THE UK Government is facing fresh pressure to ban weapons exports to Israel after Keir Starmer’s own top legal adviser said the country is breaking international law.
It comes after the new Labour Prime Minister appointed leading KC Richard Hermer to be the Attorney General for England and Wales. Among other responsibilities, this makes him the UK Government’s “principal legal adviser [on] questions of international law”.
According to its export policy, the UK Government must block the supply of weapons to a nation if there is “a clear risk” that the items might be used to commit or facilitate “internal repression” or “a serious violation of international humanitarian law”.
Last year, Hermer was one of a group of top Jewish lawyers who, in an open letter to the FT, stressed that Israel had to follow international law in its response to the Hamas attacks of October 7.
“To be clear, collective punishment is prohibited by the laws of war,” the letter stated.
“Equally, international law requires combatants to ensure minimum destruction to civilian life and infrastructure. An intent to cause indiscriminate damage, rather than behaving in a precise manner to minimise damage would, if established, constitute a grave violation of international law.”
Speaking to LBC after signing the letter, Hermer said Israel’s siege of Gaza was “very, very difficult to reconcile with obligations of international law – and that is a deliberate understatement”.
Before taking office, Starmer’s Labour party repeatedly declined to say if they would block arms exports to Israel, saying they would need to see private UK Government legal advice before making a decision.
Now they are in power, Labour are facing renewed pressure to block arms exports to Israel.
SNP MSP Collette Stevenson said: “The new Attorney General is right and the best way to increase diplomatic pressure for peace is to end arms sales to Israel. Sir Keir Starmer must back ending arms sales to Israel – it’s time for consensus.
"The SNP has been clear and consistent – all international efforts need to be made to secure a ceasefire and an important part of that pressure is ending arms sales to Israel immediately.”
Greens in both Scotland and England also pushed Starmer to block weapons exports.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Greens said: “Every day that the UK Government allows weapons to be sold to Israel, and every day they provide military and political cover for them, is another day they’re complicit in genocide.
“The UK’s own arms export criteria says that weapons can’t be sold if there is a ‘clear risk’ they might be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law. The serious breach is ongoing and clear for all to see.
“Labour are fully aware of what’s happening in Palestine, the scale of death, the collective punishment of civilians, and the major humanitarian crisis it has created.
“It is vital that they act immediately to end UK arms sales to Israel and recognise Palestine’s right to self-determination.”
And Carla Denyer, the co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales and MP for Bristol Central, said: "Richard Hermer KC was right to say that the Israeli government’s actions are not in line with their ‘obligations of international law’. But I worry that this legalistic language obscures what we are actually talking about here.
“Palestinians living in Gaza are facing starvation with the UN saying there is ‘no doubt’ that they've been experiencing a famine for months. This has resulted in children dying of malnutrition.
“This famine though is not a result of crop failure or other natural disaster but through military blockades and restrictions of humanitarian aid. The UN has already said that the restrictions of aid may amount to the war crime of deliberate starvation.
“How the new Attorney General and our new Labour government now act in light of this appalling situation is a fundamental test of their moral integrity."
Approached for comment, a UK Government spokesperson said: “It is vital the government upholds both our domestic and international legal obligations when it comes to arms exports.
“We operate a robust and thorough assessment of all export licence applications against our Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, and will review the available advice before coming to a considered decision.”
Hermer was given a life peerage in order to take up the Attorney General position directly from the bar.
