On 8 January 2025, independent MP Jeremy Corbyn pushed Keir Starmer’s government for transparency on the role that a strategically important RAF base is playing in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Corbyn: my constituents deserve to know
The previous day, Corbyn described in his letter that foreign office parliamentary under-secretary Hamish Falconer had responded to a question of his “during an Urgent Question on Northern Gaza”. And the former Labour Party leader said Falconer had “failed to answer or acknowledge my question on the use of the British air base in Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri”. He insisted that:
My constituents deserve to know the full scale of this government’s complicity and participation in genocide.
With this in mind, Corbyn asked for clarification on three important follow-up questions:
3. Is RAF Akrotiri being used as a route for weapons to go to Israel to be deployed in Gaza?
4. How many US Air Force flights have flown from RAF Akrotiri to Israel since 7 October 2023?
5. Has your government sought legal advice over the continued use of RAF Akrotiri to support Israeli military operations?
And he warned the government to be careful with its actions for legal reasons:
Your government will be aware that the ICC has issued arrest warrants to Israeli officials. The government should also be aware that if it knowingly sends weapons to a government whose leader is wanted for war crimes, then it is not immune to the long arm of international law.
He was referring to the International Criminal Court (ICC) finally issuing arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel‘s former defence minister Yoav Gallant back in November 2024.
RAF Akrotiri’s participation in Israel’s genocide
Both the current Labour government and the previous Conservative government have used RAF Akrotiri (the unique colonial relic on occupied Cypriot land which is part of the “largest Royal Air Force base outside the United Kingdom”) to lend a helping hand to Israeli war criminals.
So far, RAF Akrotiri has supported covert US flights to occupied Palestine, sent dozens of British warplanes to both Israel and Lebanon, and facilitated British spy flights and the passing of intelligence from officers on the ground to Israel. And as Declassified co-founder Matt Kennard has insisted, these are the actions of “a country which is participating” in Israel’s genocide – “a direct participant”.
Corbyn’s original question, that Falconer failed to answer properly, was:
Will Britain continue supplying weapons, including parts for jet planes, and allowing the use of RAF Akrotiri as a route for weapons to go to Israel to be used to destroy life in Gaza?
And that’s a question that everyone in the country should be asking their MPs regularly and repeatedly until British participation in the genocide ends.
I have written to the Foreign Office asking them to tell the truth about RAF Akrotiri and arms exports to Israel.
We deserve to know the full scale of our government’s complicity and participation in genocide. pic.twitter.com/KEBZzJP8CJ
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) January 8, 2025
Featured image via the Canary
