READING’S two MPs abstained from a vote in Parliament calling for a ceasefire in the escalating Israel-Palestine conflict.
Israeli Defence Forces and Islamic fighters have been engaged in deadly exchanges recently following an attack by Hamas last month.
Some MPs have been pushing for the UK government to call for a ceasefire.
A motion by the Scottish National Party (SNP), which would have bound the government to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, was introduced in Parliament on Wednesday, November 15.
Sir Alok Sharma the Conservative MP for Reading West and Matt Rodda, the Labour MP for Reading East abstained from the vote.
Neither MPs have issued public statements on their social media channels explaining their vote.
Ultimately, 293 MPs voted against the motion, with 125 voting for it, meaning it was defeated with a 168-vote majority.
Fellow Berkshire politicians Theresa May, the Conservative MP for Maidenhead, Sir John Redwood, the Conservative MP for Wokingham, James Sunderland, the Conservative MP for Bracknell and Adam Afriyie all voting against the ceasefire motion.
Sir John’s constituency covers parts of Earley, all of Lower Earley and Shinfield.
Meanwhile, Tanmanjeet Dhesi, the Labour MP for Slough joined Mr Rodda and Sir Alok in abstaining.
In doing so, Mr Rodda and Mr Dhesi obeyed a request from Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer to abstain from the vote.
The motion was introduced as an amendment to the King’s Speech, which was the first of Charles III’s reign.
There were mass protests outside of the Houses of Parliament before and during the vote, with calls for an immediate ceasefire.
It’s unclear what impact the motion for the ceasefire would have had given the facts on the ground in Israel and the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank.
The conflict began when Hamas fighters launched Operation Al-Asqa Flood on Saturday, October 7, which led to approximately 1,200 people in Israel being killed and more than 200 hostages being taken.
Hamas is recognised as a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom.
