Almost 9 in 10 Labour members think UK should be more critical of Israel

Almost nine in ten Labour members think the UK government should be more critical of Israel in response to its actions in Gaza, exclusive polling for LabourList has revealed.

The poll, conducted by Survation earlier this month, found that 87% of members think the UK government should be more critical than it currently is. Just 2% of members said the government should be less critical of Israel.

The issue of Gaza has been a painful one for the Labour party. As previously reported by LabourList, it has been a major source of tensions between the party and its Muslim representatives.

Last week, a survey of Muslim Labour politicians by the Labour Muslim Network, found that 82% judged Keir Starmer’s handling of the Gaza crisis since October 2023 as fairly bad or very bad.

A further three quarters (77%) support suspending all UK arms exports to Israel, and 84% support implementing sanctions against it.

At the same time, the party has worked hard to root out antisemitism within its ranks. Keir Starmer made tackling antisemitism one of his top priorities upon becoming Labour leader in 2020, after years of complaints and scandals under Jeremy Corbyn’s tenure.

‘Escalation serves no one’

The polling comes as Israel launched a salvo of missile attacks on Iran last night, sparking fears of all-out war in the Middle East.

Starmer urged restraint following the strikes. A Cobra meeting is expected to take place today, and Foreign Secretary David Lamy has cancelled a planned trip to Washington DC to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Starmer called for “restraint” and a “return to diplomacy”.

While posting on X, David Lammy warned that further escalation was a “threat to peace and stability”.

“Further escalation is a serious threat to peace and stability in the region and in no-one’s interest,” he said.

“This is a dangerous moment and I urge all parties to show restraint.”

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