Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Tsunami waves reach Hawaii, calls for emergency measures to protect lives and property.
NHK: Japan records 1.3-meter tsunami.
Russian mayor of northern Kuril Islands says 'everyone' on tsunami-hit islands evacuated.
Israeli media: Take-offs and landings halted at Ben Gurion Airport.
Israeli media: Air raid sirens sound in the central region after a missile was identified from Yemen.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: 3 families were wiped out from the civil registry due to the occupation's massacre in Nuseirat
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: 14 women and 12 children were killed in the Israeli occupation's massacre in the new camp in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip
10-year-old Palestinian child Nour Abu Sala'a was killed by malnutrition due to the Israeli occupation's siege on the Gaza Strip
Trump says a ceasefire in Gaza is 'possible'
European Union commissioners will discuss a proposal to partially suspend Israeli participation in the EU's Horizon research program: Reuters

Labour Minister breaks ranks, blasts government over Gaza

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 19 May 2025 15:50
  • 1 Shares
4 Min Read

A cross-party coalition of UK lawmakers, including a Labour minister, is demanding the government release its genocide assessments on Gaza and justify continued arms exports to "Israel" amid mounting legal scrutiny.

Listen
  • x
  • Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Foreign secretary David Lammy leave after attending the annual Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey in London, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP)
    Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, and Foreign Secretary David Lammy leave after attending the annual Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey in London, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP)

A UK Government minister has defied the Labour Government by publicly denouncing its handling of the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza and condemning its continued arms exports to "Israel" as “abhorrent".

Labour peer and Transport Minister Peter Hendy joined over 60 cross-party MPs and peers, excluding Reform UK, in signing a letter organized by Amnesty International. The letter calls on the government to immediately publish all its assessments regarding the risk of genocide in Gaza.

Signatories include Stephen Flynn and all SNP MPs at Westminster, Labour’s Andy McDonald and Nadia Whittome, Conservatives Kit Malthouse and Sayeeda Warsi, Liberal Democrats Alistair Carmichael and Angus Macdonald, Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville-Roberts and Ben Lake, Greens Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, and independents such as Jeremy Corbyn.

While the UK Government claims it is conducting “ongoing assessments” of the situation in Gaza, the only disclosed evaluation, revealed in a London High Court hearing on UK arms exports to "Israel", concluded in September 2024 that there was “no serious risk of genocide occurring".

However, the joint letter argues that the situation has significantly deteriorated since that assessment, citing "Israel’s" renewed aggression on Gaza launched in March 2025 despite a ceasefire agreement. Lawmakers point to conclusions by UN experts and Amnesty International that genocide is already underway.

Calls grow to publish genocide assessments since March 2025

The letter demands that the UK Government publish:

  • All genocide risk assessments conducted since March 2025
  • The criteria, methodology, and evidence used in those assessments
  • The most recent date and outcome of such evaluations
  • A clear statement on whether the UK now believes there is a serious risk of genocide in Gaza

Related News

Almost 60 UK MPs call for full ban on arms exports to 'Israel'

60 Labour MPs Urge UK to Recognize Palestinian State

It states, “If these subsequent assessments have not led you to conclude that there is a serious risk of genocide in Gaza, triggering your obligation to prevent, we must ask how adequate your assessments are.”

The UK, as a party to the Genocide Convention, has a legal obligation to act when there is a serious risk of genocide. The signatories challenge the government to explain how it has not met this threshold based on current evidence.

The letter comes days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, declared that "Israel" would assume full control of Gaza. This marks an escalation in what many experts, including UN bodies, describe as an unfolding genocide.

UK government defends arms sales despite genocide allegations

The lawmakers also denounced the Labour Government’s recent legal defense of its continued export of F-35 fighter jet components to "Israel". In a court submission, the government claimed, “It is entirely unrealistic to suppose … any possibility of genocide would have been altered by any such curtailment on the use of F-35s.”

In response, the letter states: “It appears that the position of the UK Government is that it is legitimate to provide weapons to states committing genocide if the assessment is that the impact of doing so would be minor."

"That is an abhorrent position to hold. If that is not the government’s position, then you must urgently correct the record,” it added.

The UK Labour government authorized approximately $160 million in arms exports to "Israel" between October and December 2024, exceeding the total authorized under the Conservative Party during its entire 2020–2023 tenure. This data, obtained from newly released strategic export licensing records, highlighted an unprecedented acceleration in British military support to "Israel" as its aggression on Gaza continues and intensifies.

By contrast, the Conservative government licensed around $144 million in arms sales to "Israel" over four years, with annual totals of $39 million in 2020, $30 million in 2021, $52 million in 2022, and $23 million in 2023.

The findings, compiled by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), have drawn strong condemnation from rights advocates and civil society groups.

“This is the Labour government aiding and abetting Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” said Emily Apple, CAAT’s media coordinator. “It is sickening that instead of imposing a full two-way arms embargo, Keir Starmer’s government has massively increased the amount of military equipment the UK is sending to Israel.”

Read more: Gaza and the logic of necropolitics: Sovereignty measured by killing

  • Labour Party
  • Britain
  • Israeli aggression
  • Arms export
  • Gaza genocide
  • Israeli occupation
  • United Kingdom

Most Read

Given ample indications Epstein was collating sexual blackmail material on powerful figures for intelligence agencies, comments made by Mirage's cofounder to Ynet take on a chilling character. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Zionist spies innovate AI sexual blackmail tech

  • Analysis
  • 27 Jul 2025
The right wing love affair with Zionism has ended

The right wing love affair with Zionism has ended

  • Opinion
  • 23 Jul 2025
Houthi supporters display a giant Palestinian flag during a weekly anti-US and anti-'Israel' rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday March, 28, 2025 (AP)

Open borders so Yemenis march by hundreds of thousands: Al-Houthi

  • Politics
  • 24 Jul 2025
Lebanese Freedom Fighter Georges Abdallah, who was serving a life in Paris, speaks to supporters upon his arrival at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, July 25, 2025 (AP)

With resistance, road home is never lost: Georges Abdallah from Beirut

  • Politics
  • 25 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Lawmakers attend a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in occupied al-Quds, Monday, July 14, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Tensions erupt between Smotrich and army chief over Gaza strategy

The spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, giving a statement on Tuesday, July 29, 2025 (Yemeni Military Media)
Politics

Yemen targets Ben Gurion Airport in defense of Gaza

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar arrives for the EU-Southern Neighbourhood ministerial meeting at the EU Council building in Brussels, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
Politics

'Israel' summons Dutch ambassador over Amsterdam's ban on ministers

Palestinians collect aid that landed in the Mediterranean Sea after being airdropped over central Gaza, at the shore of Zawaida, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, July 29, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Israeli plans to annex Gaza illegal under international law: Norway

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS