Gaza ceasefire vote result: Parliament backs Labour motion – read full text and how chaos unfolded

MPs have approved a Labour motion backing an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Israel and Gaza, with the party avoiding a widely expected rebellion after a tumultuous day in the Commons.

A planned vote in parliament on multiple motions about the conflict in Israel and Gaza descended into chaos, as the government withdrew from the debate and Scottish National Party and Tory MPs walked out in protest over the handling of the Commons vote.

It meant MPs only voted on Labour’s motion (read the full text below). Shadow minister Jon Ashworth wrote on X: “For all the Tory parliamentary games tonight the most important thing is Parliament has just endorsed Labour’s amendment for an immediate ceasefire, release of hostages, a surge in aid and recognition of a Palestinian state.”

The opposite day debate was secured by the SNP, widely seen to be seeking to exploit Labour divisions. But Speaker Lindsay Hoyle’s decision to allow a vote on Labour’s amendment before the SNP’s – against usual convention – prompted outrage from the SNP as it denied them the chance to vote on their own motion. The clerk of the Commons voiced their concern in a letter to Hoyle too.

The Conservative leader of the House Penny Morduant also condemned the Speaker, claiming he had “undermined the confidence of this House” and withdrawing the government’s motion. Labour shadow leader of the Commons Lucy Powell questioned whether the Tories had feared a backbench rebellion over their own motion, however.

Hoyle later apologised for how the vote “ended up”, but said he had wanted to give MPs the opportunity to express as wide a range of views as possible given strong feelings on the issue. Labour also faces questions about whether it pressured Hoyle.

The absence of a vote on the SNP motion means Labour leader Keir Starmer avoided a potentially significant rebellion from Labour MPs backing the SNP’s line, which shadow frontbenchers have criticised.

One Labour MP had told LabourList this morning they and colleagues planned to back both the Labour and SNP motions.

With critics calling Labour’s ceasefire call too caveated, the MP said voters “just want a ceasefire” and exact terms should not be for Labour to negotiate. They said they had received nearly as many constituent emails as the 2,500 they received in the last vote in November.

In November a number of Labour frontbenchers resigned to vote for an SNP amendment which called for a ceasefire and 56 Labour MPs backed it despite being whipped against.

The text of the final motion as amended by Labour and approved by the Commons is below:

That this House believes that an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah risks catastrophic humanitarian consequences and therefore must not take place; notes the intolerable loss of Palestinian life, the majority being women and children;

condemns the terrorism of Hamas who continue to hold hostages;

supports Australia, Canada and New Zealand’s calls for Hamas to release and return all hostages and for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, which means an immediate stop to the fighting and a ceasefire that lasts and is observed by all sides, noting that Israel cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence and that Israelis have the right to the assurance that the horror of 7th October cannot happen again;

therefore supports diplomatic mediation efforts to achieve a lasting ceasefire; demands that rapid and unimpeded humanitarian relief is provided in Gaza;

demands an end to settlement expansion and violence; urges Israel to comply with the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures;

calls for the UN Security Council to be meet urgently;

and urges all international partners to work together to establish a diplomatic process to deliver the peace of a two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state, including working with international partners to recognise a Palestinian state as a contribution to rather than outcome of that process, because statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and not in the gift of any neighbour.