WITH a lame-duck President to be replaced in a couple of months by a wheeler-dealer with few principles and little in the way of human compassion, it’s time for Sir Keir Starmer to step up and do everything within his authority and within the power of the UK Government to end the obscene suffering in Gaza. A year ago Sir Keir failed to join the SNP in calling for an immediate ceasefire and tens of thousands of innocent women and children have been slaughtered since, with hundreds of thousands more on the verge of drawing their final breaths. If the Labour Party retains even a shred of Keir Hardie’s pacifist principles, all weapons-related UK sales to Israel must cease immediately and with the release of hostages on both sides he must lead demands for the UN to be allowed to freely (save for customary border checks), safely and rapidly deliver the volume of aid desperately-needed by those still living amongst Gaza’s bloody ruins.
More vacuous words will not end the catastrophic devastation and unimaginable suffering of millions of Palestinian citizens currently condemned to die, or, if they are lucky enough to escape the carnage, to be added to the statistics of refugees fleeing conflict and perhaps seeking to make the hazardous journey to a relatively safe haven in the UK. Stan Grodynski, Longniddry. • IT is shocking that Sir Keir Starmer has appointed Jonathan Powell, who led negotiations over surrendering control of the Chagos Islands, as the Government's National S.