Israeli PM nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize in Washington meeting
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Western Telegraph
19 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
UK will take more measures against Israel if no Gaza ceasefire soon
Speaking at the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, the Foreign Secretary admitted the impact of Government measures taken against Israel after a joint statement from the UK, France and Germany, was 'not sufficient'. The statement, released in May by the Prime Minister, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian premier Mark Carney, condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 'egregious' actions in Gaza and called for a halt to its military offensive and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid. The Foreign Secretary was asked by committee member Labour MP Alex Ballinger: 'If we do not get the ceasefire we're all praying for in the coming weeks…' 'No, we have to get the ceasefire,' Mr Lammy interjected. 'But if that is not the case and we see the abomination that you've described and the intolerable continuation of the situation in Gaza, will the Government go further to take measures against Israel?' Mr Ballinger asked. 'Yes, yes we will,' the Foreign Secretary replied. Mr Lammy defended the UK Government's actions against Israel, citing the suspension of arms sales to the country and sanctions against Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. He also highlighted the UK's support for the Palestinian Authority and the signing of a memorandum of understanding with its prime minister Mohammad Mustafa. 'I am very, very comfortable that you would be hard pressed to find another G7 partner that's doing more than this country has done,' he added. Mr Lammy told the meeting Britain would oppose plans reportedly set out by by Israel's defence minister Israel Katz to move Palestinians in Gaza into a camp on the ruins of the city of Rafah. Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel (Leo Correa/AP) Labour MP Uma Kumaran said of the reported plan: 'They're calling it a so-called humanitarian transit area but there's no schools there, there's no medical provisions there, there are no other facilities, and there are plans for forced screening. 'Katz wants international partners to be involved in that. Will Britain oppose this and can you guarantee us in this committee that no British companies or NGOs will be involved in those plans?' Mr Lammy said: 'We've been very clear that we don't support the aid foundation that has been set up, it's not doing a good job, too many people are close to starvation, too many people have lost their lives.' He added that his understanding was that there had been better conversations between the UN agency system and Israel over the last few days, saying: 'So I'm surprised at the statements that I've seen from Mr Katz over the last 24 hours. 'And as I've indicated, they run contra to the proximity to a ceasefire that I thought we were heading towards, so I wonder if there's some politicking going on for those within the government that for some reason stand opposed to this.' Pressed on whether Britain would be opposing any such plans, he said: 'Yes.' At the meeting, Mr Lammy suggested Britain, France and Germany could snap back sanctions on Iran unless the country gets 'serious' about stepping back from its nuclear ambitions. The Foreign Secretary said: 'Iran faces even more pressure in the coming weeks because the E3 can snap back on our sanctions, and it's not just our sanctions, it's actually a UN mechanism that would impose dramatic sanctions on Iran across nearly every single front in its economy. 'So they have a choice to make. It's a choice for them to make. 'I'm very clear about the choice they should make, but I'm also clear that the UK has a decision to make that could lead to far greater pain for the Iranian regime unless they get serious about the international desire to see them step back from their nuclear ambitions at this time.'
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Lammy threatens more sanctions on Israel if ceasefire isn't reached within weeks
David Lammy has threatened more sanctions on Israel if a ceasefire in Gaza is not achieved in the coming weeks. Giving evidence to the Foreign Affairs select committee, the foreign secretary also refused to set a timeframe for when the UK would recognise Palestinian statehood, saying he could not 'tie myself to a calendar because it's convenient for a soundbite'. It comes just weeks after The Independent revealed that the Trades Union Congress (TUC), representing unions that finance Labour, issued a joint statement with its Canadian and French counterparts calling on the UK government to change its position. On Tuesday, the foreign secretary was asked by Labour MP Alex Ballinger at the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee: 'If we do not get the ceasefire we're all praying for in the coming weeks…' 'No, we have to get the ceasefire,' Mr Lammy interjected. 'But if that is not the case and we see the abomination that you've described and the intolerable continuation of the situation in Gaza, will the government go further to take measures against Israel?' Mr Ballinger asked. 'Yes we will,' the foreign secretary responded. It comes after the UK slapped sanctions on two Israeli ministers over 'egregious abuses' of human rights in Gaza, placing a travel ban and an asset freeze on Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. The action, which was taken alongside Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway, was criticised by Donald Trump's secretary of state Marco Rubio, who said the move did 'not advance US-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire' and called for the measures to be reversed. There is also growing pressure from a number of senior Labour figures – including Commons foreign affairs chair Dame Emily Thornbury – on the UK to follow the example of Ireland, Spain and Norway last year to officially recognise Palestine as a state. Pressed on when the UK government would recognise Palestinian statehood, Mr Lammy said: 'I'm not going to set it to a set timeframe, because I've explained that this is a moving, live situation. There are delicate ceasefire negotiations underway. I've explained the issues that sit within that, and whether we will get a… ceasefire. I'm hopeful that we will. 