Kirklees councillors quit Labour Party over Israel-Gaza stance

Two Labour councillors in Kirklees have quit the party over its stance on the Israel-Gaza war.

Jo Lawson said she could "no longer belong" to a party which did not acknowledge what was happening in Gaza was "genocide".

Meanwhile, Imran Safdar said his "red lines" on the Gaza ceasefire issue had been "crossed" by the party.

Kirklees Labour group said the council was continuing to fight to "save public services".

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has previously called for Israel to comply with international law in the conflict, but stopped short of calling for a ceasefire.

The latest resignations came a month after Labour councillor Ammar Anwar also walked out of the party over the leadership's refusal to back calls for an outright ceasefire.

Ms Lawson had earlier defied the Kirklees Labour whip over a motion on the Gaza conflict in which she chose to side with the Greens.

She said the months-long disagreement and in-fighting within the Labour party over Gaza was one of her "red lines that can't be crossed".

In a statement on social media, she wrote: "You can send as many letters as you want, you can stay and fight for change from within, but there has to come a time when you realise all of this is futile.

"It's not a case of me leaving the Labour Party, more the Labour Party left me."

Also writing on social media, Mr Safdar said: "Jo and I had long-standing disagreements with the national leadership over the very disappointing positions on Palestine and arms sales to various regimes across the Middle East."

Mr Safdar said he condemned "the killing of innocent civilians on both sides of the divide".

Both Ms Lawson and Mr Safdar will continue to represent the Crosland Moor and Netherton ward as independents.

As well as expressing her feelings about the Labour party's stance on the Israel-Gaza war, Ms Lawson used her resignation statement to raise concerns over the way the Labour group on Kirklees Council was run.

She described it as a "toxic swamp" where bullying was "rife" and where "any semblance of democracy, discussion on pertinent issues is practically non-existent".

In a statement, Labour council leader Cathy Scott said the Labour group had been "fighting to save public services" and it was "disappointing" the former members "don't support this".

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Kirklees Labour group said: "Since Cathy became leader, we have been very clear we would work to improve standards, and that these standards would be upheld.

"Therefore, it would not be compatible for a member to hold a senior role - and taking a considerable taxpayer-funded allowance - while not meeting these very basic standards."

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].