LABOUR was lurching towards meltdown today over Sir Keir Starmer’s backing for Israeli war crimes, with councillors quitting the party and council leaders telling the leadership that a U-turn is urgently needed.

At a crisis meeting on Monday night, the council leaders warned Sir Keir’s factotum Sue Gray and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy that the Labour leader must walk back his support for Israel’s blockade of food, fuel and water supplies to Gaza, according to an ITV report.

The party has “only days to act” before a tsunami of council resignations begins, with up to a dozen on the brink of quitting in one local authority alone.