Latest news with #LordAustin
Telegraph
28-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Lammy tough talk undermined as trade envoy flies to Israel
The decision to cease trade talks over the Gaza offensive sparked a furious response from Israel's foreign ministry, which said: 'If, due to anti-Israel obsession and domestic political considerations, the British Government is willing to harm the British economy – that is its own prerogative.' Lord Austin, who now sits as a non-affiliated peer in the House of Lords, has served as the UK's trade envoy since 2019. Earlier this year, he said he was 'delighted' to be reappointed by Sir Keir to represent the Labour Government. 'Hundreds of businesses and thousands of jobs in the UK depend on trade and investment with Israel, and I'll be doing everything I can to help our brilliant team at the UK's embassy in Tel Aviv strengthen the relationship between our two great countries,' he told the Jewish Chronicle. 'Economic growth is the Government's number one mission and I'm looking forward to playing my part in supporting this vital work.' Lord Austin quit Labour over its anti-Semitism crisis in 2019, accusing Jeremy Corbyn, the then leader, of presiding over a 'culture of extremism'. He was appointed to his trade envoy role by Baroness May a few months later.
Arab News
28-05-2025
- Business
- Arab News
UK sends trade envoy to Israel after suspending talks
LONDON: In a somewhat unlikely turn of events, a British trade envoy has visited Israel to 'promote trade' between the two countries — a week after the UK suspended relevant talks. Lord Ian Austin, who is the UK government's trade envoy to Israel, was welcomed to Haifa on Monday, just days after Foreign Secretary David Lammy paused negotiations. The British Embassy in Israel said that Lord Austin had visited a number of projects — such as the Customs Scanning Center, Haifa Bayport, and the Haifa-Nazareth Light Rail project — to 'witness co-operation at every stop.' 'Trade with Israel provides many thousands of good jobs in the UK and brings people together in the great multicultural democracy that is Israel,' Lord Austin said. Last Tuesday, the government confirmed it was suspending its trade negotiations with Israel in the wake of an accelerated military offensive in Gaza and the country's decision to limit the amount of aid allowed into the Palestinian territory. Mr Lammy told the Commons that Israel's actions were 'egregious' and amounted to a 'dark new phase in this conflict.' But despite the suspension of any new trade talks with Israel, No. 10 has insisted that the UK still has a trading relationship with the country. A spokesperson for the prime minister said: 'We have always had a trading relationship, but are pausing any new ones.' The UK has sanctioned a number of individuals and groups in the West Bank, which it said have been linked with acts of violence against Palestinians — including Daniella Weiss, a leading settler activist who was the subject of Louis Theroux's recent documentary, 'The Settlers.' Writing for Politics Home, Lord Austin said: 'It is in our national interest, and the decision this week by the government to pause negotiations on a new Free Trade Agreement does not change that. 'The situation in Gaza is terrible, as it is in all wars, and the quickest way to get the aid in and save lives is for Hamas to stop fighting and release the hostages. That would end the conflict immediately.' A government spokesperson said: 'We suspended talks with Israel on a new FTA because it is not possible to advance discussions with a Netanyahu government pursuing such egregious policies in Gaza and the West Bank. 'Lord Austin is in Israel this week in his capacity as trade envoy to maintain our relationship with Israeli businesses.'
