Lammy to make statement on UK funding to UNRWA in parliament ‘within days’
Foreign Secretary tells Radio 4's Today programme he will be 'transparent' as possible on legal advice around sales of arms to Israel
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
David Lammy has said he will confirm whether UK funding to the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA has been restored “within days” to parliament.
The foreign secretary said his recent trip to Israel offered him the opportunity to further access the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Appearing on Radio 4’s Today programme the Lammy also appeared to stop short of confirming he would agree to publish any legal advice on arms sales to Israel, saying only he would be “as transparent” as he could be.
Asked whether the UK would follow the lead of most Western states and restore funding to UNRWA, which was suspended after evidence of employees at the organisation being linked to Hamas emerged after the October 7th terror attack, Lammy said:”That is a decision that I hope to make in the coming days and the appropriate place to make it is in Parliament.”
He added:”It was important for me to be in Israel and to be in the Occupied Territories to speak to aid agencies, to speak to UNRWA and the UN to pledge a further 5.5 million pounds of spending for medical field sites across Gaza and to hear the latest indeed on the humanitarian situation. ”
Pressed on claims of a worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, the foreign secretary added:”Those were the stories I heard and frankly, it was a description of hell on earth, it’s unacceptable. With only 70 trucks going in to Gaza throughout the month of June according to the United Nations.
“That’s why it was important for theUK to get medical kits in and to support the doctors and the nurses that are there. It’s an intolerable situation.”
The UK is the only country apart from the US not to restore funding, which was withdrawn after Israel said up to a dozen Unrwa staff had been involved in the 7 October massacre. An internal UN investigation has still not resolved all the cases.
Lammy was then pressed on whether he would publish any legal advice on UK arms sales to Israel, now Labour were in government. He said he was not able to look back on legal advice given to the previous government on the matter.
He then said:”I came into office and on day one initiated a process where I will look at those assessments on international humanitarian law made by our government lawyers, our Attorney General, Treasury counsel and others.
“It is a process that has begun. I’m not able to look back on advice made available to previous government ministers. So that process has begun. It’s a quasi legal process. It is very somber and very serious.”
Asked if he would publish advice given to him, Lammy said:”I will make that assessment and I will come forward to Parliament at the appropriate time and judgment.
“I want the judgment that I make to be as transparent as it can be. ” Asked if this meant he would publish he advice, Lammy said:” Having not received the legal advice and the assessment. I don’t want to reach that conclusion today. ”
Asked about a previous tweet in which he described Donald Trump as a “neo-Nazi”, Lammy said:””You are going to struggle to find any politician who didn’t have things to say about Donald Trump back in the day.”
He said he could find “common ground” with Trump and his vice presidential nominee, JD Vance, and would act differently today as foreign secretary than he would have in the past as a backbencher.
Lammy said the special relationship with the US was seen at its best recently when the UK joined the States in firing drones to protect Israel from a barrage of missiles fired by Iran.
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