It is difficult to think of worse timing than the Foreign Secretary announcing a partial embargo of arms exports to Israel at the very moment that the families of the hostages murdered by Hamas were burying them.

It was hard not to see this as a purely political move, aimed at voters at home. Israel buys less than one per cent of its arms from the UK and the embargo affects less than ten per cent of the licences granted by the UK for export. The decision to suspend these licences will make no difference to the IDF’s ability to purchase the equipment it needs to defend Israel from terror. But it threatens to affect the political and diplomatic climate, not least by sending a message to Iran that one of Israel’s allies has punished the Jewish state over its response to Hamas brutality.

As the Chief Rabbi put it, David Lammy’s statement on Monday “will not help to secure the release of the remaining 101 hostages, nor contribute to the peaceful future we wish and pray for, for all people in the region and beyond”. Perhaps it was rather intended to quell unrest among Labour MPs who oppose Israel’s right to defend itself and to shore up support among those Muslim voters who might be tempted to desert Labour. But while those sorts of politics might have been appropriate when the party was in opposition, this is no way to govern.

Let us hope that in the coming weeks and months, wiser heads prevail as Labour finds its feet and we will see the return of sound foreign policy.