A Labour councillor in Michael Shanks' constituency has slammed the MP for his decision to abstain in a Gaza ceasefire vote in the House of Commons.

Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP Shanks abstained in a vote demanding an end to fighting in Gaza in a King’s Speech amendment tabled by the SNP calling for an ‘immediate ceasefire’.

A total of 56 Labour MPs defied the party whip to back the amendment, with eight shadow ministers quitting the Labour frontbench in support of the immediate ceasefire call.

South Lanarkshire Councillor for Rutherglen Central and North ward, Martin Lennon, bashed Mr Shanks for not doing the same on X (formerly Twitter), and said: “Absolutely zero marks for my own MP, [Michael Shanks]. Michael gave it big licks about being his own man during his campaign. "

And he added: "I hope he finds an issue worth standing up for soon.”

Cllr Lennon was highly critical of the Labour selection process in which Mr Shanks was chosen as their candidate for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election, which he labelled a ‘farce’ and ‘undemocratic’ after claims the ‘top three most popular candidates locally were all blocked' from standing.

In an interview with Lanarkshire Live, he continued: “I am disappointed that Michael abstained in the vote but I am unsurprised that he did.

“Considering his circumstances, he will find it difficult to stand up to the leadership and ultimately that’s why I was unhappy at the selection process as a whole because it means you end up with MPs that feel like they can’t stand up to the party line.

“For political reasons, it would have been inconvenient for the Labour leadership if he was to stand up against them.

“Michael is someone who has come into politics with the best intentions and he highlighted that in his speech by saying he would be the voice of the voiceless, and I believe he believes that.

“However, the reality is you are under a lot of pressure as an elected representative from a lot of different sources and the nature of the job is deciding what type of pressure you are going to respond to and stand up to.

“I believe that he believes he is going to be his own man, but his actions are going to speak louder than his words.

“The vote of confidence that Labour got in the Rutherglen by-election will undoubtedly be the start of Labour gains in Scotland. That is beyond contention.

“I am, however, concerned. That vote of confidence is not something that the party should take for granted. It’s about how you use your office for how long you’ve got it.

“We should be making sure that the people voting for Labour know what they are voting for and that elected Labour members are articulating and representing the values of those who sent them into the office in the first place.”

SNP MSP for Rutherglen Clare Haughey also criticised Mr Shanks on the matter, and added: “During his election campaign, the new Labour MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, Michael Shanks, made a promise to our constituents that he would be his own man and not another yes man to his London bosses.

“By refusing to vote for a ceasefire, Michael Shanks has broken that promise to the people of this constituency and he should be ashamed. He has let down our constituents and, more importantly, he has let down the innocent people of Gaza.”

Mr Shanks did vote in favour of Sir Keir Starmer’s call for ‘humanitarian pauses’ in the conflict to deliver aid.

A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: “Michael Shanks voted to end the violence in Israel and Palestine at Westminster this week.

“The Labour movement is united in opposition to war crimes and steadfastly supports calls for the immediate delivery of humanitarian assistance for the people of Gaza.

“Labour will continue to call on the international community to redouble its political and diplomatic efforts to bring this conflict to an end and create a long-lasting peace for Israel and Palestine.”

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