The leader of Burnley Council has resigned from the Labour Party along with ten other councillors in protest of Sir Keir Starmer‘s position on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Councillor Afrasiab Anwar, who has been part of the Labour party for 10 years, called for the 61-year-old leader to resign following a weeks-long furore over his position on the Israel-Hamas war.
In a statement, the group of Labour councillors said: ‘It has become apparent that Keir Starmer and the leadership either cannot or will not heed our concerns or acknowledge the sentiments within our communities.
‘Every life holds equal value and indiscriminate bombing and collective punishment of innocent civilians is a clear violation of international law.
‘In response to our calls for him to resign he responded that the individual concerns of members are not his focus, further illustrating that he does not value the voice of the grassroots of the party.’
‘Regrettably, after exhausting every available option, we have arrived at the conclusion that the current party stance does not align with the values we hold dear.
Keir Starmer has been under fire for weeks over his stance on a ceasefire in Gaza
Afrasiab Anwar, who has been part of the Labour party for 10 years, called for Sir Keir to resign following a weeks-long furore over his position on the Israel-Hamas war
11 councillors, including Burnley Council’s leader, tonight resigned from the Labour party
‘We cannot remain in a party that is not doing enough whilst innocent people are being killed in Gaza and Israel.’
Mr. Anwar, who represents the Bank Hall constituency of Burnley, separately said: ‘I and colleagues across Burnley over the last few weeks have seen the sad loss of people including young children in Palestine and Israel and this has to stop immediately.
‘I joined the Labour Party because of the values of standing up and speaking out against injustices across the world. Sadly, Keir Starmer has not stood up for Labour values, hence why we are calling upon him to step down.
‘Blindly following the position of Mr Sunak is not acceptable to us and our residents who we represent.’
He is the second Labour council leader to call for Sir Keir to resign over his position on the deadliest conflict between Israel and Hamas in decades.
The leader of Pendle Borough Council Asjad Mahmood said Starmer ‘unfortunately failed to listen’ to calls to back a ceasefire in Gaza to ‘stop the innocent loss of life.’
‘We ask he consider his position and resign to allow someone to lead our party who has compassion and speaks out against injustice and indiscriminate killing of innocent human beings.’
