“The eyes of the world must not be allowed to turn away from the ongoing horror that Israel inflicts on Gaza, and the wider labour movement must redouble all efforts to hold the government accountable and call for an end to the genocide.”
The new report into UK arms exports highlights the urgency for trade union mobilisation, writes Fraser McGuire in our Red Weekly Column.
In September 2024, it was announced that the UK government would ‘partially’ suspend export licenses of military technology to Israel however new evidence suggests that significant arms and military goods – including parts for F-35 fighter jets – have continued to be exported.
Exposing UK Arms Exports to Israel, a report published earlier this month by the Palestinian Youth Movement, Workers for a Free Palestine, and Progressive International, presents evidence that significant amounts of military goods have been sent by the UK since the partial suspensions.
Returns from the Israeli Tax Authority lay bare the scale of complicity by successive governments. In 2023 alone, the UK approved over £35 million in arms and military equipment export licenses to Israel, covering components for fighter jets, drones, and targeting systems.
In the past ten months, the UK has provided more than 8,600 separate munitions to Israel. These include grenades, bombs, mines, missiles, and torpedoes, the tools of destruction used to target dense population areas and level civilian infrastructure. The report also shows that there has been no observable decrease in the shipment of aircraft parts to Israel since the partial suspension, and the data suggests that F-35 fighter jet parts have continued to be exported as recently as March 2025.
The evidence included in the report, as notes by its authors, suggests that Foreign Minister David Lammy misled both parliament and the public about the UK’s arms export licenses to Israel, when he stated that much of the licenses were “defensive” rather than “arms”. More than 20 MPs have responded by writing to Lammy, calling on him to come before parliament to respond to the allegations, as well as for an investigation into the role of UK arms in Israel’s genocide on Gaza.
These are not licenses for theoretical instruments of war. They are the weapons and combat systems that have been used to enact a genocide on the people of Gaza. Israel’s huge military industrial complex, and the active participation of civilian ‘settlers’ in ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, means there is no way for the UK government to guarantee that exports will not be used in the oppression and murder of Palestinians. As the report shows, the change in government in July 2024 has not led to a tangible reduction in UK complicity in Israel’s assault on Gaza and cleansing of Palestinians.
The impacts of Israel’s block on humanitarian aid and supplies are intensifying. The most recent reports show that every single person in Gaza is facing prolonged food shortages, with nearly half a million people in immediate danger of starvation, illness, or death. The World Health Organisation has described the situation as “of the world’s worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time”. The eyes of the world must not be allowed to turn away from the ongoing horror that Israel inflicts on Gaza, and the wider labour movement must redouble all efforts to hold the government accountable and call for an end to the genocide.
The report has also added to growing pressure on David Lammy, who it indicates may have misled both Parliament and the public on the issue. Saturday’s massive demonstration for Palestine saw numerous hand-made placards exposing his role in arming Israel, including calling for him to go.
Young trade unionists have been at the forefront of calling for more action as the genocide approaches its 20th month. Motions calling for an immediate ceasefire, sanctions and a suspension of arms sales have been broadly passed by young members’ structures. Younger trade unionists have also called for the expulsion of Israeli trade union federation ‘Histradut’ from the International Trade Union Confederation, after leaders from the federation signed bombs intended for use in the Gaza strip.
Last year, many trade unions adopted or reaffirmed policies recognising the genocide perpetrated by Israel. With several key trade union conferences and congresses taking place this summer, it is vital that momentum is kept up with calls for a total suspension of UK arms export licenses to Israel.
Solidarity forever – free Palestine!
- The Red Weekly Column will appear each Monday on Labour Outlook from one of our regular socialist contributors.
- Fraser McGuire is the Chair of East Midlands Unite Hospitality, Young Labour’s East Midlands representative and an organiser for Arise: A Festival Of Left Ideas. You can follow him on Twitter/X and Instagram.
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