From the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC)
Labour Party officials are attempting to stifle debate on Palestine at the party conference and prevent calls for the Government to take meaningful steps to end complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The Conference Arrangements Committee (CAC) met yesterday and decided to rule out more than 30 motions submitted by constituency Labour Partys (CLPs) and affiliated organisations ahead of the party conference in Liverpool which begins on Sunday 28th September. Every motion on Palestine was ruled out of order by the CAC.
Contemporary motions at conference have to meet the criteria that the issue must not have been substantially addressed in the National Policy Framework (NPF) Annual Report 2025 which was published on 8th August. The overwhelming majority of Palestine motions were ruled out of order on the grounds that the motions do “not relate to a new issue not substantially covered in the NPF report”. This is despite the fact many focused on events that took place after the NPF Report was published. These include the announcement of the Israeli government’s plans to militarily occupy Gaza City on 8 August and the killing of five Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza City on 10 August.
The motions also make demands on the Labour Party that are not included in the NPF Report, such as an end to all arms trade and military cooperation with Israel, comprehensive sanctions, and a ban on trade that aides or assists Israel’s violations of international law.
The number of motions sent to conference demanding the party takes more action on Palestine has dramatically increased since last year, when just three motions were sent to conference. This ten-fold increase shows the growing level of anger at the grassroots at the leadership’s position. Recent polling has found that 72% of Labour’s 2024 voters want a full arms embargo on Israel.
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Article continues at https://labouroutlook.org/2025/09/20/starmer-stooges-seek-to-block-motions-on-gaza-genocide-at-labour-conference
