Labour must ‘stick up for its values’ despite Gaza threats, says cabinet minister

One of the most senior figures in Keir Starmer’s cabinet has said Labour must “stick up for its values” in the aftermath of the intimidation dished out to some of the party’s candidates by pro-Palestine activists.

Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign coordinator during the election, also admitted it had become “quite hard for us to get a hearing.. in some parts of the community” for efforts to push towards a resolution in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Speaking on BBC podcast Political Thinking With Nick Robinson, McFadden noted that “one  of the first calls” new Prime Minister Starmer had made last weekend was to Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

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“We will keep going,” added McFadden, who has just been appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the new cabinet, and has previous ministerial experience under former prime minister Sir Tony Blair.

Reflecting on the concerns about the conduct of some of the pro-Palestine candidates during the election, along with their activists, McFadden insisted :”The campaign in some seats was pretty aggressive.

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“Jonathan (Ashworth) was subject to some pretty aggressive intimidation on the street, other candidates were too.

“You have to stick up for your values, I want to stand up for campaigning in the right way.”

Speaking on BBC podcast Political Thinking With Nick Robinson, McFadden said Labour was concerned about a loss of trust in the party amongst some voters, because of its policy around Gaza.

But McFadden,added:”You want free debate, but I don’t want to see candidates hounded,  surrounded by people filming everything, trying to goad them into a reaction on the street. It happened to Jonathan Ashworth, it happened to other people too. It’s not acceptable.”

Rushanara Ali, the first British Bangladeshi elected to parliament and MP Bethnal Green and Stepney revealed she needing police protection during her re-election campaign

A letter sent to Ali’s office, and seen by the BBC, promised the Labour MP would be “smashed and killed” within days.

New Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood also said harassment, including masked men disrupting a community meeting and “terrifying” attendees, was “an assault on democracy itself”.

Mahmood revealed that she had received physical threats, which were reported to the police, as she held her seat in Birmingham.

McFadden, said the debate around Israel and the Palestinians had become “so hot” it had become “difficult to communicate on it.”

He noted of the first calls Starmer made was to Benjamin Netanyahu, “expressing enormous sympathy for what happened on October 7th.”

McFadden added, the new PM had also called for a ceasefire, more aid, and had asked the Israeli PM “to work towards a solution that ended up with a Palestinian state.”

The MP for Wolverhampton South East also Labour won back working-class supports partly because leading figures were from “ordinary” backgrounds – and also because of its “centre-left” policy platform.

McFadden said voters in the Midlands had “deserted” Labour when it moved to the left under leaders like Jeremy Corbyn.

On Friday it was confirmed that Baroness Ruth Anderson had made a Government Whip in the Lords.