THE election campaign is well under way. But from the coverage and the speeches it would be hard to know that this country is at war on three fronts, in Gaza, Ukraine and Yemen.

International events have not featured at all in the political debate.

Of course, voters have a right to know what the political leaders are offering on domestic policy — it is vital to them, and the interests of their loved ones and communities. But there is a large gap, at least currently, where a debate about this country’s foreign policy ought to be. 

This is all the more strange when the violence in Gaza is widely described as ethnic cleansing or even genocide. 

For much of the world, there is no more important issue on the planet right now than what is happening in Gaza. I mean that in a profound way.

Of course, people in this country quite rightly care about their public services, the cost of living and housing and so on. They demand answers on these questions, and are right to do so.

But the people of Gaza cannot get food at any price. Their homes have been destroyed, often along with their loved ones. Hospitals have been deliberately targeted so there are no public services.

This matters to us all, and not simply because it elicits our sympathy or even outrage and the sympathy of any decent person. It matters to us all in a number of direct ways. Because our government supports the Israeli assault on the people of Gaza, as well as the murders in the West Bank. 

Both the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice have said there is evidence that may amount to war crimes. The issue of genocide still hangs in the air. 

We must say, not in our name. This country offers aerial and naval support to Israel, along with military intelligence and supplies weaponry to it.

Of course, all of this is only a tiny fraction of what the US supplies it. Yet it is all a contribution to the Israeli war machine and has a material impact on politics in this country. A negative impact.

Second, every penny of support we give to this killing spree is being taken from other, far worthier causes.

There is no money left, we are repeatedly told. No money for free school meals, or for Sure Start, or to remove the two-child benefit cap. But there is money to help Israel, there is money for an increased budget at the Ministry of Defence. 

So, there is clearly a choice. The choice being made is to help Israel. Right now, British government foreign policy is making people here worse off.

Third, there is the sheer carnage. It is happening on a vast scale nightly on our TV screens and it is seemingly without end. These type of massacres have occurred before, but not in the same concentrated area and not with the same extraordinarily rapid loss of life. 

The carnage has happened before in Iraq. Thanks to Britain the US and the Saudis, it is also happening in Yemen. It has happened all over the globe. It has happened throughout history; it happened too in Vietnam.

But, here, there is a crucial difference, and one that ought to be important for the political debate, especially the political debate within the general election campaign.

Vietnam was bombarded mercilessly and criminally for years on end, as were both Laos and Cambodia, who were non-combatants but categorised by US administrations as collateral damage. Estimates of the death toll vary, but range over three million.

People in the region are still dying or contract cancers because of the what the US and its allies did.

But Britain was not one of them. This is a crucial difference. There was no official support from Britain for the US bombing campaign or its ground war. (Given the inherent secrecy of the British state we may never how much covert support may have been given). 

Yet the point remains: Britain can sit out US wars and the heavens do not fall in. Life continues, even the “special relationship,” whatever that really means, survived.

It is not compulsory for Britain to participate in US-driven wars.

Take another, contrary example. It is widely reported that George Bush told Tony Blair that he understood if Blair could not get the support for the Iraq war through the Commons. It was Blair’s determination to be on the side of the US that was his motivation and let to his war-at-all-costs approach, dodgy dossiers included.

The decision to wage war on Iraq was a shameful episode. It contributed to the eventual downfall of the Labour government. It poisoned our politics for years and eventually led to 14 years of Tory rule. A lot of people died.

So, British prime ministers do have a choice. To return to the present day, we can choose not to go along with the US and Israel in these massacres. Britain is no longer a major world power, so at most it can only join with others in preventing wars. But that is a contribution we should make.

That is foreign policy choice we can make. They can fight their own wars, but we can aim to stop Britain joining in the fighting.

PS The trials and tribulations of the Labour left currently are important mainly in this context. It is important that there is a voice arguing for peace not war. It is important too that there is a voice for equality not discrimination, and prosperity not austerity.

There will come a time when I can say much more on these struggles, including my own, but now is not that time. But readers of this newspaper can be assured that they will get a full account, because voices for peace, social justice and equality will not be silenced.