Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar calls for UK arms sales to Israel to be stopped as international law 'clearly' broken

He says it the “correct” move for the UK Government to take, saying previous governments have stopped sales when there have been questions over humanitarian law.

Speaking to the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) conference in Dundee, Mr Sarwar said: “We have seen basic humanitarian supplies not being allowed in, thousands of innocent lives lost, and the destruction of hospitals and schools.

“I am clear - the UK should not sell arms to Israel if there are breaches of international humanitarian law.

“To me, it is clear the actions of the Israeli forces do not comply with international humanitarian law and therefore the sales of arms to Israel should stop.”

Mr Sarwar, who has consistently called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, branded Israel as breaking international law only weeks after the war broke out in October.

Over the weekend Scottish Labour’s Shadow Scotland Minister Michael Shanks said arms sales should be halted, but only if Israel is found to have broken international law.

Last week Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron said the UK would not halt arms sales to Israel by British companies after reviewing legal advice.

Britain supplied around £24 million worth of arms to Israel in 2022, but there have been mounting calls for this to be stopped as it could make the UK complicit in genocide in Gaza.

Mr Sarwar says the UK Government under former Labour prime minister Tony Blair had taken similar steps, meaning it would not be unprecedented if the current UK Government also decided to do this.

Speaking to journalists after his speech, Mr Sarwar said: “If you look back in history, it was actually a previous Tony Blair government that paused and suspended arms sales to Israel in a previous situation.

“That demonstrates the UK has done this in the past when they felt there was a question mark over international humanitarian law and the sales of arms.

“I think that position is the correct one.

“If there are clear breaches of humanitarian law, then we should be suspending the sales of arms.”

This comes after Iran launched around 300 drones and missiles towards Israel over the weekend, launched from several countries including Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

This is the first time Tehran has launched a direct military assault on Israel despite enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed on Sunday that British RAF Typhoon fighter jets had been deployed and had successfully shot down Iranian missiles.

Mr Sunak was questioned on the UK’s response to the weekend’s attacks in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon, where he said there is “no equivalence” between Israel’s actions in Gaza and Iran’s attack on Israel.

Mhairi Black MP, the SNP’s deputy Westminster leader, said Iran’s actions were “a cynical attempt to exploit the suffering, the pain and the turmoil being experienced by those people in Palestine”.

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She said: “Whilst we rightly condemn the violent acts of Iran, so too must we condemn the violent acts of Israel.

“Listening to the interviews that he’s been giving, the foreign secretary is correct in his attempt to uphold the principle of proportionality, but if 100 missiles in retaliation to an isolated attack on an embassy correctly constitutes as disproportionate, then so too must Israel’s 192 days of bombardment of Gaza.”

She added: “The biggest continuing cause of conflict is the siege of Gaza, hence the need for a ceasefire, so can the Prime Minister outline what he is doing to ensure the UN Security Council mandated ceasefire becomes a reality?”

In response Mr Sunak said: “It’s important not to try and draw any equivalence between Israel’s absolute right, and indeed duty, to provide security for its citizens in the face of an appalling terrorist atrocity and indeed what happened over the weekend, those things are just not remotely the same.”