Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has launched a scathing critique against current Health Secretary Wes Streeting, labeling his position on Israel’s military actions in Gaza as a “shameful failure” and demanding his resignation. The criticism emerged through a confidential letter dated Thursday, obtained by Middle East Eye, in which Corbyn—now representing the Your Party—directly challenged Streeting’s ethical standing within the government.
The controversy stems from recently revealed private text exchanges between Streeting and former British Ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson, made public on Monday. In these July 2025 communications, Streeting privately characterized Israel’s operations in Gaza as clear “war crimes,” describing witnessed “chilling and distressing scenes of calculated brutality against women and children” and accusing the Israeli government of employing “the language of ethnic cleansing.”
Corbyn’s letter presents a damning logical argument: once a government acknowledges war crimes are occurring, continued military or political support constitutes deliberate complicity. He notes this creates “a matter of public record” that Streeting chose to serve in a cabinet providing military, economic and diplomatic support to a state breaching international law.
Despite strained UK-Israel relations under Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration—including a partial arms embargo—military collaboration continued throughout the Gaza conflict. Corbyn posed several piercing questions regarding Streeting’s failure to resign, his view on government complicity, his willingness to cooperate with International Criminal Court investigations, and specific actions taken to halt support for Israel.
The Health Secretary, considered a potential successor to Starmer, privately advocated for treating Israel as a “pariah” state with comprehensive sanctions in his messages. However, he has never publicly endorsed sanctions or explicitly accused Israel of war crimes, though he previously suggested Israeli President Isaac Herzog should answer allegations last September.
This revelation follows Starmer’s March 2025 reversal of then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s characterization of Israel’s actions as a “breach of international law.” Corbyn concluded with a historical warning that government ministers who remained silent despite having power to intervene would be “shamed” in history books.