Gaza was the scandal that should have ended Keir Starmer’s political career
Submitted by
Hamza Yusuf
on
Wed, 04/29/2026 - 11:02
If the Mandelson saga does finally do for Starmer, it could clear the way for his true moral reckoning - appearing at The Hague over his unwavering support for Israel's genocide
"His hands are soaked in Palestinian blood that will never wash, and the historical record will always reflect that." (Tom Nicholson/AFP)
On
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer continues to face intense pressure and the potential collapse of his spell in Downing Street, as the Peter Mandelson appointment saga rumbles on.
Details recently emerged suggesting that Mandelson failed his security vetting as potential UK ambassador to the US, but that decision was overruled by the Foreign Office - under pressure from the Cabinet Office - in order to finalise the appointment.
On Tuesday, the prime minister survived a parliamentary vote that would have triggered an investigation into whether he misled the Commons on the matter. Despite prevailing, the erosion of trust continues, while the scrutiny shows no sign of easing.
There are already suggestions that Labour MPs are devising a timetable for his departure, with at least 50 percent of Britons thinking the prime minister should stand down.
Meanwhile, the commentariat has been expending considerable ink and breath on the eventualities and ramifications.
Starmer faces his “judgment day”, LBC observed. Sky News’ political editor argued that his “integrity” was being called into question. A Guardian editorial signalled that his judgment was being brought into sharp focus.
The reality is that, on all metrics, the prime minister had already comprehensively failed when he unconditionally supported and enabled Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
That alone should have been politically terminal, long before this scandal emerged. The lack of equivalent soul-searching and demands for apologies is a damning indictment of Westminster’s standards and Fleet Street’s priorities, but it does not lessen the seriousness of it.
'Human animals'
On 11 October 2023, Keir Starmer took to the airwaves to explicitly back Israel’s right to withdraw power and water from Gaza, a grave violation of international law. This came just days after the then Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, declared that a “total siege” had been imposed on Gaza. “We are dealing with human animals and we will act accordingly,” he said, making his views unambiguously clear.
Nor was Gallant’s proclamation an anomaly. Israeli officials lined up to make similarly stark and undisguised statements, outlining their visions for annihilation in Gaza.
As leader of the opposition, Starmer indicated from the outset his support for the collective punishment of the territory, beginning as he meant to go on.
Within weeks, it was clear that genocidal intent was to be coupled with bombardment carried out with calculated precision designed to erase, not degrade.
How Britain's contempt for the UN enables Gaza genocide
Read More »
Bodies of slaughtered Palestinians were having to be stored in ice cream trucks, as they piled up. Hospitals were ceasing to function, as operations took place without anaesthesia and vinegar replaced antiseptic for surgical use.
On the day that Unicef said that Gaza was becoming a graveyard for children, Starmer was making a speech emphasising that a ceasefire is “not the correct position” and that only a humanitarian pause was the “credible approach”.
When parliament voted on a ceasefire just weeks later, the former human rights lawyer instructed his party not to support a motion calling on Westminster to reaffirm the need to end the collective punishment of Palestinians. More than 10,000 Palestinians had been killed at this stage.
The fact that it was unfolding in real time - live-streamed, with residential buildings systematically flattened, entire communities wiped out, children massacred and wholesale ethnic cleansing perpetrated - appeared to make little difference.
Nor does the argument hold weight that, as opposition leader, his stances would have made little impact. By categorically aligning himself with the industrial-scale horrors, alongside the compliant ruling Conservative party, he forfeited the opportunity to be a meaningful, dissenting voice in Britain when it was needed most.
The absence of any moral clarity and this egregious rhetorical backing alone should have constituted a scandal sufficient to disqualify him from later assuming the premiership.
It did not. And when he was elected prime minister in July 2024, he doubled down: rhetorical support gave way to concrete, unreserved support for Israel’s unrelenting atrocities.
Threshold for genocide crossed
Hundreds of surveillance flights over Gaza were being conducted by Britain from the outset, gathering and sharing intelligence with the Israeli military. Though the Ministry of Defence’s official line was that their purpose was hostage retrieval operations, the flights have often coincided with Israeli massacres, demonstrating the irrefutable participation of Britain in Gaza’s destruction.
While they started under the Conservative government, the policy did not deviate under Starmer. Upon his entry into Downing Street, spy flights were being ordered at a rate of more than one a day.
During this period, a US military contractor hired by Britain to conduct surveillance over Gaza was flying above Nuseirat refugee camp on the night before an Israeli air strike killed more than 30 Palestinians in December 2024.
The reality is that, on all metrics, Starmer had already comprehensively failed when he unconditionally supported and enabled Israel’s genocide in Gaza
Just two days earlier, the prime minister visited the UK base in Cyprus from where the surveillance flights often operated, telling troops “the whole world is relying on you”, before adding that “we can't necessarily tell the world what you're doing”.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Starmer’s government feeding Israel’s killing machine. Within the first few months, the government licensed more exports of military equipment to Israel than the Conservatives did in the previous three years combined.
When that could not be supplied openly, it was carried out covertly, but without interruption. Despite a symbolic partial ban on arms licences in September 2024, it was revealed that Britain continued to send military goods to Israel, including F-35 fighter jet parts.
Compounding matters, alongside providing the surveillance and the weapons that were remorselessly shredding Palestinian limbs, Starmer treated any criticisms of Israel’s actions with callous disregard.
In November 2024, when pressed in parliament by independent MP Ayoub Khan on his definition of genocide, and whether it applies to Gaza, Starmer replied bluntly: “I'm well aware of the definition of genocide, and that is why I've never referred to this as genocide.”
By this point, the global human rights community and numerous genocide scholars had long collectively concluded that the threshold had been crossed for genocide, and Israel was standing trial at the International Court of Justice on that very charge.
In the proceedings, the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, was specifically singled out for his incendiary rhetoric. “It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible,” he said of Palestinians living in Gaza. “We will fight until their backbone is broken,” he added, while also signing rockets that would rain down on Gaza.
None of this stopped Starmer rolling out the red carpet for him, shaking his hand and conferring the full legitimacy of a Downing Street reception in December last year.
Hands soaked in Palestinian blood
At every critical juncture, when the moment demanded accountability and urgent action, Starmer chose the path that shored up Israel's standing. Where pressure was needed, he offered robust diplomatic cover. Where a comprehensive arms embargo was needed, he and his top team chose to keep Israel’s arsenal stocked.
As United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese outlined: “The UK is violating its obligations under international law not to aid and assist a state which is committing international wrongdoings.”
The distinguished lawyer in Keir Starmer would have known that. And yet he proceeded to unflinchingly support the great crime of this age without exception.
His hands are soaked in Palestinian blood that will never wash, and the historical record will always reflect that.
Now in the face of a different scandal, he is vowing to fight on and save his tenure - though it may ultimately not be enough. But there may be a silver lining: the sooner he faces this political reckoning, the more time he'll have to prepare for the real moral reckoning to come - at The Hague.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
UK Politics
Opinion
Post Date Override
0
Update Date
Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:29
Update Date Override
0