A LABOUR MP has been found to have broken parliamentary rules with a “solidarity” trip to Israel.
Backbencher Peter Prinsley joined a trip in May organised and funded Labour Friends of Israel (LFI).
The standards commissioner has published a 13-page report on the breach, finding that the Bury St Edmunds MP broke transparency rules.
Prinsley apologised for the late declaration, which he blamed on an “administrative error” by one of his staff members.
His trip was revealed after an investigation by the investigative outlet Declassified UK, which found that Prinsley (below), alongside other Labour MPs, had failed to declare the trip, which occurred in the middle of Israel’s genocidal onslaught against Palestinians.
Two of the MPs who took part – Jon Pearce and Mark Sewards – have registered the trip and put its value at £2600.
Prinsley, Kevin McKenna and Cat Eccles had all failed to do so at the time of Declassified’s investigation.
The standard commissioner said: “Mr Prinsley accepted my decision and acknowledged and apologised for the breach of the code.”
Prinsley has escaped any sanction for the breach other than having his entry in the register of interests annotated to show that they were “the subject of an inquiry”.
During the trip, the group of MPs, joined by Labour peer Luciana Berger posed for photographs with Israeli president Isaac Herzog, whose genocidal comments have been cited in an International Court of Justice report.
Speaking about the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, Herzog (below) previously said: “ It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible. This rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved, it’s absolutely not true.”
LFI, which paid for the trip, keeps its funding secret and was described as a “lobbying organisation” by a former director.
The group regularly takes MPs, peers and journalists on trips, which its chair has said are designed to “show solidarity”.
A separate investigation by the standards commissioner into Labour MP Cat Eccles – who also appears to have failed to declare her attendance on the trip within the official timeframe – is still active.
A third MP, Kevin McKenna, was also named by Declassified’s original report for failing to declare the trip. But the standards commissioner has yet to announce any inquiry against him.
Standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg has previously voiced support for Israeli military action in Gaza and referred to anyone who refused compulsory military service as “a coward and a parasite”.
