Labor MPs drop backing for statement criticizing Nato after Starmer warning | Labor

[ad_1]

A group of 11 Labor MPs from the left of the party have removed their names from a statement about the invasion of Ukraine, which heavily criticises Nato after being warned they risked losing the party whip.

In a rapid victory for Keir Starmer over MPs still linked to Jeremy Corbyn, the Labor chief whip wrote to the 11 backbenchers asking them to remove their signatures from a statement drawn up by the Stop the War group.

It is understood that Alan Campbell told the group, including Diane Abbott, John McDonnell and Richard Burgon, that they risked losing the Labor whip if they did not remove their names.

A party spokesperson later said all the MPs had agreed to do so.

The Stop the War statement, which accuses the UK government of “sabre-rattling” over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, also criticizes it for saying Ukraine has a right to join Nato if it wishes.

It says the alliance “should call a halt to its eastward expansion and commit to a new security deal for Europe which meets the needs of all states and peoples,” adding: “We refute the idea that Nato is a defensive alliance, and believe its record in Afghanistan, Yugoslavia and Libya over the last generation, not to mention the US-British attack on Iraq, clearly proves otherwise.”

While Corbyn is a long-term Nato sceptic, Starmer has stressed his support for the organisation. Writing in the Guardian earlier this month, the Labor leader said the party’s commitment to Nato “is unshakable”.

He was also heavily critical of Stop the War, which first emerged before the 2003 invasion of Iraq by US and UK forces, and which Corbyn chaired before becoming Labor leader.

The group did not represent “benign voices for peace”, Starmer said, adding: “At best they are naive, at they actively give succour to authoritarian leaders who directly threaten democracies. There is nothing progressive in showing solidarity with the aggressor when our allies need our solidarity and – crucially – our practical assistance now more than ever.”

A Labor spokesperson said: “The small number of Labor MPs that signed the Stop The War statement have all now withdrawn their names. This shows Labor is under new management. With Keir Starmer’s leadership there will never be any confusion about whose side Labor is on – Britain, Nato, freedom and democracy – and every Labor MP now understands that.”

The other MPs who signed the Stop the War statement were Tahir Ali, Apsana Begum, Ian Lavery, Ian Mearns, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Zarah Sultana, Mick Whitley and Beth Winter.

Other signatories included Corbyn, who is sitting as an independent after losing the Labor whip for refusing to rescind comments he made in the aftermath of the publication of the Equality and Human Rights Commission report on Labor’s handling of antisemitism complaints.

It was also signed by Claudia Webbe, the Leicester East MP who was elected for Labor but sits as an independent after being found guilty of a campaign of harassment, including threatening an acid attack, against a woman.

[ad_2]