DAVID Lammy has been urged to explain why the UK Government's trade envoy to Israel is visiting the country to "promote trade" just one week after Labour suspended talks on a new free trade deal.
On Monday, Lord Ian Austin – the UK Government's trade envoy to Israel – was pictured in Haifa in northern Israel, where he said the Government would continue to encourage "British businesses to export to Israel and Israeli businesses to invest in the UK".
It comes despite the UK Government suspending negotiations with the Israeli government on a new free trade deal last week, as Lammy described Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government as "extremists".
The National understands that Austin is set to be in Israel until Friday to "maintain" the UK Government's relationship with Israeli businesses.
The visit was condemned by Independent MP and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, former first minister Humza Yousaf, and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians.
Meanwhile, the British Palestinian Committee, an independent organisation of British Palestinians advocating for Palestinian rights, has now written to the Foreign Secretary arguing that the visit "appears to directly contradict" the UK Government's previous condemnation of Israel.
Dr Sara Husseini, director of the British Palestinian Committee, said that the "limited steps" against Israel by the UK Government "are already being undermined".
Penning the letter to Lammy on Tuesday, Husseini said the UK Government was "isolat[ing] itself on the international stage" in its continued support of Israel.
The full letter to the Foreign Secretary said: "One week ago, you announced the suspension of free trade agreement negotiations with Israel in light of its ongoing military assault on Gaza.
"Yesterday morning, the UK Trade Envoy to Israel, Lord Ian Austin, publicly stated on X that he was in Israel to 'promote trade with the UK' meeting with Israeli businesses and officials. The British Embassy in Tel Aviv further amplified this message by publishing a photo of Lord Austin at the Haifa Port.
"This visit appears to directly contradict your Government's recent announcement and suggests that business continues as usual, despite almost 600 days of Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza.
"Women, men and children remain trapped under rubble or in the streets, unreachable by emergency crews. During this past weekend, harrowing footage has circulated of children burned alive during an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people, and a surgeon at work receiving the charred bodies of her nine children.
"Israel continues to pursue its openly stated policy of forced displacement, now centred in Rafah, while systematically blocking supplies to force the starvation of the entire population of Gaza. The extent of this mass ethnic cleansing is on a scale not experienced by the Palestinian people since their original expulsion from their homes during the Nakba of 1947-48.
"Last week's measures announced by your government are wholly inadequate in the face of this horrific reality. That even the limited measures announced last week are already being undermined is deeply troubling and entirely unacceptable."
Husseini went on: "Rather than fulfilling its legal and moral duties to ensure the protection of an occupied people – Britain continues to provide diplomatic, economic, and military support to the occupying power.
"As other states, international bodies, and civil society institutions take steps to halt Israeli atrocities, the UK Government continues to participate in these crimes and further isolate itself on the international stage."
The British Palestinian Committee called on Lammy to:
- Immediately clarify the nature and mandate of Austin's visit to Israel and "take appropriate steps to ensure that the government is not reneging on its own policy".
- Drop the 2030 roadmap for UK-Israel bilateral relations, and "impose comprehensive economic and diplomatic sanctions in order to apply pressure on Israel to abide by its international obligations".
- Cease "all forms of military cooperation with Israel and impose a full two-way arms embargo, in line with the UK's obligations under international law, including the duty to prevent, punish, and ensure non-complicity in genocide".
The UK Government has previously insisted that the visit was unrelated to the recently suspended new free trade deal and that Austin was not involved in trade negotiations.
The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment.
