Sir Keir Starmer’s first speech as prime minister to the Labour Party conference was marred by an apparent slip of the tongue as the UK leader appeared to call the hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza “sausages”.
Embattled Prime Minister Starmer’s attempt at reseting the narrative surrounding his faltering government got off to a shaky start in Liverpool on Tuesday.
While discussing the conflict in the Middle East, Starmer called for the immediate “return of the sausages” from Gaza, before quickly correcting himself to say “the hostages”.
The recently-elected prime minister has been attempting to straddle a fine line on the Israel issue, seeking to appear tough on Jerusalem to appease his far-left and Muslim supporters while not going so far as to distance London from Western allies such as the United States.
Earlier this month, Starmer’s top diplomat, Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced that the UK would be suspending dozens of arms export licences to Israel over supposed concerns about British weapons being used to violate human rights in the Gaza strip.
The Labour government has long-demanded an “immediate ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas terrorists and on Sunday Foreign Secretary Lammy extended this call for a ceasefire between Jerusalem and Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.
“Our message to all parties is clear: we need an immediate ceasefire from both sides so that we can get to a political settlement, so that Israelis and Lebanese civilians can return to their homes and live in peace and security,” Lammy said at the Labour conference in Liverpool.
Despite taking a relatively hardline towards Israel, Starmer’s government is still facing criticism from far-left activists.
During a speech by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in at the Labour Party conference, she was interrupted by a heckler from the Climate Resistance group, who shouted out: “We are still selling arms to Israel! I thought we voted for change, Rachel!”
Starmer’s speech on Tuesday was also interrupted by an apparent anti-Israel protester, who shouted about the “children of Gaza”.
“This guy’s obviously got a pass from the 2019 conference,” the prime minister quipped in a likely reference to the anti-semitism accusations that dogged the Labour Party under Starmer’s predecessor Jeremy Corbyn.
“While he’s been protesting, we’ve been changing the party. That’s why we’ve got a Labour government,” Starmer added as the heckler was dragged out of the room.