The current UK government led by Prime Minister Andy Burnham has turned down a high-profile demand from independent MP and former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to launch an independent public investigation into alleged British complicity in Israel’s military operations in Gaza that have sparked global humanitarian outrage.
Corbyn first tabled a legislative proposal in July, shortly after Keir Starmer stepped down as UK Prime Minister, reviving a bill that had already been voted down during its second reading in Parliament by Starmer’s outgoing administration. Modeled after the landmark 2016 Chilcot Inquiry into the 2003 Iraq War, the bill calls for a full public probe into all dimensions of British military, economic, and political collaboration with Israel throughout its ongoing offensive in Gaza, which first began in October 2023.
Specifically, the bill seeks to examine the UK government’s ongoing supply of weapons and surveillance aircraft to Israel, as well as Israel’s repeated use of United Kingdom Royal Air Force bases for operations tied to the Gaza campaign. In his letter to Burnham sent in July, Corbyn explicitly urged the new prime minister to reverse the previous government’s position and throw his support behind the independent inquiry push.
However, responding to a parliamentary written question on Monday, Burnham’s government confirmed it would not back the proposal. The administration argued that an ad-hoc independent inquiry is unnecessary, claiming that the UK already maintains a robust system of parliamentary accountability and oversight to review government actions related to the conflict.
In a public statement released the following day, Corbyn pushed back against the government’s decision, noting that Burnham himself had previously acknowledged that the last Labour government’s stance on Gaza was incorrect. “However, his words will mean very little if he doesn’t break with the last government’s shameful record of complicity, secrecy and evasion,” Corbyn said.
Verified on-the-ground data confirms that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 74,480 people to date, with widespread documentation of forced displacement that international observers have labeled ethnic cleansing of Palestinian residents from their homes across multiple areas of the besieged territory. Beyond arms exports, the UK has openly acknowledged that Royal Air Force aircraft have carried out hundreds of surveillance sorties over Gaza, and that British intelligence has been shared with Israeli forces to support their operations.
“Delaying scrutiny will not make questions about British complicity in genocide disappear,” Corbyn emphasized in his statement. “The public deserve to know the full extent of Britain’s military, economic and political cooperation with Israel, including arms supplies, surveillance flights and the use of RAF bases. It’s not complicated: if the government has nothing to hide, then why block our efforts to expose the truth?”
This reporting was originally distributed by Middle East Eye, a media outlet that provides independent, on-the-ground coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa, and wider global regions connected to the conflict.