This afternoon Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill was first out of the traps to support the Gaza (independent public inquiry) Bill being introduced in parliament by former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Mr Corbyn, MP for Islington North since 1983 announced today that ‘MPs must decide: will you support our call for an inquiry into the UK’s complicity in genocide, or will you block our attempts to uncover the truth?’
In a statement on his Facebook page he called for the establishment of an inquiry:
…into UK involvement in Israeli operations in Gaza, to require the inquiry to consider any UK military, economic or political cooperation with Israel since October 2023, including the sale, supply or use of weapons, surveillance aircraft and Royal Air Force bases; to provide the inquiry with the power to question Ministers and officials about decisions taken in relation to UK involvement; and for connected purposes.
Under Standing Order no. 23, Mr Corbyn is allowed up to 20 minutes to introduce the bill. His announcement was followed a few minutes later by a message of support from Clapham and Brixton Hill’s Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP who stated:
I’m supporting Jeremy Corbyn’s bill calling for an independent public inquiry into the UK’s role in the Gaza genocide. The public deserve to know exactly how the British government has supported Israel for the last 20 months.
This is the first parliamentary vote on the situation in Gaza since the general election and the first opportunity MPs have had throughout the conflict to commit to action in law. We must take it.
Brixton Buzz reached out to the three other local MPs to ask if they will be voting with their Clapham colleague to support Corbyn.
We are awaiting responses as this article goes live, but we’re hopeful the bill will get support from Vauxhall and Camberwell Green’s Florence Eshalomi MP, given her March 20th statement on social media, where she said:
Israel’s breaches of the ceasefire in Gaza are totally unacceptable. Leadership requires us to be honest and tell the truth about what we are seeing.
The Buzz is also still to hear whether MP for Dulwich and West Norwood Helen Hayes will accept the invitation from West Norwood 4 Palestine to attend an urgent meeting tomorrow evening to discuss ‘divesting Lambeth Council’s Local Government Pension Scheme’.
In their open letter to Hayes the group pointed out that:
The ongoing genocide on Gaza has seen more than 50,000 people be killed, many of them children. The true figure is thought to be much higher. Currently 14,000 babies are facing imminent starvation.
As far as we can see, both Hayes and her South London colleague Steve Reed MP for Streatham and Croydon North have been silent on the genocide, although we would love to be proved wrong.
More info:
West Norwood 4 Palestine’s urgent meeting
Find your local Palestinian Solidarity Campaign
