Feedback from the Genocide debate

Dear Friend,

Thank you to the thousands of you that wrote to your MPs last week urging them to speak in the debate “Obligation to Assess the Risk of Genocide Under International Law in Relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territories”, tabled by Brendan O’Hara MP.

The response from the Government was as usual, to deflect, obfuscate, and say as little as possible in response to the interventions from MPs.

Speaking for the Government, Hamish Falconer, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the FCOD, said “these questions have been tested by our own courts—most recently by the Court of Appeal in November and before that in September, when it considered the process of assessment explicitly.”

This is a misrepresentation of the judgments from both the High Court and the Court of Appeal. Both Courts explicitly found that the Genocide Convention and the UK’s international legal obligations were not within the jurisdiction of either Court.

This week in leaked messages it came out that the Health Secretary Wes Streeting privately said in July 2025 that Israel was “committing war crimes before our eyes” and endorsed sanctions on the state, in text messages to disgraced former British ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson.

This proves what we have always known. Ministers are happy to deny Israel’s crimes – war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide – to both the public and to Parliament, while privately agreeing that Israel’s actions against Palestinians are criminal.

We will not give up. UK arms exports continue to be used in criminal acts including genocide. We must hold out Government accountable.

In solidarity,

Katie

Advocacy Manager, Campaign Against Arms Trade