'And alongside French and Saudi colleagues, we are discussing recognition, but my indication and my instinct is I actually want things to change the situation on the ground. 'I don't think I and the committee disagree with that, but there will be a judgment call, and I'm not going to tie myself to a calendar because it's convenient for a soundbite. There's a judgment call that, quite properly, you would expect the government to think very hard about.' He said that 'despite the recognition movement, actually what we've seen is further annexation on the West Bank' and 'it has not led to get us getting closer to a process, it's led to further annexation'. The TUC's joint statement, seen by The Independent last month, made three demands, including recognising Palestine's statehood. They called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and for the government to ensure the Israeli government meets its obligations under international humanitarian law.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Palantir accuses UK doctors of choosing ‘ideology over patient interest' in NHS data row
Palantir, the US data company which works with Israel's defence ministry, has accused British doctors of choosing 'ideology over patient interest' after they attacked the firm's contract to process NHS data. Louis Mosley, Palantir's executive vice-president, hit back at the British Medical Association which recently said the £330m deal to create a single platform for NHS data - ranging from patient data to bed availability - 'threatens to undermine public trust in NHS data systems'. In a formal resolution the doctors said last month this was because it was unclear how the sensitive data would be processed by Palantir, which was founded by Trump donor Peter Thiel, the firm's 'track record of creating discriminatory policing software in the US' and its 'close links to a US government which shows little regard for international law.' But Mosley dismissed the attack when he gave evidence to MPs from the Commons science and technology committee on Tuesday. Palantir has also won contracts to handle mass data controlled by the Ministry of Defence, police, local authorities and Thiel, a libertarian,named the company after the 'seeing stones' in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Thiel has previously said the British public's affection for the NHS was a case of 'Stockholm syndrome' but was not speaking for Palantir, said Mosley. Palantir also provides artificial intelligence-enabled military targeting systems as well as software to integrate and analyse data scattered across different systems such as in the health service. 'I think the accusation that we lack transparency or this is secretive is wrong,' Mosley said. 'I think that BMA has, if I may be frank, chosen ideology over patient interest. I think our software is going to make patient lives better by making their treatment quicker, more effective, and ultimately the healthcare system more efficient.' In 2023 the government awarded Palantir the contract to build a new NHS 'federated data platform' but concerns have been raised by some local NHS trusts that the system was no better than the existing technology and could even reduce functionality, the website Democracy for Sale reported. Palantir was also one of the many technology companies which the Guardian revealed last week recently met with the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to discuss ideas to help solve the crisis in prisons and probation from inserting tracking devices under offenders' skin to assigning robots to contain prisoners. During the hearing Mosley was challenged by the chair, Chi Onwurah MP, over whether it was the right company to be involved in the NHS when it was also working for the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza, through its military applications. Mosley declined to give operational details about what Palantir does for the Israeli authorities. Its products include a system called Gotham that 'supports soldiers with an AI-powered kill chain, seamlessly and responsibly integrating target identification'. Onwurah said cultural change was needed in the NHS in order to drive uptake of the new data systems. She asked Mosley: 'Do you really think that Palantir is the organisation to bring together 42 integrated care boards, over 200 NHS Trusts to champion NHS values, to bring them together around one federated data [platform] and, in the future, a single patient record?' 'I think the question of trust should really be about our competence above all,' Mosley said. 'Are we delivering [what] we have promised to deliver? Are we making the patient experience quicker, more effective, more efficient? And if we are, then we should be trusted with that.' The Liberal Democrat MP Martin Wrigley said the interoperability between the data systems Palantir provides for health and defence was 'profoundly worrying'. The Conservative MP Kit Malthouse wanted to know if a military could target particular individuals with particular characteristics by using Palantir's ability to process a large pool of data. Mosley said: 'We provide an enormous amount of control and governance to the organisations that use our software for that purpose to manage precisely the kind of risks that you're talking about.' Malthouse said: 'That sounds like a yes'. It also emerged during the hearing that Palantir continues to employ Global Counsel, a lobbying firm co-founded by Britain's current ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson. Mosley denied that a visit to Palantir's Washington DC office by the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, was arranged by Mandelson, saying 'it was done through the proper channels'. Mandelson stepped down from Global Counsel in 'early 2025', the consultancy's website says.
