LONDON (Dispatches) – Former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and the Independent Alliance of MPs have issued two letters challenging Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and Attorney-General, Lord Hermer, KC, over their position on the Zionist regime’s genocide in Gaza.
The letters follow Starmer’s recent denial in Prime Minister’s Questions that the Zionist regime is committing genocide in Gaza, a stance echoed by Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, who claimed such descriptions “undermine the seriousness of that term”.
In their letter to Starmer, the MPs directly challenge his “flippant denial of genocide”, stating it “egregiously downplays the suffering of Palestinians and shows blatant disregard for international law.” They remind the prime minister that genocide’s legal definition focuses on intent rather than numbers killed, citing Article 2 of the Genocide Convention.
“It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that your denial of the genocide in Gaza is rooted in the knowledge that, if you accepted the true scale of what is happening, you would be admitting your government’s ongoing complicity in crimes against humanity,” the letter states.
In their letter to Starmer, the MPs specifically ask whether the prime minister “sought or received any legal advice from the attorney-general over the definition of genocide and its applicability to the situation in Gaza.” The letter demands to know if he has “received any other legal advice on this matter” and when such advice will be made public.
The group’s letter to Attorney-General, Lord Hermer, KC, specifically questions whether he has provided legal advice to the prime minister regarding the definition of genocide and its applicability to Gaza. They ask whether “the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have publicly contradicted the findings of UN reports and pre-empted decisions of international courts on this issue.” Israel is currently under investigation by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for genocide.