Anas Sarwar's silence as UK Government fails Gaza is deafening
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ANAS Sarwar's silence over the past week on Gaza has been deafening.
It's an issue on which the Scottish Labour leader, on occasion, has taken a welcome stronger stance – at least compared with the majority of his party colleagues.
But he hasn't raised his head above the parapet when it has really mattered.
Already, in October 2023, he accused Israel of a "clear breach" of international law. David Lammy U-turned on that assertion in March – and he has said nothing on this.
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When I spoke with Sarwar at the Labour conference in Liverpool last year, he urged the UK Government to help Palestinians with family in the UK resettle here via a bespoke visa scheme.
But when Keir Starmer explicitly ruled out a family visa scheme for Palestinians in February, he remained silent. He said nothing, again, when the Prime Minister closed down the legal loophole that allowed a Palestinian family to settle here.
Last month, he defied the central UK leadership and called for arms exports to Israel to end.
(Image: PA)
'To me, it is clear that the actions of the Israeli forces do not comply with international humanitarian law and therefore the sales of arms to Israel should stop,' Sarwar said in a speech to delegates at the Scottish Trades Union Congress annual summit.
But when asked about the issue last week amid the legal case against the UK Government, he instead said Labour should not allow the export of any "proactive arms' to Israel.
He added that there was a legal 'grey area' around whether parts for F-35 fighter jets, which have been documented being used in Gaza, counted as offensive or defensive.
And now, at a time when Israel has restated its ambition to ethnically cleanse Gaza and as the UN has warned that 14,000 children could die from famine, at a time Sarwar could be pushing UK Labour on all the points above – he has done none of the above, publicly at least.
Margaret Curran is back
In other news, Baroness Curran has been appointed a minister in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
The 66-year-old, who lost her Glasgow seat in the Commons at the 2015 election, had previously served as shadow Scottish secretary.
Her son, Chris Murray, is Scottish Labour MP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh.
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