MEETING WITH MP HELENA DOLLIMORE AT PARLIAMENT
WEDNESDAY 24 JULY 2024

On Wednesday, 24 July I went to Westminster to lobby our new MP, Helena Dollimore, as part of the Mass Lobby for Palestine organised by national PSC. Although I did not have confirmation of a meeting before I arrived, she managed to give me about 15 minutes of her time, for which I thanked her.

PSC had five core asks, and they had provided a lobby briefing pack with detailed arguments to use if there was time. MPs were asked to:

1 Publicly demand and actively work to ensure an immediate, complete, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

2 Call for an immediate abandonment of the previous government's attempt to frustrate the ICC, and to support moves by both the ICJ and ICC to hold Israel to account for breaches of International Humanitarian Law.

3 Demand an end to all arms trade with Israel to ensure that Britain and its citizens are not at risk of aiding and abetting crimes including genocide.

4 Stand up for the rights and dignity of Palestinian refugees by ensuring UNRWA can fulfil its mandate now funding has been restored.

5 Sign 'Early Day Motion 14: International Criminal Court, Gaza and the Rule of Law', supporting the integrity of international courts to hold Israel accountable for war crimes.


This is a brief summary of her responses and my follow-up points:


1 HD. Labour has now been calling for a ceasefire for several months; with a Labour Foreign Secretary and, in due course, a Labour-appointed Ambassador to the UN, look out for a change in tone and tactics.
RW. I stressed the importance of ensuring a permanent ceasefire. In my letter to her the following day (after Netanyahu's incendiary speech to the US Congress, in which he said he was only interested in 'total victory', and clearly has no intention of pursuing either a ceasefire or return of Israeli hostages), I reiterated that the UK needs to be playing a much more robust diplomatic and political role in bringing the slaughter to an end than simply 'calling for a ceasefire.'

2 HD. The appointment of Richard Hermer KC as the new Attorney General is a clear signal that the government is committed to upholding Britain's commitments under international law.
RW. The Labour government was expected to drop the legal challenge against the ICC, but this was later disputed by British diplomats who said the matter remained under review. [Update, 26 July: The UK government has decided not to proceed with a legal challenge to the request by Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the ICC, for arrest warrants to be issued for Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, saying it was a matter for the courts].

3 HD. No specific response to this point.
RW. I reminded HD that while in opposition, David Lammy had strongly criticised the government for not publishing its own advice on the legality of its arms sales to Israel, which was later revealed to show strong evidence that UK-sourced arms and components were being used in its genocidal attack on Gaza and thus potentially breached the UK's Strategic Export Licencing Criteria (SELC). The SELC require the British government to refuse to licence military equipment for export where there "is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law". As yet, Lammy has not published any further updating of the advice to the incoming government. [Just after the meeting, I saw the news that Lammy had just stated in the Commons that 'It would not be right to have a blanket ban between our countries and Israel. What is right is for me to consider in the normal way the issues in relation to offensive weapons in Gaza, following the quasi-judicial process that I have outlined'].

4 HD. Just before meeting me, HD had been to see Catherine West, the new Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for the Middle East, to discuss overseas aid and was going next to a meeting with Medical Aid for Palestine. HD agreed that there will be a need for a huge increase in UK emergency medical, food and logistical aid to Gaza to provide immediate and long-term support for the traumatised population, especially once hostilities do eventually stop.
RW. This was our strongest point of agreement, and clearly where HD is hoping to have influence. I welcomed her position, and in my letter to her the following day said that Hastings PSC 'will look forward to working with you on this issue, as we are already engaged in fund-raising and direct support for people trapped in the currently besieged area of Al-Mawasi (Khan Younis).'

5 HD. 'I do not sign Early Day Motions (EDMs) on policy issues, as this is too time consuming; instead, I prefer to work behind the scenes by speaking with Ministers.
RW. In my letter to her the following day, I simply said 'we hope that in time you will feel emboldened to sign EDMs on topics that are important to your constituents.'

In my letter the following day in which I thanked her for meeting me, I ended as follows:
'As you know, the issue of Palestine and especially the current horrors of the genocidal massacre in Gaza are of deep concern to many people in Hastings and Rye, as they are across the world. Now you are our MP, we naturally look to you to take this up in Parliament on our behalf, and we look forward to working with you. We will naturally welcome you to engage with us in the future. '

Richard W.