David Lammy on a visit to Israel
A groundbreaking new report reveals for the first time the extraordinary scale of UK arms exports to Israel using new data from the Israel Tax Authority, and concludes that “it appears that Foreign Secretary David Lammy has misled Parliament and the public about arms shipments to Israel”.
Former Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP and Zarah Sultana MP are calling on Keir Starmer to launch an investigation into evidence in the report that Ministers have misled Parliament and the public, saying that, if the Ministerial Code has been breached by David Lammy or any other Minister, this is a “resigning matter”.
The joint report by the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Progressive International and Workers for a Free Palestine reveals a total of over 160,000 military goods exported from the UK to Israel since the war on Gaza began in October 2023. This new evidence of thousands of shipments of military goods, munitions of war, arms, and aircraft parts comes as Israel’s Cabinet approves Netanyahu’s plans to annex Gaza, which threatens to ethnically cleanse the land, with Minister Smotrich vowing “Gaza will be entirely destroyed”.
David Lammy has stated in the House of Commons that “much of what we send [to Israel] is defensive in nature” such as “helmet[s] or goggles”, and “not what we describe routinely as arms”. However, the report shows the UK has sent thousands of goods to Israel which are defined as arms and ammunition, going far beyond helmets and goggles, finding that Lammy’s suggestions to the contrary in the House are “untrue and misleading”.
Most of the shipments occurred after the UK government’s suspension of around 30 arms export licences to Israel in September 2024, with the UK sending 8,630 separate munitions since the suspensions took effect, all in the category ‘Bombs, Grenades, Torpedoes, Mines, Missiles And Similar Munitions Of War And Parts Thereof – Other’.
The report finds that the pattern of UK-Israel courier shipments of aircraft parts is unchanged despite the official ban on direct export of components of F-35 jets – the world’s most advanced fighter jets – announced by Keir Starmer and David Lammy in September 2024.
Despite David Lammy, Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds MP and other Ministers repeatedly reiterating in the House of Commons that the Government has ended this direct supply of F-35 parts, the evidence indicates that they have continued to send direct shipments of components for lethal F-35 jets to Israel after September 2024 — and that these shipments are ongoing.
The report finds that on the basis of this evidence, it appears David Lammy and other Ministers have misled Parliament and the public in their statements in the House.
When announcing the official ban, the Government stated that the direct supply of F-35 parts would present a ‘clear risk’ of contributing to Israel’s violations of international law. The report states that, by the Government’s own admission, this continued direct supply puts Britain at ‘clear risk’ of enabling Israel’s violations of international law and therefore breaching the UK’s obligations under international law.
This comes ahead of legal action against the Government in the High Court on Monday 12 May, which will challenge the legality of its arms exports to Israel. The findings of this report are directly relevant to next week’s High Court proceedings. Following the report’s publication, activists will target the Foreign Office at 18:00 on Friday 9 May in a protest calling on David Lammy to resign and demanding that the UK end all arms exports to Israel.
Commenting on the revelations in the report, former Labour Shadow Chancellor and elected Labour MP John McDonnell said:
“The Government has a lot of explaining to do and fast in response to this groundbreaking report, particularly following the allegation that David Lammy and other Ministers have misled Parliament and the public. If Parliament has been misled by the Foreign Secretary or any minister it is a resigning matter and more importantly it attracts potentially a charge of complicity in war crimes. The Government has shrouded its arms supplies to Israel in secrecy. They must finally come clean in response to this extremely concerning evidence and halt all British arms exports to Israel to ensure no British made weapons are used in Netanyahu’s new and terrifying plans to annex the Gaza Strip and ethnically cleanse the land.”
Zarah Sultana, elected Labour MP for Coventry South, said:
“This explosive report shows the Government has been lying to us about the arms it is supplying to Israel while it wages genocide in Gaza. Far from “helmets and goggles”, the Government has been sending thousands of arms and ammunition goods and even still supplying components of the world’s most lethal fighter jets. By the Government’s own admission, continued direct supply of F-35 parts to Israel would put Britain at ‘clear risk’ of contributing to Israel’s violations of international law and therefore breaching our own legal obligations.
“This report alleges that David Lammy has misled Parliament and the public, which would be a clear breach of the Ministerial Code. Keir Starmer must immediately launch a full investigation into these alleged breaches of the Ministerial Code and if David Lammy or any other Minister has breached the code, they must resign. Moreover, an independent inquiry is required into this damning new evidence that the Government has breached the UK’s obligations under international law, making the British Government, and potentially individual Ministers, complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
“This new evidence reinforces the significant likelihood that British-made weapons are being used to kill Palestinians as we speak, and that they will be used to enact Netanyahu’s plans to annex Gaza and ethnically cleanse Palestinians, which would make the British Government, and individual Ministers, complicit in these war crimes of historic magnitude. Keir Starmer must act immediately to impose an arms embargo and ensure the UK does not enable Netanyahu’s unspeakably evil and illegal plans.”
Jeremy Corbyn, former Leader of the Labour Party and independent MP said:
“The government is yet to respond to our call for a full, public inquiry into the UK’s role in Israel’s military assault in Gaza. This shocking report could explain why. When will the UK government come clean about the reality of military cooperation with Israel? The public deserves to know the full scale of the UK’s complicity in crimes against humanity – and we are not going anywhere until we have established the truth.”
Legal expert Pete Weatherby KC, Garden Court Chambers, said:
“The information contained in the report suggests that a staggering 160,000 military items have been sent from the UK to Israel from October 2023 to March 2025. The UK must urgently lift the cloak of secrecy around exports to Israel and end its complicity with Israeli violations of international law. Urgent questions need to be answered about the apparent contradictions between its public position and the information set out in this report, which suggests that the UK is continuing to directly supply Israel with parts for advanced F-35 jets which have caused such devastation to Gaza. This would be a clear violation of the UK’s obligations under international law.
“The advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legality of the Israeli occupation in July 2024 and its repeated orders in South Africa v Israel have made the UK’s legal obligations crystal clear. It must not render any aid or assistance to Israel which relates to its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories, and must indeed go further by taking all reasonable steps to prevent Israel’s ongoing genocide and to fulfil its obligation to ensure that Israel ceases its ongoing breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
“Continued exports to Israel are likely to raise both individual criminal liability and state liability for the UK under the Genocide Convention. It is past time for the UK to fulfil its obligations under international law: it should impose a full arms embargo on Israel, halt all exports and transfers, including of dual-use and so-called ‘non-offensive’ items that could be used against the Palestinian population under occupation.”
A spokesperson for the Palestinian Youth Movement said: “These findings prove what we long suspected: the British Government has been lying to Parliament and the public in an attempt to cover up its complicity in the genocide of our people. But while the Government enables the flow of weapons for war and ethnic cleansing, poll after poll shows the British people stand with Gaza and are demanding a ban on arms to Israel. Our movement will continue to build pressure and use this new evidence to escalate our tactics, working with workers, trade unionists, students, and community groups across the country to enact a people’s arms embargo and end Britain’s collaboration in the genocide.”
A spokesperson for Workers for a Free Palestine added: “These shipments must be stopped. Over the past few weeks, we have seen workers in France and Morocco take action to halt the transfer of F-35 parts to Israel on Maersk ships. Their brave actions serve as a reminder of the power we have as workers to intervene in the supply chain of genocide. The ongoing British complicity outlined in these findings comes with an urgent duty to take action and enforce an arms embargo on Israel from below.”
Full Report by Progressive International, Palestinian Youth Movement & Workers for a Free Palestine
Source: Labour Outlook