SCOTTISH Labour have refused to set out its own stance on whether it supports continuing arms sales to Israel.
Earlier this week Pat McFadden, the shadow chancellor to the Duchy of Lancaster, told Sky News there was not “a boycott of selling arms to Israel” when he was asked whether the party would support arms sales if it was in government.
Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy has since said that if UK Government lawyers have found Israel has breached international law then arms sales must be stopped.
However, when The National asked for Scottish Labour’s stance on the matter, the party simply directed the paper to Lammy’s comments and said nothing further.
READ MORE: Publish your legal advice on Israel and Gaza, UK Government told
The UK Government is coming under severe pressure to halt arms sales to Israel after it emerged at the weekend it had received legal advice that the country was breaching international law in its bombardment of Gaza.
That pressure has intensified to an international level given that earlier this week, seven aid workers were killed in Gaza in an Israeli strike including three from the UK.
The workers for World Central Kitchen were killed while travelling through a deconflicted zone.
Lammy said: “Our deepest sympathies go out to the families of the three heroic Brits who put their lives on the line to get Palestinian civilians the aid they desperately need. But Israel must face serious consequences, not just tough rhetoric, for their appalling deaths.
"It's totally wrong that the Foreign Secretary has gone silent on the question of whether or not Israel is complying with international humanitarian law, after saying he'd get new advice nearly a month ago. There are very serious accusations that Israel has breached international law, which must be taken into account.
"The law is clear. British arms licences cannot be granted if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
READ MORE: Channel 4: Israeli official refuses to apologise for aid worker deaths
"Labour's message to the government is equally clear. Publish the legal advice now. If it says there is a clear risk that UK arms might be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law, it's time to suspend the sale of those arms. If David Cameron has received this advice, he must act on it.”
McFadden implied that Labour had not seen evidence Israel was breaking international law.
He said: “We always want Israel or any ally to abide by international humanitarian law, we’ve said that all the way through this conflict and, you know, that’s what guides our policy.”
Former national security adviser Lord Peter Ricketts has said the UK must halt arms sales to Israel. He added the killing of the aid workers had sparked “global outrage” as he called for an “immediate ceasefire”.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has demanded Parliament be recalled for MPs "to scrutinise the UK Government’s response" and ensure a debate and vote can be had "on ending arms sales to Israel".
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