Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer responds to resignations of councillors over Gaza crisis ahead of local elections

Sir Keir, who has visited Burnley several times in recent years, said his party’s ‘Local Growth Plan’ would help to make ordinary people in the town better off.

Speaking on the phone to the Burnley Express from Dudley, where he was revealing details of Labour’s plans to offer new powers to councils in England, Sir Keir also spoke about the ongoing crisis in Gaza, and his reaction to a number of resignations of Burnley Labour councillors in connection to the conflict.

Pressed on the resignations of those 10 Labour councillors on Burnley Borough Council over his apparent handling of the Gaza crisis, Sir Keir said he understood Burnley residents’ concerns over the ongoing conflict and that a two-state reality was the only viable long-term solution to the decades long conflict.

“I’m deeply concerned about the situation on the ground in Gaza,” he said. “Far too many innocent people have been killed and we need an urgent ceasefire which would allow humanitarian aid to get in and for hostages to be released.

“Ultimately a two-state solution and a reconstruction of Palestine is the only way out of this tragedy for both sides long-term. We in Labour want a secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state.”

Labour has promised that, if it wins the next general election, it would give extra powers in areas like housing, transport and planning to those areas that have acquired responsibilities in recent years under “devolution deals”, a process Lancashire County Council and local neighbouring authorities are currently exploring.

“I’ve been to Burnley a number of times now and residents have told me how difficult things are at the moment,” Sir Keir said.

“Our local growth plan will make people better off, by giving more powers to local leaders which is absolutely essential for taking on regional inequality.”

This would make Labour’s version of the Tories’ ‘Levelling Up’ more effective, Sir Keir said, and added that further devolution was essential in this aim.

Local elections are taking place on May 2nd.