Warsi says
Cameron has lost moral authority as Clegg demands suspension of arms export
licences to Israel
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| Warsi said Cameron’s response to Gaza may become 'a basis for radicalisation [that] could have consequences for years to come'. Photo: Andrew Parsons/i-Images |
The
government's policy towards the Israeli incursion into Gaza was in danger of
falling apart on Tuesday night in the wake of the surprise resignation of the Foreign Office minister Sayeeda Warsi and a demand by Nick Clegg that Britain
immediately suspend arms export licences to Israel.
Lady Warsi
said the prime minister had lost moral authority, undermined the national
interest and deprived Britain of its historic role as an honest broker in the
Middle East by refusing to condemn the aggressive Israeli response to the Hamas
rocket attacks as disproportionate.
In her
strongly worded resignation letter, whose morning publication came as a
surprise to No 10, Warsi warned that "our approach and language during the
current crisis in Gaza is morally indefensible [and] is not in Britain's
national interest".
She also
complained that Cameron's response may become "a basis for radicalisation
[which] could have consequences for us for years to come".
Her
departure came after internal argument inside the National Security Council
over Cameron's refusal to condemn the aggressive Israeli response to the Hamas
rocket attacks.
British
ministers have condemned the outcome of the Israeli bombings as intolerable and
appalling, but Cameron has barred ministers from describing the Israeli
bombings as disproportionate, and refused to attribute final blame prematurely
even for some of the attacks on UN schools in Gaza.
Warsi's
departure exacerbated coalition tensions over Gaza, as Clegg urged an immediate
suspension of arms export licences, saying that Israel had breached the
conditions. He said the suspension should remain in force until agreement has
been reached across the government on any permanent revocation in the coming
days.
Ministers
agreed a review of the licences last week, but Clegg has decided to ratchet up
the pressure, saying: "I believe the actions of the Israeli military,
overstepping the mark in Gaza, breach the conditions of those export licences
and that's why we want to see them suspended pending a wider review of whether
they should be revoked more permanently in the long run."
Revealing
he has been putting pressure on his Conservative colleagues for a suspension of
the licences rather than a review, he said: "I believe we will be able to
make an announcement on this, finally, very shortly. It's very important that
in response to clearly what appears to be disproportionate military action of
Israel in Gaza, we should be suspending the arms export licences that presently
exist."
Warsi's
departure also prompted a vicious round of briefing against her by some Tories,
condemning her variously as egotistical, incompetent, a Hamas sympathiser and
motivated by pique at her failure to be promoted in the last reshuffle.
However,
Downing Street, aware that she has the potential to cause lethal damage if she
broadens her attack on the Cameron circle, as her resignation letter
threatened, distanced itself from such briefings. Cameron, in his reply to her
resignation letter, lavished praise on her and urged her to raise any issues
with him in the future. It is known she has kept copious diaries, and officials
fear she may claim in retrospect she was used as a token Muslim.
Cameron
wrote: "I very much regret that we were not able to speak about your
decision beforehand." He added: "I understand your strength of
feeling on the current crisis in the Middle East – the situation in Gaza is
intolerable. Our policy has always been consistently clear: we support a
negotiated two-state solution as the only way to resolve this conflict once and
for all and to allow Israelis and Palestinians to live safely in peace."
The
departure of the first British Muslim cabinet minister is a major blow for
Cameron, potentially weakening Conservative support among ethnic minorities in
marginal seats, lifting the lid on the divisions on the Tory backbenches over
the scale of Israel's bombing, and apparently confirming to the party's
centre-left that traditional support for international human rights has been
severely eroded by ministerial changes. "It's now a Daily Mail
administration," complained one recently sacked Conservative minister.
Warsi, as
senior foreign office minister, was responsible for British support for
international human rights law and in her resignation letter bemoaned the
departure in the previous reshuffle of Kenneth Clarke, and the former attorney
general Dominic Grieve.
Warsi spoke
at length to the new foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, on Sunday and appears
to have held back from resigning on Monday because of the first world war
commemorations.
Instead she
resigned via Twitter just after 9am on Tuesday, coincidentally about three
hours after a three-day ceasefire had come into force.
Both
Hammond and the chancellor, George Osborne, highlighted the timing of her
announcement. Osborne described her decision to quit as "disappointing and
frankly unnecessary", while Hammond said he was slightly surprised she had
quit just as weeks of behind-the-scenes diplomacy was bearing fruit with the
ceasefire.
But Warsi's
resignation broke a dam of criticism of Israel in the Conservative party. Boris Johnson, the London mayor often touted as a future leadership contender,
condemned Israel with the words Cameron has declined to deploy.
"I
believe in a two-state solution. I cannot for the life of me see how this helps
us get there. I think that it is disproportionate, I think it is ugly, and it is
tragic. And I don't think it will do us any good in the long run," Johnson
said.
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