Bradford Council passes motion calling for Israel-Gaza ceasefire

Labour-run Bradford Council has backed calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The majority of councillors supported a motion calling for a permanent end to the violence, with only the Conservative group choosing to abstain.

The district's three Labour MPs voted for an immediate ceasefire in response to a motion in Parliament in November.

Councillor Taj Salam, who quit the Labour group over the national party's stance, told a meeting on Tuesday he "condemned" all attacks in the region.

Israel began a sustained assault on targets in Gaza following a deadly attack by Hamas in early October which killed 1,200 people in Israel.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has said more than 18,400 people have been killed by Israeli bombing since 7 October.

Two motions were tabled for the full council meeting to call for a permanent ceasefire, the first from Mr Salam and the second from council leader Susan Hinchcliffe.

Mr Salam said "all forms of racism, including antisemitism and Islamophobia have no place in our district".

"Bradford is a city of sanctuary with a proud history of welcoming people from all over the world and a city of multiculturalism," he said.

Conservative group leader Rebecca Poulsen said that although "the latest events in the Middle East are appalling and we all condemn the loss of lives," it was not in the council's "remit" to intervene.

"We are a metropolitan district council, we are not the United Nations or an international organisation," she said.

Labour group leader Ms Hinchcliffe said the council "cannot be silent" on the issue.

"We are not naive, neither are the people of Bradford, they know we are not international diplomats," she said.

"But they do expect us to hear their calls, to listen to their pleas and use the voice they have given us to express their deep concerns."

The recent frontbench rebellion by Bradford MPs Naz Shah and Imran Hussain over the Israel-Gaza war brought into sharp focus the huge impact of Middle East politics.

The wider issue is felt deeply in Bradford, especially by those of a Muslim background.

So it was no surprise then that, both for personal and political reasons, emotions were running high at Bradford's full council meeting during the two-and-a-half hour debate on calls for a ceasefire.

The ruling Labour administration faced multiple accusations of being silent on the issue for too long, something which drew the ire of council leader Susan Hinchcliffe.

The emotions were real - but so were the underlying politics at play.

With local and general elections looming, many Labour-run councils seem to find themselves at an impasse when it comes to following their national party leadership's line.

But with international opinion also seeming to shift significantly in the past few days - and growing pressure on Israel to rein in its response - are the northern councils leading the way to where their national parties will inevitably have to follow?

Labour's Bradford South MP Judith Cummins, Bradford West MP Naz Shah and Bradford East MP Imran Hussain all voted for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in November.

Ms Shah and Mr Hussain also left their roles in the shadow cabinet over the issue.

Bradford's Conservative MPs, Robbie Moore who represents Keighley and Philip Davies who represents Shipley, both voted against the motion.

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