Starmer hits out at claim Tories can’t win election ahead of difficult Gaza ceasefire vote

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Keir Starmer has hit out at claims the Conservatives cannot win the next election as Labour faces another difficult week over its stance on Gaza.

The Labour leader said it was “ridiculous” to suggest Rishi Sunak could not secure another term as prime minister.

His warning to his party, and its potential voters, came as the SNP offered Sir Keir a meeting over this week’s expected Commons vote on a ceasefire in the Middle East.

Sir Keir suffered a blow before Christmas when 10 of his frontbenchers quit or were sacked after a mass rebellion over a similar vote.

Labour has yet to say how it will instruct its MPs to vote this week, saying it needs to see the wording of the SNP motion.

Sir Keir told Scottish Labour’s conference in Glasgow that Labour wants “a ceasefire that lasts” in Gaza.

Earlier Labour members north of the border backed immediate calls for a ceasefire.

He told delegates: “We all want to see a return of all the hostages taken on 7 October, an end to the killing of innocent Palestinians, a huge scaling up of humanitarian relief and an end to the fighting. Not just for now, not just for a pause, but permanently. A ceasefire that lasts. That is what must happen now. The fighting must stop now.”

Earlier, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called on the SNP, which faces losing potentially dozens of seats to Labour at the election, to work with them on the ceasefire motion.

In his speech, Sir Keir warned some communities have found a new “political home” in the SNP and winning them back would be hard.

He added: “No matter what the SNP say, the Tories can win the next election. Of course they can, politics is volatile. It’s ridiculous to say otherwise.

“So I would also say this. Imagine – even if only for a second – what it will feel like if you wake up on the day after the election, and the Tories are back. Encouraged again, emboldened again, entitled again.”

Earlier, former Labour leader Lord Kinnock said he was “convinced now that we’re not going to lose”.

Asked on Sky News whether Sir Keir would be in No 10, he said: “Yes. And I look forward to that very much because I think he would be a mature, honest, dependable leader of a party. And by God, we need all that now.”

Last week Labour was forced to ditch its candidate in the upcoming Rochdale by-election after he claimed Israel had allowed the Hamas massacre that killed 1,200.