It’s certainly not been a quiet return to parliament. On Monday afternoon, Labour’s David Lammy announced that Britain would be suspending 30 of 350 arms export licenses to Israel – after concluding there was a ‘clear risk’ of a number of weapons being used to violate international humanitarian law. But while the Foreign Secretary has insisted that ‘this is not an arms embargo’, it seems not everyone is entirely convinced by the move…
One former prime minister has this morning taken to Twitter to blast Lammy’s decision. Boris Johnson popped up on social media to rage that: ‘Hamas is still holding many innocent Jewish hostages while Israel tries to prevent a repeat of the 7th October massacre. Why are Lammy and Starmer abandoning Israel? Do they want Hamas to win?’ Oo er.
Johnson’s online attack is just one example of the backlash Labour’s Foreign Secretary is facing. The White House has reportedly expressed frustration at the move, with one Washington source telling ITV: ‘They assured us they wouldn’t do this.’ And despite Lammy’s claim that he has been a ‘friend of Israel, a liberal, progressive Zionist’, Israel’s PM has today posted a rather furious thread in response to the license suspension by Labour’s lefty lot. Slamming the ‘shameful decision’, Benjamin Netanyahu hit out at the UK government, fuming: ‘Instead of standing with Israel, a fellow democracy defending itself against barbarism, Britain’s misguided decision will only embolden Hamas.’ Signing off, Netanyahu vowed that Israel would win its war against Hamas – ‘with or without British arms’. Strong stuff…
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