JEREMY Corbyn has passed a major hurdle on the path to beginning a Chilcot-style inquiry into the UK’s complicity in the Gaza genocide.
The former Labour leader on Tuesday got permission to bring in a bill to set up a public inquiry along similar lines to the official probe into the Iraq War.
Corbyn proposed that the bill be read for a second time on Friday, July 4.
He told the Commons: “The public deserves to know the full extent of the UK’s complicity in these atrocities.”
His Independent Group, formed with the pro-Palestine independents who gained seats at the last election, had hoped to force a vote on the matter but his motion went unopposed in the Commons.
The bill is unlikely to ever become law but, if passed, it would set up a public inquiry into the UK Government’s “military, economic or political co-operation with Israel” since its onslaught on Gaza began in October 2023.
Corbyn said it would look at arms sales as well as military assistance which has been run out of the RAF base in Akrotiri, Cyprus.
Drawing a parallel with the fight to secure an investigation into the Iraq War, the independent MP for Islington North said that the Government had failed to prevent the “inevitable” and said that “history is now repeating itself”.
Corbyn said: “For the past 18 months human beings have endured a level of horror and inhumanity that should haunt us all forever.”
The MP said that we are “witnessing a genocide” as he spoke in favour of his bill as he told the Commons that the death toll currently exceeded 61,000.
He added: “Britain has played a highly influential role in Israel’s military operations.”
This came in the form of arms sales to Israel, which Corbyn said had continued under the Labour government, and military assistance including flights to the country from Britain’s airbase in Cyprus.
His comments came after a fraught Commons grilling for Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer, who repeatedly insisted that Britain sold no arms directly to Israel.
Falconer argued that the only UK parts going to Israel were through the F-35 global spares pool and that preventing this would collapse the entire scheme.
F-35 bombers have been instrumental in Israel’s devastation of the Gaza Strip.
In response to a suggestion from Labour MP Rachel Maskell that Britain could pull out of this scheme and instead sell directly to the countries it wished to arm, while excluding Israel, Falconer said: “Unilateral withdrawal from the F-35 programme would have the effect of fully suspending the programme at a time it is required for global peace and security.”
But independent MP Zarah Sultana criticised the UK Government’s previous suggestions that endangering this programme would threaten the supply of bomber planes to Ukraine, pointing out that Britain does not sell F-35 planes to Kyiv.
Falconer said: “The importance of the F-35 programme to Ukraine is that the deployment of F-35s allows a redeployment of F-15s which are used in Ukraine.”
Protesters set up outside Parliament ahead of Corbyn bringing forward his bill and displayed a banner over the side of Westminster Bridge which told MPs: "You will be on trial".
Keir Starmer was asked about claims made in court by UK Government lawyers that there was no genocide in Gaza at Prime Minister's Questions.
The Prime Minister refused to be drawn on the matter after a grilling from the SNP's Brendan O'Hara.