The Guardian
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
UK trade envoy's visit to Israel one week after talks suspended sparks criticism
The coherence of the UK government's policy towards Israel is under question after Labour permitted its trade envoy to boost commercial links one week after the foreign secretary suspended talks on a further trade deal. The trade envoy, Lord Austin, was pictured on a visit to Haifa in a post on X shared by the UK's embassy in Israel. The post welcomed Austin to the country as he visited a hi-tech 'customs scanning centre', a port and a light rail project that the embassy said showed UK and Israeli 'cooperation at every stop'. David Lammy last week had described Israel's behaviour in Gaza as 'monstrous and extremist'. In a signal of his disapproval, welcomed by most Labour MPs, the foreign secretary suspended new trade talks and launched a review into a pre-existing high-level strategic cooperation roadmap with Israel. One mainstream Labour MP said: 'There is a large group of Labour MPs who are furious this has been allowed to happen after the progress made last week. Austin needs to be fired immediately, the department of business and trade response is completely unacceptable.' Another MP said 'this is not about mixed, but garbled messaging'. Great to welcome @LordIanAustin to Haifa!In a day full of innovation by the Carmel, the UK Trade Envoy to Israel visited the cutting-edge Customs Scanning Centre, Haifa Bayport, the Haifa–Nazareth Light Rail project, and the Technion - witnessing 🇬🇧–🇮🇱 cooperation at every stop Palestinian groups also called for the trade envoy, a former Labour MP, but appointed as an independent peer by the Conservatives, to be sacked on the grounds that he has never agreed with Labour government's policy towards Israel. However, Austin's visit was not a independent operation and instead was conducted with the approval and cooperation of government officials. It did not seem to occur to the Department for Business and Trade that the fierce signals of disapproval sent out by the Foreign Office last week were so strong that it would at least be advisable to postpone Austin's visit. The department insisted there was no contradiction between suspending talks on a new expanded free trade deal and continuing to promote trade links under the existing trade deal. Austin, a fierce campaigner against antisemitism in the UK, had been appointed trade envoy by the previous Conservative government, and his reappointment by Labour led to protests among mainstream pro-Palestinian MPs, and campaign groups. Pete Malynn, executive director of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East, in February this year wrote privately to the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, to express the group's dismay at Austin's appointment, saying 'it sends entirely the wrong message about the government's priorities in the region, calls into question its strategic direction and emboldens those who seek to undermine and criticise the government'. The letter pointed out that Austin did not regard Gaza as occupied for the past 18 years, referred to the UN's Palestinian relief agency Unrwa as terrorists, opposed the UK's suspension of arms sales to Israel and said it was 'factually wrong' to claim the West Bank was being concreted over by Israeli settlers. The letter also pointed out that Austin had written to voters in key swing seats in the 2019 election urging them to vote for Boris Johnson. At the time Austin was vehemently opposed to abour's approach to antisemitism and extremism under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion No reply to the letter was received by the group. Austin will be in Israel until Friday but does not have any scheduled meetings with Israeli officials, people familiar with the trip said, focusing instead on meeting with businesses. On social media he said: 'I'm here to meet businesses & officials to promote trade with the UK. Trade with Israel provides many thousands of good jobs in the UK and brings people together in the great multicultural democracy that is Israel'. He also wrote a Politics Home article before his visit, in which he said: 'I'll be visiting Israel next week to show our support and solidarity and to drum up business for Britain.'. He added: 'The relationship with Israel is worth billions and brings massive benefits to Britain. It is in our national interest, and the decision this week by the government to pause negotiations on a new free trade Agreement does not change that.' Austin did not directly criticise the suspension of the free trade talks, but warned: 'We live in a competitive world, so let's hope other countries don't steal a march and grab these opportunities. Other countries must surely be looking on and wondering whether their relations with the UK could be jeopardised by political campaigns.' The Foreign Office has been asked if the foreign secretary gave prior approval for the visit.
