MARGARET BECKETT’S handling of the crisis in Lebanon produced a tangible setback yesterday, as more than 30 Labour Party activists from her constituency defected to the Liberal Democrats.

The Derby South members, who are mostly Muslim and of Pakistani origin, were angry that the Foreign Secretary failed to back a ceasefire when violence erupted in the Middle East. The defectors include a ward chairman and a former city councillor.

Mrs Beckett was accused by members of her local party of helping the US to obstruct international efforts to reach a peace deal between Israel and Hezbollah.

At the early stages of the Lebanon crisis some Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials suggested that Mrs Beckett had been “invisible”. She later played a key role in securing the UN resolution in New York.

Mohammad Rawail Peeno, a former chairman of the Labour Party branch, said: “We could not remain in the Labour Party after its mishandling of the Lebanon crisis. When Margaret Beckett refused to back a ceasefire and instead sided with George Bush, it was the breaking point.”

Shayad Mahmood, another defector, said: “We need to stop aligning ourselves to America. We are not backing Hezbollah, but we are against the killing of innocent women and children. They are dropping bombs in highly populated areas.”

Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat leader, welcomed the move. He said: “These defections in the Foreign Secretary’s own seat are significant. The Government’s position on the Middle East and Iraq shows just how out of touch it is with many in its party and the majority of the public.”

A Labour Party spokesman said: “We understand that there are local factors arising from a selection process last year which have led to this defection. It is important that the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister continue to work hard to achieve a sustainable ceasefire in Lebanon — something we are sure all Labour Party members would unite around.”

There is nervousness across the Labour Party about the political consequences of the Prime Minister’s handling of the Middle East crisis.

This month Kitty Ussher, the moderate Labour MP for Burnley, made a stinging attack on Mr Blair.

She wrote in the New Statesman that “(the) only conclusion any right-minded person can draw is that the Prime Minister thought it was OK for Muslims to keep dying”.

She said that the Muslim community in Burnley was asking why its blood seemed cheaper than that of Jews and Christians, and that much of the work done since Iraq to persuade Muslims that they were not being persecuted had been wasted.

The Foreign Office said last night that Mrs Beckett was still on holiday.

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