MPs with vested interests
Around 180 of Britain’s 650 MPs in the last parliament accepted funding from pro-Israel lobby groups, individuals or Israeli state institutions during their political career. The list published by Declassified UK reveals 130 Conservative MPs, 41 Labour, three Liberal Democrats, three DUP, two Independents and one Reform MP have received a total of over £1million in donations.
Between them, there were 240 paid-for trips to Israel, at a cost of half a million pounds. Remarkably, 15 MPs accepted funding to travel to Israel during the Gaza genocide.
Trevor Chinn, a multi-millionare businessman and long-time pro-Israel lobbyist made donations totalling £200,000 to eight members of Keir Starmer’s front bench when they were in opposition, including Angela Rayner, Rachel Reeves (now Chancellor), David Lammy (now Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Justice) and Wes Streeting (now Secretary of State for Health).
Chinn also gave £50,000 to Starmer’s Labour leadership campaign, a donation only disclosed after Starmer had won.
Stop flying arms to Israel
MPs fear the government is about to step up its support for the genocide in Gaza by resuming the full supply of weapons it cut back 16 months ago.
As a small concession to the public wave of horror at the UK’s arming of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), in September 2024 the government suspended 29 of 350 arms licenses for the supply of weapons. It said these were the most directly deployable in the slaughter.
But they did not include components for the deadly F-35 stealth’ Lightning warplane, widely used for bombing and missile fire in Gaza. The UK has not only supplied parts but also arranged the delivery of the planes. In January three new F-35s flew to Israel from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk.
Trade Secretary Peter Kyle has now said he would review the suspension to facilitate trade talks with Israel because they were inextricably linked’.
In response, 58 MPs have written to tell him they were extremely concerned’. Labour MP Steve Witherden said: ‘If the government were to weaken its commitment to international law in order to secure a trade deal, that would be frankly shameful’