The National
28-05-2025
- Business
- The National
UK envoy visits Israel to 'drum up business' days after trade talks suspended
UK trade envoy has travelled to Israel to 'promote trade with the UK' days after the UK government suspended new trade talks with Tel Aviv. Lord Ian Austin, a former Labour MP, shared details of his visit in a social media post on Tuesday. 'Trade with Israel provides many thousands of good jobs in the UK and brings people together in the great multicultural democracy that is Israel,' he wrote. It is understood Lord Austin does not have any official meetings planned, however, he wrote on social media that he will be meeting Israeli "businesses and officials" during his trip. Trade envoys are not involved in trade negotiations, but work to promote and secure investment in the UK. Last week, Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended talks over an expanded trade deal with Israel and imposed new sanctions on Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. The measures marked the toughest response to Israel's military campaign in Gaza and its handling of the crisis in the West Bank to date. At the time, an Israeli diplomat dismissed the suspension of new trade talks as "a British loss". The diplomat added: "It is a lose-lose situation for the UK. Israel should be one of the first partners for tech and all the things we wanted to do together. This is really a British loss. We don't see it as an Israeli loss. It's a punishment to your own people." Lord Austin, the UK trade envoy for Israel, appears to be at odds with the mood in the Foreign Office. He had expressed his intention to visit the country and 'drum up business for Britain' in Politics Home last week, writing that 'trade is not just about exports and quotas, it is about our values and our relationships". He added: 'Even without the benefits a new trade agreement would bring to Britain, our message is that we're open for business, so we'll still be encouraging British businesses to export to Israel and Israeli businesses to invest in the UK to create jobs here." He visited the Customs Scanning Centre, the Haifa Nazareth Light Rail project, the Haifa Bayport and the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) on his first day, 'witnessing UK-Israeli co-operation at every stop', a social media post by the UK embassy in Israel said. A foreign office representative defended the visit, telling The National Mr Austin was in the country to 'maintain' existing relationships with Israeli businesses. "Lord Austin is in Israel this week in his capacity as trade envoy to maintain our relationship with Israeli businesses,' they said. "We suspended talks with Israel on a new FTA [free-trade agreement] because it is not possible to advance discussions with a Netanyahu government pursuing such egregious policies in Gaza and the West Bank." They did not respond when asked whether Mr Lammy was aware of the trip. The Foreign Secretary accused Israel of 'intolerable and repellent' actions in Gaza last week and condemned its renewed offensive on the strip. Mr Lammy said: 'We must call this what it is: it is extremism, it is dangerous, it is repellent, it is monstrous and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.'
Telegraph
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
MPs discuss Gaza more than immigration or NHS
MPs have spent more time discussing Gaza than immigration or the NHS since Labour came to power, analysis for The Telegraph reveals. There have been more than 9,000 mentions of the conflict in the Commons since last July – significantly more than for other major policy areas. MPs have brought up immigration and asylum 5,700 times and made reference to the NHS on 5,300 occasions in the past 10 months. Gaza again featured heavily in Parliament this week as David Lammy delivered a statement announcing the suspension of trade talks with Israel. Much of the debate has been driven by Labour members, who dominate a list of backbenchers to have asked questions about the topic the most times. The analysis found a similar picture in the Lords, where Israel and Gaza were mentioned by peers five times more frequently than the prisons crisis. It suggests that the situation in the Middle East is blowing the Government's agenda off course, distracting from its domestic Plan for Change. Critics said the findings showed that Parliament was spending too much time focusing on a foreign conflict instead of local issues important to voters. Lord Austin, a former Labour MP, said: 'Constituents who are struggling with the cost of living and worried about their jobs will not understand why so many politicians are so obsessed with a conflict 3,000 miles away. 'It really is amazing to see politicians spend more time talking about Israel than the NHS, prisons, immigration or poverty, which are the public's top concerns and which our Parliament is actually responsible for, rather than the war between Israel and Hamas which they can't do anything about.' The analysis, conducted by the UK Media Research Centre, looked at eight policy areas and compared how many times they were mentioned in Parliament. As well as Israel and Gaza it covered immigration, asylum, the NHS, prisons, poverty, the war in Ukraine and the crisis in Sudan. Researchers examined the spoken contributions by MPs and peers in the chamber as well as written statements and questions submitted by them. In the Commons, there have been 9,228 mentions of Gaza since the election, compared with 774 references to prisons and 2,655 mentions of poverty. The conflict dominated similarly in the Lords, with 2,478 contributions, whereas the NHS featured 1,274 times and the war in Ukraine 1,827. Abtisam Mohamed, the Labour MP for Sheffield Central, has made the most references to Gaza since the election, bringing it up 51 times. Six other Labour MPs feature in a list of those to have mentioned the conflict the most, compared with two from the SNP, one Tory and one Lib Dem. The figures come despite the fact that the Government's domestic agenda has focused heavily on improving the NHS and cutting immigration. Voter anger over high levels of migration were credited with driving a surge in support for Reform at the local elections at the expense of Labour.
