Labour urged to drop Israel trade envoy over 'UNRWA terrorists' slur

LABOUR have been urged to bin their trade envoy to Israel – after he referred to “UNRWA terrorists” and argued against imposing an arms embargo.

Former MP Ian Austin, who previously falsely accused Palestinian activists of being Holocaust deniers, has been tasked with boosting trade links with the Middle Eastern country since 2017. 

But campaigners have raised concerns about his position, said that his views put him at odds with Government positions on Israel.

A letter from Labour Friends of Palestine to Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds (below) argued that Austin’s positions do not “align with elements of the UK Government’s foreign policy and the values which underpin it”, Politico reports.

(Image: House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA Wire)

The group point to his opposition to the Government’s partial arms embargo against Israel, his view that Gaza is not occupied and a reference he made in a Lords debate to “UNRWA terrorists”.

Israel last year claimed that UNRWA, the United Nations’ agency for supporting Palestinians, had been infiltrated by Hamas and that 12 staff members had participated in the October 7 attacks, leading to a number of major nations, including the UK, imposing sanctions on the organisation.

An investigation led to UNRWA firing nine members of staff after an investigation of a group of 19.

While an MP, Austin was a fierce critic of Jeremy Corbyn (below) during his spell as Labour leader.

(Image: Lucy North/PA)

Austin was forced to apologise in 2012 after he falsely accused the Palestinian human rights group Friends of Al-Aqsa of being Holocaust deniers.

A column he wrote for The Daily Telegraph resulted in the paper being successfully sued for £40,000.

In the piece, Austin falsely described former Corbyn aide as an “anti-Jewish racist” and party to the “vile antisemitism of Corbyn’s Labour”.

Ahead of the 2019 General Election, Austin urged voters to back the Conservatives and was later ennobled by Boris Johnson.

Austin quit the Labour Party in 2019 and was appointed trade envoy to Israel by then-prime minister  Theresa May. He has been reappointed to the position ever since.