“So if the front bench policy is completely out of sync with public opinion, & has isolated Britain abroad, who is it intended to impress? It’s a straightforward pledge of loyalty to the US that an incoming Labour government will remain in lockstep with Washington.”
Richard Price
By Richard Price
The emphasis of the anti-war movement has broadened in recent weeks, from demanding an immediate ceasefire to calling for an end – or a suspension – of arms sales to Israel. If Israel has needed constant re-supply of armaments, it is because it has unleashed the most sustained and concentrated bombing of an urban area in modern history.
And if there are comparisons to be made with the Allied bombing of Nazi Germany, they suggest that the bombing of Gaza – an area one-quarter the size of Greater London – has been more intense and more destructive. During the first three months of the conflict Israel dropped nearly 50,000 bombs – over 500 per day, over 20 per hour. These include hundreds of 2000lb bombs which have a “kill radius” of over 30 metres and can destroy nearby buildings and “rupture lungs, burst sinus cavities and tear off limbs”, according to the UN.
At just over £2,000 per capita, Israel’s military expenditure between 2018 and 2022 was the second highest in the world after Qatar. At 4.5% of GDP, its expenditure is the 10th highest proportion in the world.
Britain’s contribution to the carnage, though much smaller than the United States is significant, if remarkably opaque. According to Action On Armed Violence:
• There are 28 existing and 28 pending licences for military equipment from the UK that may be used by Israel in Gaza.
• The UK government declined AOAV’s request for information on arms export licences since October 7th, citing exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act.
• The UK government’s claims of “very minor” arms exports to Israel are contradicted by the nature of the exports, whereby the UK’s arms manufacturers have had a hand in 15% of every F35 that Israel has received since 2016, worth at least £368 million.
• Over £448 million worth of arms have been licenced by the UK government to Israel since 2015 in single licences.
• The actual size of the market is unclear, due to the use of open licences, including for F-35 components.
• Data for export licences since the 7th October will not be made public until July 2024. AOAV’s request for this data under FOI was refused.
Naturally, the spotlight has been on the attitude of the Labour leadership, as the government-in-waiting, towards arms exports to Israel. In the past fortnight, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan have raised their voices against, as have senior Tories Nicholas Soames, Hugo Swire and Alan Duncan, along with three Conservative MPs, the Lib Dems, the Green Party, the SNP and Plaid. This leaves Labour as the only significant force at Westminster that is operating a de facto bi-partisan policy with the Sunak government.
Both Tory and Labour figures regularly refer to Israel’s right of defence.
But if reducing Gaza to rubble constitutes “defence” we must be in Wonderland with Alice: “When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’
’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’
’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.”
Shadow Cabinet member Pat McFadden stumbled through a Dumptyesque performance on Sky’s Kay Burley Show on 2nd April, avoiding her question whether Labour is comfortable selling arms to Israel at present. McFadden sought to justify arms exports on the grounds that “we don’t have a boycott” and that it was OK “if we are selling arms to Allies who are abiding by international humanitarian law”.
“If” had very much been the operative word after International Court of Justice’s ruling on 26th January that it was plausible that Israel’s ongoing attacks on the Palestinian people in Gaza were in breach of the Genocide Convention, and the ICJ’s call for the UK Government to demand an immediate ceasefire and suspend all arms exports to Israel.
This was reinforced by a letter on 3rd April to the Prime Minister signed by more than 600 lawyers, academics and retired senior judges, including former Supreme Court Justices and the court’s former president, Lady Hale, that demanded a halt to arms exports to Israel.
Where Robin Cook hoped for an ethical foreign policy, Starmer, McFadden and co seem hell-bent on an unethical one. Indeed, it is hard to put a Rizla paper between the positions of the Sunak government, the Labour leadership and President Joe Biden. It’s not even as if Labour is bending to a large group in society urging support for Israel. A YouGov poll at the beginning of April found that 56% of UK voters are in favour of a ban on the export of arms and spare parts (compared to 17% in favour of such exports). By a majority of 59% to 12% the same respondents agreed that Israel is violating human rights in Gaza.
So if the Labour front bench’s policy is completely out of sync with public opinion, and has isolated Britain abroad more than at any time since Iraq, who is it intended to impress? It is a straightforward pledge of loyalty to the United States and an assurance that an incoming Labour government will remain in lockstep with Washington.
All of which makes it very important that we raise our voices in the constituency parties and affiliates
• by passing the CLPD model motion (copied below.)
• by lobbying our MPs to support Zara Sultana’s Early Day Motion.
- Richard Price is a member of the Leyton & Wanstead Constituency Labour Party (CLP) and Campaign for Labour Party Democracy activist.
Model motion – Suspend the provision of weapons and weapons systems to Israel
This CLP notes:
- On 3 April an open letter, signed by more than 600 lawyers, academics and retired senior judges, including former Supreme Court Justices and the court’s former President Lady Hale, was sent to the Prime Minister, reminding him of the UK government’s obligations under international law to ‘suspend the provision of weapons and weapons systems to the Government of Israel’;
- the death toll in Gaza has now risen above 33,000 Palestinians (the majority of whom are women and children), plus humanitarian aid workers from other countries (including Britain);
- the International Court of Justice, on 26 January 2024, found it plausible that Israel’s attacks on Gaza are in breach of the Genocide Convention;
This CLP believes the UK should suspend all exports of weapons and weapons systems to Israel.
This CLP calls on the Labour Party frontbench to demand the Tory government suspend all weapons and weapons systems exports to Israel.
Motion to be sent to Leader, Deputy Leader, Shadow Foreign Affairs, and NEC members.
Email addresses
keir.starmer.mp@parliament.uk
angela.rayner.mp@parliament.uk
david.lammy.mp@parliament.uk
Other NEC members here
