LONDON: A former senior UK minister said attempts to raise within Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government the issue of Israeli atrocities against Gaza were like “hitting up against a brick wall.”
Wes Streeting, who quit his Cabinet post as health secretary last month, told The Guardian newspaper on Tuesday that when he and other colleagues pushed for tough action against Israel over the conflict, “our concerns and motives were dismissed.”
Starmer has faced widespread criticism within his party for failing to take a stronger stance on the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians since October 2023.
Divisions among senior Labour Party figures over the issue were further highlighted this week when private messages from Peter Mandelson were published on Monday as part of the release of documents relating to his appointment as the UK’s ambassador to Washington in December 2024.
They include a message he sent in July 2025 to senior Cabinet member Pat McFadden in which Mandelson bemoaned Streeting’s attempts to lobby the government over Gaza.
