Labour 'too slow' to act on Gaza, admits Emily Thornberry - as she calls for tighter restrictions on fighter jet parts sold to Israel
Dame Emily Thornberry told LBC’s Tonight with Andrew Marr that she welcomed the Foreign Secretary’s acknowledgement that the party had made mistakes in its relationship with Israel.
Dame Emily Thornberry has claimed Labour was wrong in its approach to Israel and Gaza, as she admitted the party should have spoken out more forcefully and 'acted sooner'.
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Speaking on Tonight with Andrew Marr, the MP welcomed the Foreign Secretary’s acknowledgement that the party had made mistakes in its relationship with Israel.
She also urged her party to go further and to halt the sale of aerospace parts used in F-45 fighter jets, which could be used offensively by Israel.
“I think it was important for Ed to acknowledge that the Labour Party had got it wrong in our relationship with Israel and the way in which we should have stood up on Gaza much more than we did,” she said.
Dame Emily said she had previously pushed for the government to change its approach to Israel and Gaza.
“I am really pleased that has been acknowledged, that it was a mistake,” she told Andrew.
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The MP for Islington South and Finsbury acknowledged that Labour often reached the right policy position, but only after delays that left the party behind public opinion.
“Because I just feel like we would often get there in the end, but it’d take too long,” she said.
“And by the time we got there, people were just like, ‘Bah, yes, of course — but you should have done that a year ago.’”
“That’s kind of how I felt, quite often. So I am pleased we have got ahead of it.”
Pressed by Andrew on whether the government’s position had gone far enough, Dame Emily said there were further steps she had told the Foreign Secretary she wanted to see taken.
Dame Emily called for Britain to stop selling Israel the parts for F-45 fighter jets, which could be used offensively in Gaza or the West Bank.
“At the moment, we’re not selling parts to Israel that could be used offensively in Gaza or on the West Bank, but we are still selling arms to Israel if they need them for defence”
She went on: “I think the F-45s have been used in bombing raids in Lebanon, in Syria and in Gaza, and I don’t think we should be selling parts for those planes.”
She clarified that this change of policy would not disrupt the supply chain to other countries that relied on the parts for the jets, adding: “All we have to do is stick a label on the box that says: ‘Not for use in Israel.’
“And then we wouldn’t then be disrupting the supply chain, apart from for Israel.”