Foreign Secretary David Lammy has been accused of misleading MPs over accusations the UK continues to supply Israel with military equipment.
Lammy, who is now being urged by 40 MPs to address the allegations in the House of Commons, claimed last September that 30 licences for equipment that could be used offensively in Gaza had been suspended.
Lammy told MPs at the time that much of what the UK sends to Israel was “defensive in nature”.
However, around 200 arms export licences remained in place, which were assessed as not being for use in military operations in Gaza.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy
Foreign Secretary David Lammy
These included military items such as components for trainer aircraft or components for air defence systems.
A report published by the Palestinian Youth Movement, Progressive International and Workers for a Free Palestine raises fresh questions about the remaining licences.
More than 8,500 items listed under the category “bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and similar munitions of war and parts thereof – other” were exported from the UK following the suspension, the report claimed.
The letter, signed by 43 MPs, is demanding Lammy appears before the House of Commons to respond to the report's allegations.
The letter sent by more than 40 MPs to the Foreign Secretary
ZARAH SULTANA/X
A number of high-profile Labour MPs signed the letter, alongside Commons colleagues from the Liberal Democrats, Green Party, Scottish National Party, and independents.
The letter said: “We respectfully request that you come before the House to respond to the very serious allegations in this report, including the allegation that Parliament and the public have been misled about arms exports to Israel.”
It also calls for full transparency regarding UK arms exports to Israel since October 2023 and demands a total halt to such exports.
Ex-Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: "He is accused of misleading MPs in statements he has made to the House and MPs across parties will not stop demanding that he comes before the House to respond and prove that he has not misled us in any of his statements."
Plumes of smoke above GazaGETTYZarah Sultana, who was suspended by the Labour Party after rebelling over the two-child benefit cap, is spearheading efforts to confront the Foreign Secretary.
She said: “This damning report alleges that many of these continued arms exports are in breach of the official ban that David Lammy and Keir Starmer announced which, by the Government's own admission, would mean that the UK is contributing to and enabling Israel’s violations of international law and war crimes.
“David Lammy must come before the House and come clean about the arms he has been supplying to Israel.
"If he has not misled Parliament and the public, then why won’t he answer these allegations?”
Foreign Secretary David LammyPA“This Government has suspended relevant licences for the IDF that might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza,” an Foreign Office spokesman said.
“Of the remaining licences for Israel, the vast majority are not for the Israeli Defence Forces but are for civilian purposes or re-export.
"The only exemption is the F-35 programme due to its strategic role in Nato and wider implications for international peace and security.
"Any suggestion that the UK is licensing other weapons for use by Israel in the war in Gaza is misleading.”
