UK Government must act now or be forever complicit in Gaza genocide
The Scottish Greens co-leader, Patrick Harvie has called on the Labour Government to take immediate and decisive action to end its complicity in what legal experts and international observers increasingly describe as a genocide in Gaza.
Mr Harvie responded to the powerful statement in a letter signed by more than 800 lawyers, including former Supreme Court justices, which condemns the UK’s failure to uphold international humanitarian law and urges Prime Minister Keir Starmer to impose sanctions on Israeli ministers and consider suspending Israel from the United Nations.
The letter from legal experts outlines growing evidence of grave breaches of international law, asserting that the UK’s continued inaction places it in clear violation of its own legal obligations under the Genocide Convention and other international frameworks.
Mr Havie, said:
"When atrocities are being inflicted on this scale, it doesn’t just warrant condemnation - it demands real, urgent action. Keir Starmer’s recent lukewarm comments about the Netanyahu regime, which even Labour and Tory backbenchers have criticised as inadequate, amount to little more than empty words.
“Sadly there is a gulf between rhetoric and reality. The Prime Minister claimed to have suspended trade talks with Israel, yet just days later the UK Trade Envoy, Lord Ian Austin, was in Israel as a guest of its government. Even as the UK, France, and Canada issued a joint statement expressing concern, the RAF was deploying surveillance aircraft to assist the Israeli military. This is complicity.
“The people of Palestine need urgent help, they need strong action from the international community in the face of this genocide. We have consistently called on the UK Government to impose targeted sanctions on the Israeli political and military leaders responsible for these war crimes. They must immediately end all arms exports and military cooperation with Israel, demand an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, recognise the State of Palestine, and advocate for Israel’s suspension from international bodies, including the United Nations, until compliance with international law is resrestored.
“In Scotland we must act as well. It is not good enough for the Scottish Government to call for an immediate ceasefire and continue to line the pockets of war profiteers. The SNP Government’s business unit, Scottish Enterprise, has poured public money into companies that are arming Israel and profiting from the destruction.
“The UK cannot continue to provide political cover, arms, and intelligence to a regime that stands accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. History will remember those who stayed silent and those who took a stand. The time for action is now.”