader as he moved to his car.

In his speech Sir Keir argued that Israel has a fundamental right to defend itself – but must do so in the confines of international law.

Pressed on whether that is happening, the Labour boss said it would take time to make those complex judgements.

Sir Keir also renewed calls for a “humanitarian pause” in the fighting so desperately needed aid can flow through to Gaza.