• AS members of Holborn & St Pancras Constituency Labour Party we are deeply troubled by Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to whip Labour MPs into abstaining on the Overseas Operations Bill at its first reading in parliament last week.

We note that the bill would effectively decriminalise torture, make it harder for veterans to take legal action against the government, and obstruct the investigation of war crimes.

We consider the sacking of Nadia Whittome, Olivia Blake and Beth Winter from their respective shadow ministerial roles for voting against this bill to be inexcusable; we salute their courageous and principled stand.

Whatever reasons the Labour leadership may have had for abstaining, they are unclear to us. They also seem to be at odds with Sir Keir’s own distinguished record as a human rights lawyer, as well as his very recently pledged policy priorities.

During his campaign to become Labour leader, Sir Keir set out 10 pledges. The fourth pledge read: “No more illegal wars. Introduce a Prevention of Military Intervention Act and put human rights at the heart of foreign policy. Review all UK arms sales and make us a force for international peace and justice.”

We acknowledge the difficulty entailed in opposing a government with as formidable a majority as this one enjoys and regret that our party in parliament will lose many of the battles it fights.

Nonetheless on such fundamental questions as torture, protection of veterans, and the investigation of war crimes, we expect the leader of our party – and our MP – to stand up boldly for socialism, peace, and justice.

We applaud those Labour MPs who did so in voting against the Overseas Operations Bill. We hope that Sir Keir takes inspiration from their leadership and offers unwavering opposition to all future readings of this harmful Tory legislation.

JOHN WITHINGTON, DIANE PEARSON, PAUL RENNY, SHEZAN RENNY, GARETH MURPHY, RIVA JOFFE, LUKE PEARSON, UNA DOYLE, JULIAN HOUGH, LAUREN HOUGH, DR DEEPA GOVINDARAJAN DRIVER, LUCY MOY-THOMAS, NICHOLAS WEAVER, JENNIFER MURRAY, HEATHER BOWER, NICK WEAVER, HELENA AKSENTIJEVIC, ZULMA WICKENDEN, ANNA ROSE, ANDREW FEINSTEIN, STEPHEN KAPOS, MARY O’SULLIVAN, KUMIKO SHIMIZU, HARRIET EVANS, PAUL HOLDEN, FELICITY TAYLOR, HENRY BLAXLAND, RICHARD KUPER, AMANDA SEBESTYEN, ROBERT WEST, JOANNE O’BRIEN, PETE ROBBINS, ZIA TESHOME, TOM REED, SIAN WHITEHEAD, ELIZABETH DORE, PAUL O’BRIEN