A new consensus has emerged in British politics: peaceful protesters are dangerous, hateful extremists, but apologists for the mass slaughter of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians are mainstream, respectable moderates. From his prime ministerial bully pulpit, Rishi Sunak declares there is a “growing consensus” that “mob rule is replacing democratic rule”. The world has been turned upside down, and you are entitled to ask why.

How this all unfolded is instructive. Last week, the Scottish National party used one of its three annual opposition days to table a motion demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Labour was in a bind: under pressure from voters who are opposed to Israel’s brutal war, a huge parliamentary rebellion beckoned, with shadow ministers prepared to resign.

But Keir Starmer would not accept the SNP motion. Why? Because it referred to Israel’s “collective punishment” of people in Gaza in response to the 7 October Hamas atrocities. That wording acknowledges the commission of a war crime – collective punishment – which would logically demand action from the British state, such as an arms embargo and sanctions on Israel. Such pressure is the only realistic means Israel’s allies have of shifting its behaviour at this stage, but Labour is clearly not prepared to go that far. It can offer only provisional condemnations, which Benjamin Netanyahu knows are designed for domestic public consumption and can be safely ignored.

Labour has 17 annual opposition days, meaning it does not lack opportunities to present its own position in the Commons. It........

© The Guardian