A Bradford councillor has quit and called for Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer to resign over his controversial comments about the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
Sir Keir caused widespread anger and outrage for the comments he made in a recent interview with LBC Radio.
During the interview, radio host Nick Ferrari asked if “cutting off power, cutting off water” to Gaza was an appropriate response by Israel following the Hamas terror attack.
Sir Keir replied: “I think that Israel does have that right.”
Labour Councillor Taj Salam, who represented Bradford Council for the Little Horton ward from 2000 to 2004 and again from 2015, has quit the party he’s been a member of since 1997 claiming Sir Keir has “overlooked the core values of the Labour Party.”
And in an interview with Asian Sunday, Cllr Salam called for Sir Keir to resign.
Cllr Salam – who’s is one of more than twenty UK-wide councillor’s to leave the Labour Party over this issue – said: “If I was in front of Sir Keir now then I’d urge him to issue a public apology for all the public upset he’s caused and quite frankly if he wasn’t prepared to do this then I’d say do the honourable thing and resign.
“I was totally devastated when I first heard his comments. They were utterly insensitive and go against the core principles of what the Labour Party is meant to represent.
“I joined the Labour Party in 1997 and did everything I could to promote it and be an active ‘foot soldier.’ This included representing Little Horton twice on Bradford Council which I was very honoured and proud to do.
“I unequivocally condemn all acts of violence. The attack of Hamas targeting innocent Israeli citizens is totally unacceptable and I join the calls for the immediate release of all Israeli hostages.”
Cllr Salam – who know serves as an Independent Councillor after quitting – added: “It was a very difficult decision and one which I thought about long and hard.
“But in the end, I decided that Sir Keir’s comments showed absolutely no respect and undermined the values which we’ve fought so hard to adopt namely equality, inclusiveness, and justice.
“My commitment to my ward doesn’t change at all. I’ll continue to represent everyone in Little Horton and fight to achieve results which will protect and help every one of my ward constituents.
“I must say that I’m quite disappointed that since tendering my resignation I haven’t had any correspondence from the Labour Party. Considering my active involvement over the years, then I’d have thought someone might have contacted me to discuss my position.
“But I suppose that’s the way it goes in politics.”
As well as his Bradford Council responsibilities, Cllr Salam sits on the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee, the West Yorkshire Joint Services Committee, the West Yorkshire Pension Fund Joint Advisory Group, and the YPO Management Committee.
Since the LBC Radio interview, Sir Keir has consistently argued he was “not saying that Israel had the right to cut off water, food, fuel, or medicines.”
Instead, he claims he’d intended to say that Israel has the right to defend itself and retried the around 200 hostages being held by Hamas – “within international law.”
In a statement, Sir Keir said: “I know that that LBC clip has been widely shared and caused real concern and distress in some Muslim communities. So, let me be clear about what I was saying and what I wasn’t saying.
“I was saying, Israel had the right to self-defence, and when I said that right, it was that right to self-defence.
“I wasn’t saying that Israel had the right to cut off water, food, fuel or medicines. On the contrary.
“For over a week now, I have been leading to charge calling for that humanitarian aid to come in. We all know there are innocent civilians in Gaza in a humanitarian crisis, a million children.
“That aid, urgently needs to get in.”
He added: “It’s clear that the amount of aid and essential utilities getting into Gaza is completely insufficient to meet the humanitarian emergency on the ground.
“That’s why we’ve repeatedly said that aid, fuel, water, electricity and medicines must be urgently ramped up both through what can come in through the Rafah crossing and through Israel turning back on the supplies it controls.”
Asian Standard tried to contact Bradford Council and Bradford District Labour Party but no one was available to comment on Cllr Salam’s resignation.
