Critics of the government’s foreign policy are alarmed that the UK has now joined the US in bombing Yemen (UK launches Yemen airstrikes, joining US campaign against Houthi rebels, 30 April). If anything, such attacks are likely to confirm the Houthis’ determination to resist what they see as imperialist support for a murderous Israel. A better way to keep British shipping free from attack would be to cease arms sales to Benjamin Netanyahu and clearly state UK opposition to Israeli war crimes against Palestinian civilians. Such a policy shift is overdue.
A key constitutional point has also been raised – surely parliament should have been consulted, as it was over Syria in 2013? However, even this fails to encompass the government’s wider obligations.
