A SCOTTISH Labour MP has publicly urged the UK Government to end arms sales to Israel.
Alloa and Grangemouth representative Brian Leishman has become the first Scottish Labour MP to call for the Government to suspend all arms export licences to the country.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has previously called for arms sales to Israel to be banned.
Leishman said: "The killing has to end. As does arms sales."
Leishman made the comments when sharing a video on Twitter/X of late Labour stalwart Tony Benn making a speech in the build up to the Iraq War.
The video had been posted by former Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard with the words: "'Aren't Arabs terrified? Says it all. Stop the slaughter, end arms sales to Israel."
Benn had said "Aren't Arabs terrified?" in the video, after discussing how "terrifying" the Blitz had been for him as a teenager.
Leishman then told the Daily Record: "All lives are equal, there should never be a hierarchy of life.
“The wider international community should do a lot more than offer words, that means stopping arms sales and exercising collective diplomatic influence to stop the killing and bring about a lasting peace."
It is the latest case of Leishman breaking ranks with his party after he took aim at Keir Starmer (below) last month for "abandoning" oil refinery workers at Grangemouth.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the suspension applies to "items that might be used in the current conflict" in Gaza.
A review found a "clear risk" UK arms may be used in "a serious violation of international humanitarian law" in relation to the war in Gaza.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza over the past year.
There have been airstrikes between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon in recent weeks, with Israeli forces invading Lebanon earlier this week and Iran launching a missile attack in response.
Overnight, an Israeli strike on an apartment building in Beirut killed at least six people.
The Israeli military said eight soldiers have died in the conflict in southern Lebanon.
Lammy confirmed on Thursday morning that more than 150 British nationals and dependants were on the first UK Government-chartered flight out of Lebanon on Wednesday.
A “limited number” of further flights from Beirut will take place from Thursday, continuing as long as the security situation allows.
