UK to suspend some arms sales to Israel, foreign secretary announces
The UK will suspend some arms sales to Israel, Foreign Secretary David Lammy has announced.
Mr Lammy said the decision follows a review of export licences for UK arms, which found there was a “clear risk” that they might be used to commit “a serious violation of international humanitarian law”.
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Around 30 of 350 licences will be suspended, Mr Lammy said, stressing that “this is not a blanket ban, this is not an arms embargo”.
But the Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the decision “sends a very problematic message” to Hamas and Iran.
Mr Lammy said the government had a legal duty to review Britain’s export licences amid the war in Gaza.
Explaining his decision, he told the Commons: “It is with regret that I inform the House today the assessment I have received leaves me unable to conclude anything other than that for certain UK arms exports to Israel, there does exist a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”
The suspension will include components which go into military aircraft being used in Gaza, including helicopters and drones, as well as items which facilitate ground targeting.
However, it will not include parts for multinational F-35 fighter jets – something that has concerned opposition MPs and human rights charities.
The government said doing so would have a “significant effect on the global F35 fleet with serious implications for international peace and security”.
The UK does not directly supply Israel with weapons, but does grant export licences for British companies to sell arms to the country.
Earlier in the year, under the previous Tory government, civil servants overseeing arms exports to Israel requested to “cease work immediately” over fears they could be complicit in war crimes.
David Lammy
‘Not a determination of innocence or guilt’
Mr Lammy told the Commons that after raising his own concerns while in opposition, he immediately launched a review upon taking office and “committed to sharing the review’s conclusions”.
He said the outcome does not mean that Israel has broken humanitarian law, as the UK government “have not and could not” arbitrate on that.
“This is a forward looking evaluation, not a determination of innocence or guilt, and it does not prejudge any future determinations by the competent courts,” he said.
Gaza has been largely destroyed. Pic: Reuters
He added that the decision will be kept under review and “the UK continues to support Israel’s right to self-defence in accordance with international law”.
‘Vital questions unanswered’
The announcement drew a mixed reaction from across the House – with some saying the ban should go further and others saying there should not be one at all.
Green MP Ellie Chowns said the suspension is a “welcome and significant step, but leaves vital questions unanswered” – primarily, why so many licences are being exempt.
She said there is “no justification at all” for continuing to license F-35 fighter jets.
“There is an ongoing and clear risk and we urge the foreign secretary to look again and suspend these licences,” she said.
The Lib Dems said they would scrutinise the export licences which the government has not suspended and that they are “concerned that the decision is made solely on risk of use in Gaza and not the West Bank”.
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Protesters are calling for the immediate return of the hostages that remain in Gaza.
‘Decision we will regret’
But on the other end of the political spectrum, the DUP’s Sammy Wilson said the only people overjoyed by this decision “will be the Hamas terrorists”.
“This is a bad decision. It’s a decision which we will come to live to regret, and it’s one which unfortunately I believe has been a result of … pressure which Labour MPs have found in their seats, as a result of pro-Gaza protests,” he added.
The war was triggered when Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
At least 40,691 Palestinians have been killed and 94,060 injured in Israel’s subsequent military offensive in Gaza, the enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
US President Joe Biden said today that a final hostage deal between Israel and Hamas is “very close” – but that Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure an agreement.
It adds to intense pressure on the Israeli PM, who faced a general strike today over failure to secure a hostage deal and mass protests over the weekend after the killing of six of those held captive in Gaza.
Politics
Keir Starmer says closer EU ties will be good for UK jobs, bills and borders ahead of key talks
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
Moody’s credit rating agency downgraded the credit rating of the United States government from Aaa to Aa1, citing the rising national debt as the primary driver behind the reduction in creditworthiness.
According to the May 16 announcement from the rating agency, US lawmakers have failed to stem annual deficits or reduce spending over the years, leading to a growing national debt. The rating agency wrote:
“We do not believe that material multi-year reductions in mandatory spending and deficits will result from the current fiscal proposals under consideration. Over the next decade, we expect larger deficits as entitlement spending rises while government revenue remains broadly flat.”
The credit downgrade is only one degree out of the 21-notch rating scale used by the company to assess the credit health of an entity.
Despite the negative short to medium-term credit outlook, Moody’s maintained a positive outlook on the long-term health of the United States, citing its robust economy and the status of the US dollar as the global reserve currency as strengths, reflecting “balanced” lending risks.
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Investors react to Moody’s US credit revision
Moody’s announcement drew mixed reactions from investors and market participants, leaving many unconvinced by the agency’s revised outlook.
Gabor Gurbacs, CEO and founder of crypto loyalty rewards company Pointsville, cited the rating agency’s previous credit assessments during times of financial stress as unreliable, signaling that the outlook was too optimistic.
“This is the same Moody’s that gave Aaa ratings to sub-prime mortgage-backed securities that led to the 2007-2008 financial crisis,” the executive wrote in a May 17 X post.
However, macroeconomic investor Jim Bianco argued that the recent Moody’s credit outlook does not reflect a real downgrade in the perception of US government creditworthiness and characterized the announcement as a “nothing burger.”
US government debt surpassed $36 trillion in January 2025 and shows no signs of slowing, despite recent efforts by Elon Musk and others to reduce federal spending and curtail the national debt.
As the debt climbs and investors lose faith in US government securities, bond yields will spike, causing the debt service payments to go up, further inflating the national debt.
This creates a vicious cycle as the government will have to entice investors with ever-greater yields to incentivize them to purchase government debt.
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Politics
Scotland’s former first minister Humza Yousaf hits out at Starmer’s ‘dog whistle’ stance on immigration
Former Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf has attacked Sir Keir Starmer for his “dog whistle” stance on immigration after the prime minister said the UK risked becoming an “island of strangers”.
In a piece penned by Mr Yousaf for LBC, the former leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) repeated claims the prime minister’s recent remarks on immigration were a “modern echo” of Enoch Powell’s infamous 1968 Rivers Of Blood speech.
The prime minister stirred controversy earlier this week when he argued Britain “risked becoming an island of strangers” if immigration levels were not cut.
After many MPs criticised his language, Sir Keir rejected the comparison to Powell, with his official spokesperson saying migrants have made a “massive contribution” to society but his point was that the Tories “lost control of the system”.
File pic: PA
In the LBC piece published on Saturday, Mr Yousaf said: “Powell’s 1968 speech warned of immigration as an existential threat to ‘our blood and our culture’, stoking racial panic that led directly to decades of hostile migration policies.
“Starmer’s invocation of ‘strangers’ is a modern echo – a dog-whistle to voters who blame migrants for every social ill, from stretched public services to the cost-of-living crisis.
“It betrays a failure to understand, or deliberately mask the fact that Britain’s prosperity depends on migration, on openness not building walls.”
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Starmer’s speech divides opinion
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Sir Keir made the comments at a news conference in which measures were announced to curb net migration, including banning care homes from recruiting overseas, new English language requirements for visa holders and stricter rules on gaining British citizenship.
The package is aimed at reducing the number of people coming to the UK by up to 100,000 per year, though the government has not officially set a target.
The government is under pressure to tackle legal migration, as well as illegal immigration, amid Reform UK’s surge in the polls.
Mr Yousaf concluded his article saying the UK was “on the brink of possibly handing the keys of No 10 to Nigel Farage”.
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