David Lammy must now come clean on UNRWA legal advice

Following the Government’s announcement of a suspension of certain arms licences to Israel in September, purportedly in accordance with legal advice, Campaign Against Antisemitism submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) asking whether the Government sought or obtained legal advice in relation to its resumption of funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) over the summer.

The arms licences were suspended because the legal advice claimed to have identified a “clear risk that” the arms may be used in ways that breach international law.

UNRWA’s premises and personnel have been involved in Hamas terrorism, yet, as one of its first acts in office, this Government restored the funding that its predecessor had suspended. The decision in July came shortly before a review by the United Nations was completed, which unsurprisingly sought to provide reassurance that UNRWA was putting processes in place to ensure that it “meets the highest standards of neutrality and strengthening its procedures”. Since that report, however, further allegations have arisen regarding UNRWA personnel and resources.

We were therefore interested to know whether the Government sought legal advice in relation to the UNRWA decision and whether that advice found no risk of the funding being used in ways that breach international law.

However, the FCDO has replied to us, acknowledging that it holds information relevant to the FOI but refusing to disclose whether legal advice was sought or obtained, or the content thereof.

We have now called on Foreign Secretary David Lammy to publish a summary of the legal advice, just as he did in relation to the arms licences, in the interests of transparency and consistency.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “UNRWA’s premises are regularly used by Hamas terrorists and some of its personnel were directly involved in the 7th October massacre, but the FCDO has refused to reveal to us whether legal advice was sought or obtained in relation to this controversial decision. We are therefore now calling on David Lammy to publish the legal advice in the interests of transparency and consistency. He relied heavily on legal advice in deciding to suspend certain arms exports to Israel because of a supposed ‘clear risk’ of a breach of international law. British taxpayers have a right to know if legal advice identified no similar risks by UNRWA before the restoration of funding.”