188: Sharon Hodgson MP and Joani Reid MP: There IS decency on Labour's backbenches. Let's meet two women of valour

Sign up to Jonny's substack. The Labour government has a super majority in Britain’s House of Commons, the sixth biggest of all time, similar to Tony Blair’s in 1997 - but that makes it prone to backbench rebellion. Even within its first year of government. As we’ve seen. And as Sir Keir Starmer failed to win support to get his original welfare bill over the line, with big U turns on an inquiry into grooming gangs and winter fuel payments to the elderly, there’s also that queasy feeling when it comes to his government and Israel. When Bob Vylan’s murderous chanting live on stage at Glastonbury was transmitted on the BBC, Wes Streeting’s shock reaction was that Israel’s embassy should get its house in order. And now the Prime Minister has declared that Britain will recognise a Palestinian State unless Israel ceases its war on terror in Gaza. That Starmer is trying to use recognition as a blackmail tool is not just monstrous - but from a parallel world to reality. Hamas are delighted, they describe it as the fruits of their October 7th pogrom, no less. So the PM's actions only serve to prolong the war, for generations, using Israel as a geopolitical football, just to head off a backbench rebellion and appease leading cabinet members who’d usurp him as leader if given the chance. How do you feel about Labour? Did you vote for them? Here are two Labour MPs who hold strong views which go against the prevailing winds. I met Sharon Hodgson and Joani Reid at The Actions Matter Summit held in Vienna in December 2024, working for ELNET UK, the European Leadership Network. Their European arm organised it in partnership with the Combat Antisemitism Movement. These interviews were recorded in the fraught weeks before British Israeli hostage Emily Damari was released from Gazan hell, a desperate crisis which really struck a deep chord with Sharon. And Joani is the ultimate conviction politician. Her consituency in East Kilbride has no Jewish community and she has no Jewish family. She's a former councillor in Lewisham, so why is she so vocal in support of Jewish people? Sign up to ⁠Jonny's substack⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices