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A Labour MP called for the Royal Navy to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza yesterday after accusing the government of continuing to “stand by and do nothing.”
Grahame Morris was one of the almost 60,000 people to sign a petition urging David Cameron to deploy military hospital ship RFA Argus to Gaza.
“We are witnessing a massacre,” said Mr Morris of the events unfolding in the Gaza Strip.
“Without regard for international law or human life, a powerful occupying nation is unleashing its full military might against the civilian population.”
Mr Morris, who is the chairman of Labour Friends of Palestine, demanded that the Prime Minister authorise the expedition to help the more than 10,000 people wounded or injured.
“(The ship) is uniquely designed for this type of necessity and the British government must unilaterally and rapidly deploy RFA Argus to Gaza,” said Mr Morris.
The petition was started by Cornish activists who were tired of seeing the ship harboured in Falmouth when it could be “at the forefront of the humanitarian response.”
Organiser Veronica Vickery said Westminster’s decision to send a team of 15 NHS staff to Gaza was good, but not enough.
With the British medics based in East Jerusalem and the Israeli blockade on Gaza causing more than a fortnight’s delay on crossing the border, Ms Vickery questioned the efficiency of the aid supplied.
And the blame, Mr Morris believed, lay in “the Prime Minister’s silence and inaction.”
The Labour MP’s criticisms come a week after Tory frontbencher Sayeeda Warsi stormed out of Cabinet over the Prime Minister’s “morally indefensible” stance on Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
Since, the Conservatives seem to be at each other throats, with junior foreign minister Mark Simmonds resigning yesterday.
Labour shadow foreign office minister John Spellar responded to the news saying that the resignation of the Boston and Skegness MP “raises further questions about the Prime Minister’s judgment.”
“At a time when the Foreign and Commonwealth Office should be focused both on the crisis in Iraq and the situation in Gaza following the recent appalling violence there, David Cameron’s government instead risks looking increasingly rudderless and characterised by confusion,” Mr Spellar said.
