Scottish Labour conference backs motion calling for end to arms sales to Israel

Delegates at the Scottish Labour conference have backed a motion calling for Britain to end all arms sales to Israel.

The motion, brought forward by Cunningham South and Glasgow Kelvin CLPs, called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, international development minister Anneliese Dodds and the Scottish government to support the Palestinian people and their “unalienable right to self-determination in their homeland and oppose any move to remove Palestinians from Gaza”.

One delegate, Angus McDonell, was extremely critical of Donald Trump’s proposal to “own” Gaza and expel Palestinians from the territory.

He said: “It’s not just mere bluster, it is a sinister manifesto for ethnic cleansing, a prelude to the obliteration of an entire people already enduring relentless persecution.

“The systematic expulsion and annihilation of a population is genocide – plain and simple.”

McDonell also branded the US President a “pound shop dictator who relishes the politics of cruelty and division”.

“He’s the man who fanned the flames of white supremacy, emboldened fascists and now seeks to put his own stamp of ownership on a land drenched in the blood of Palestinians.

“He has no right, no claim, no authority – only a grotesque hunger for power and domination.”

Delegates at the conference in Glasgow also backed an emergency motion proposed by Unite calling on the Labour government to outlaw the use of fire and rehire practices.

It also called on Labour councillors and MSPs to oppose the use of such practices in Scotland following claims some councils have threatened to use fire and rehire to “change and dilute the terms and conditions of council workers”.

Read more on Scottish Labour conference:

• Interview: Ian Murray on the latest polls, pat leave and Labour ‘not aping Reform’
• Scottish Labour chiefs lose conference vote for biology-based single-sex spaces
• Joani Reid MP: ‘Here’s why Scottish Labour shouldn’t despair at the polls’
• Delegates at Scottish Labour conference set to debate motions on winter fuel, Cass review, and others
• Scottish Labour conference: Emergency motion on Palestine to be debated
• Scottish Labour conference speech: Sarwar vows ‘big, bold meaningful change’

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