In the light of recent events in Libya and elsewhere, the latest report from the House of Commons Committee on Arms Export Controls (CAEC) rightly questions UK policy to date in exporting arms to Middle Eastern and North African countries where there is a clear risk they could be used for internal repression. The report also has some stinging comments about UK policy on arms sales to Israel. Over …
A new report from the Britain Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group (BPAPPG) has highlighted the widespread detention of Palestinian children, by the Israeli state.
The UK government today announced that it is upgrading the Palestinian Delegation to London to the level of a Mission. You can read the FCO statement online here.
I am pleased that the government has upgraded the Palestinian Delegation and increased their diplomatic recognition in the UK.
More than 1,600 internal documents recording the details of Middle East peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine have been published by Al Jazeera and the Guardian. Today’s news reports in Al Jazeera and the Guardian have sent shock waves around the world. Some Palestinian leaders have already challenged some of the claims that have been made and, like most other people, I am in no …
Yesterday I returned from a five day delegation to Israel and Palestine with my colleagues Ian Lavery, Grahame Morris and Sandra Osborne. This delegation included a visit to a military court where we were able to observe the detention of Palestinian children and see first-hand some of their hearings taking place and the treatment they had to undergo – for instance, being required to wear leg …
At the beginning of September President Obama staked much political capital and personal energy on reopening direct peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, after a two year hiatus. The latest rounds of negotiations were greeted with near universal scepticism, sadly the efforts look doomed to count for nought. For the government of Benjamin Netanyahu it appears that talk is cheap when …
I was Labour Member of Parliament for Birmingham Northfield between 1992 and 2019 and a former Shadow Transport Minister. I now chair Healthwatch in Birmingham and Solihull, and the West Midlands Board of Remembering Srebrenica. I also work as a public affairs consultant. I am an effective community advocate and stakeholder alliance builder with a passion for human rights. I am a trustee of the Balfour Project charity and of Citizens Advice Birmingham, and a former Chair of Medical Aid for Palestinians.