Gaza ceasefire vote: SNP are not 'victims' and MPs should put the people who are really suffering first – Alistair Carmichael

The Commons should hold another debate on a ceasefire in Gaza that is free from party politics

“We’ve been the victims of a stitch up.” Stephen Flynn, SNP leader in the Commons, was not shy about his anger after the passing of a parliamentary motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. After months of conflict and loss of life in the Middle East, I fear his use of the term “victim” may not have been the most sensitive.

In the days since, there has been talk of a renewed debate on Gaza, with opportunities for parties to put forward their positions equally. I am sympathetic to the idea but fear it would all-too easily fall into the same mire. That is the danger of any debate led by party leaders who have a motivation to play up our divisions. Instead I believe now could be the moment for MPs to come together and draft a motion free from party lines, with the goal not of intentional division but consensus. It is our best chance at a shared movement which commands popular support – and can drive action from our government.

Anyone watching the course of the last few months will know that leaders in the SNP and the Tories have been trying to squeeze their common enemies on the issue of Gaza. To pretend that this was all about high moral principles without a hint of partisan interest is simply not correct – witness the fact that when my own party colleagues reached out to the SNP to build a consensus position on a ceasefire, we got nowhere.

Children wait to receive a meal in Rafah, Gaza Strip, amid severe shortages of food and other essentials (Picture: Fatima Shbair/Associated Press)

The SNP leadership plainly wishes to portray others as callous over the heartbreaking losses in Gaza, and to turn it into another case for independence. After the vote last week, SNP minister Jim Fairlie proclaimed on social media: “This is simply another example of why Westminster simply doesn’t work for Scotland. Be loud, be strong and demand independence now!!!!” An hour later, Fairlie tacked on a further note that “this was supposed to be a debate about a ceasefire”.

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Of course, Fairlie was correct in saying that Westminster is not working, but this is far from being limited to Scotland. You will hear the same frustrations with our government from people in Newcastle, Manchester, Cardiff and Cornwall. His latter point was on the money. The substance should be what matters. Looking for a dividing line is an easy reflex in politics, but it serves us poorly here – as poorly as it serves the people of Gaza.

These antics have dominated, distracted and poisoned a debate that was already toxic enough. I am sure that some of the fury of the SNP is genuinely held and yet I cannot help but feel that a better perspective is needed. We must be better than this as a parliament and a country. Bruised egos on the nationalist benches ought to be less important than the goal of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

That, after all, was supposed to be the point of the Commons’ debate. Not one party, whether SNP, Conservative or Labour, but the people of Gaza and Israel. Their suffering is enough of a challenge without adding the tribal differences of our own political bubble. Political egos and party games must come second to the real victims.

Alistair Carmichael is Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland