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6 August 2014updated 12 Oct 2023 10:15am

Lib Dems pile the pressure on David Cameron over Gaza

Following the resignation of a Tory minister, the PM’s coalition partners are now calling for the suspension of arms export licences to Israel

By Anoosh Chakelian

As David Cameron soothes his nerves through his favourite form of escapism – pointing at fish at a Portuguese fish market – his coalition colleagues have piled on the pressure already mounting on him to clarify his stance on Israel’s actions in Gaza.

The Liberal Democrats are now calling for the suspension of arms export licences to Israel, a significant addition to the rebellious voices in Cameron’s own party – the loudest of which was Sayeeda Warsi, who dramatically resigned from his government yesterday, calling his position “morally indefensible”.

Both the Times and Independent are splashing this morning with stories about how the minister’s resignation has opened the floodgates for senior Tory figures criticising the PM’s reticence over condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza. He so far has called the actions “intolerable”, but has not used the word “disproportionate” – as Boris Johnson was quick to use yesterday, eclipsing Cameron’s stance.

The Independent reports a “mutiny among senior Tory MPs last night as they lined up to condemn his [Cameron’s] handling of the Gaza crisis and to warn his stance was alienating millions of British Muslims”, and the Times’ frontpage headline is “Tory war over Gaza”. It reports that Cameron is “struggling to contain a growing revolt”, and also describes a “pincer movement from Labour and the Liberal Democrats”.

Ed Miliband has repeatedly called upon Cameron to take a firmer stance, deploring his “inexplicable silence” on the subject. And now the Lib Dems are differentiating themselves from the Tory coalition leaders and adding a fresh voice to the cacophony already condemning Cameron. Nick Clegg said the Israeli military operation has “overstepped the mark”, and revealed he’s been working with his Lib Dem cabinet colleague, the Business Secretary Vince Cable, to push for a suspension of arms export licences to Israel. Cable added that he and his fellow senior Lib Dems have been “making this case inside government” for a while, but had been unable “to get agreement” with the Tories.

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A Downing Street spokesman said: “Suspending export licences is not a decision we take lightly and it is right that we examine the facts fully. This is the approach being taken by the vast majority of countries.”

How long can Cameron keep up this strategy of lukewarm No 10 statements and low-key tutting at Israel’s actions when the opposition, his coalition colleagues and even significant individuals in his own party are asking for much more?

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