Scottish council to write to PM in call to end arm sales to Israel
SNP councillor Naz Anis-Miah's pro-Palestinian motion was passed by Fife Council despite opposition from the ruling minority Labour administration.
Labour councillors dropped their amendment to the motion halfway through the debate, which Anis-Miah described as 'unheard of'.
The full motion called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an end to UK arms sales to Israel, a commitment to upholding international law, and support for increased humanitarian aid to the region.
READ MORE: Scottish Labour drop below Alba and Greens in Highlands by-election
It also committed the leader of Fife Council, Labour councillor David Ross, to write to Keir Starmer, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds over ending arms exports and instead increasing humanitarian aid.
'Obviously [Benjamin] Netanyahu and Israel are not going to listen to what Fife Council are going to say, but what Fife Council can do is apply pressure to the British government,' Anis-Miah told The National.
The debate on the motion was held on Thursday, with councillors going back and forth over Labour's amendment which Anis-Miah said would have 'watered down' the SNP's motion.
Speaking in the chamber, Anis-Miah (below) told fellow councillors: 'We can't claim to champion human rights abroad while fueling destruction with our exports.
'We can't preach peace while we enable war. We cannot turn a blind eye to the death of innocent children while our industries build machines that kill them. If we can't stop the bombs let's stop building them. If we can't end the war let's refuse to fuel it.
(Image: SNP) 'If we can't undo the suffering, let us not be the ones who prolong it. I urge every member of this chamber to support the motion.
"Let's send a clear message to the Prime Minister and Westminster that the people of Fife and Scotland will not be complicit in supplying arms that cause genocide.'
Ross told councillors that members of the Labour group were still 'uncomfortable' with some parts of the motion.
'I think undoubtedly we are all horrified and really totally concerned about what is going on and we recognise the need to make a statement,' he added.
'In the interests of speaking with one voice from the council we're prepared to withdraw our amendment with a slight concession on the wording from the SNP motion.'
The SNP group agreed to remove a call for the motion to be shared with Cosla and other councils across Scotland.
READ MORE: UK scrambles to charter flights out of Israel for British citizens
'We're comfortable that we can share it with our Cosla delegates at the SNP Council group nationwide, and we've also obviously got a network of Councilors across the country, so we're comfortable that we'll share the motion ourselves,' Anis-Miah explained.
We previously told how in the last quarter of 2024, the Labour Government licensed exports of more military equipment to Israel than the Tories did for all of 2020-2023 combined.
This led to Lammy claiming that The National's article was 'clickbait' as he dismissed the report, which was based on UK Government figures.
Several high profile celebrities, including Paolo Nutini and Ncuti Gatwa, have joined calls urging Starmer to suspend arm sales to Israel.
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