EXTRAORDINARY and disgraceful scenes in the House of Commons have grabbed the public’s attention. But there is a danger of the more fundamental issues becoming blurred.

The key issue is ending the assault on the Palestinian people. In addition, the democratic majority of this country, who want peace, are being prevented from having their views represented at all and having their voices stifled.

Of course, the scenes in Parliament were disgraceful. It was a stitch-up and an abuse of democracy. The SNP motion included the call for an immediate ceasefire and was critical of Israel’s use of collective punishment in its attacks. 

I and many others were intent on voting for it because it was unambiguous in its call for a ceasefire. But we never got the opportunity.

This is because the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, bowed to pressure from the Labour leadership to call their much inferior amendment. The effect of that decision, which was unprecedented, was to stymie the SNP motion altogether. 

This is widely understood to have been a blocking manoeuvre to prevent the SNP motion and spare Keir Starmer the possibility of further divisions opening in the Labour Party.

It was a complete abuse of democracy, and all those who perpetrated it can never be taken seriously again in espousing their democratic credentials.

But there is a far wider issue than simply arcane-sounding parliamentary procedures, which is in danger of getting lost in the furore — the issue of a ceasefire in Gaza itself. Because a ceasefire is desperately needed.

Perhaps up to two-thirds of the population of Gaza have been herded into Rafah by being bombed and starved out of their homes. They now face an immediate risk of a mass slaughter, if a ground invasion goes ahead. Even if it does not go ahead, their alternative fate is slow death by disease or outright starvation under the Israeli blockade.

While Netanyahu threatens annihilation in the near future, currently the people of Gaza are being slowly starved to death. 

This siege has been allowed by the Western powers that continue to express their fake concern for the plight of the Palestinian people.

We know it is fake because these same powers continue to offer political cover for the Israeli assault and to support the offensive logistically, including a continuous supply of weaponry.

The principal international backer for Israel is of course the US. The US wrings its hands about the bloodshed but vetoes any attempt to call for a full ceasefire in the UN security council and is responsible for continuously supplying the Israeli war machine. 

According to the US Council on Foreign Relations, 80 per cent of Israel’s arms imports come from the US. There is an annual £2.34 billion subsidy to Israel and weapons have poured in since October 7.

The British government seems to operate as if there are no other considerations in foreign policy than what the US wants. It reaches ridiculous lengths when any change of nuance from the US administration is immediately parroted by the British government. This is dignified by calling it aligning with our international partners. 

Unfortunately, this approach is now a bipartisan one, completely adopted by the Labour front bench too.

But it is this determination to ignore all arguments and simply follow on the coat tails of Biden and Blinken which is a key source of the Labour leadership’s current difficulties.

Because Britain is not the US and Labour is not the US Democrats.

With ups and downs, there has almost always been a strong current of opinion in Labour which questions or opposes wars and which does not react with knee-jerk jingoism when Britain sends its troops into another US misadventure.

Anyone who knows much about the Labour Party, or who listens to ordinary members of it, would know this. But the current Labour leadership does not fall into either category.

Crucially, public opinion in this country is very different to the US and is much more in favour of peace and much less committed to supporting Israel at all costs.

To be sure, and in part thanks to brave peace activists, especially among the US Jewish communities, public opinion in the US is shifting. But a poll for Gallup in January of this year showed more than one in three US voters think the US provides too much support for Israel. The remainder were split between those who think the US does not provide enough support and those who think it is getting it right.

This is in sharp contrast with public opinion in Britain.

In a recent YouGov poll published in The Times, support for Palestine is very large and growing compared to a mid-November poll. Less than a quarter of voters polled believe that the Israeli assault is justified, while almost half believe it is unjustified. 

But a whopping two-thirds of voters believe the violence must immediately stop and there should be a ceasefire. The same proportion go so far as to say there should be peace talks between Israel and Hamas.

This is not a Muslim minority, as it is often portrayed. It includes many Muslims, Jews, Christians and non-believers alike. It is the majority. Just 11 per cent believe there should be no peace talks, a tiny minority.

Yet this view, of backing Israel to the bitter end, is the outlook which dominates official politics in this country. Worse, as the shameful scenes in the Commons show, the majority view is being blocked even from being aired.

Demonstrators for peace are vilified and face increasingly heavy-handed policing. Previously lawful protest is criminalised and anti-terrorism legislation is once more abused to stifle political protest and anti-establishment views.

Still, the party of peace remains the vast majority. And we are growing.

It is inevitable under those circumstances that the majority view will find new ways to make its voice heard. That is part of the turmoil at a local level which has agitated so many of my parliamentary colleagues.

Of course, none of them should be physically threatened. But if I was supporting a brutal assault on civilians leading to mass deaths then I would expect to face public criticism. I have faced criticism, and worse, for far less.

It is important to remember that the party of peace is the vast majority in this country. We must continue to do everything we can to make our voices heard and not allow ourselves to be marginalised.

Diana Abbott is an independent MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.