Keir Starmer considers Labour Gaza ceasefire motion

Sir Keir Starmer is considering putting Labour's position on the Israel-Hamas conflict to a vote on Wednesday in a bid to maintain party unity, the BBC has been told.

The Commons motion would criticise Israel's conduct in the war, while stopping short of backing a ceasefire.

Earlier, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said Israel "must make changes" to its approach.

Dozens of Labour MPs have defied their leader to call for a ceasefire.

And 19 members of the frontbench have also publicly diverged from their party's official position.

A further shadow minister, Imran Hussain, quit his position last week in order to campaign for a ceasefire.

Sir Keir has argued that a ceasefire would not be appropriate, because it would freeze the conflict and embolden Hamas.

Labour's position is set to come under significant strain on Wednesday, with the Scottish National Party likely to secure a vote calling for a ceasefire.

This would be an amendment to the King's Speech, Rishi Sunak's programme for government unveiled last week.

Amid fears that several frontbenchers might resign their positions in order to vote for the SNP motion, Labour are preparing instead to submit their own motion.

"It's better to give the party a position to unify behind, rather than asking them to sit on their hands during the SNP vote," a party source said.

Another source said the motion was likely to call for a temporary "cessation of violence".

Supporters of Sir Keir's position are optimistic that the gambit could mean most resignations are avoided.

However, they concede that the question of backing a ceasefire has become the central issue for some of the MPs.