The former shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has said the government should be ‘nowhere near’ banning a Palestinian activist group responsible for criminal damage. 

Speaking in a Westminster hall debate, McDonnell who had the Labour whip suspended for voting against the government in July, criticised the use of counter-terror legislation against activists from Palestine Action, who he said: “took direct action to close down an arms factory that was supplying goods and materials for the F-35 and the drones. Those people were arrested under counter-terrorism powers and detained. They are young people, a lot of them young women—some of them just starting out at university. They exercised their influence and power because we failed to exercise ours.”

Although he was reminded by debate chair Carolyn Harris MP that talking about a specific case was sub judice, he clarified that he was: “raising the issue of the process itself, which is the use of counter-terrorism powers against direct action groups.”

He also criticised the previous Conservative government who he said “even came forward with proposals and discussions about proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation”, and added, “I hope this Government are not going anywhere near that.”

Parliamentarians, including several Labour MPs, also demanded that the government stop the sales of parts of the F35 fighter jet to Israel.

Labour’s Liam Byrne MP, chair of the Business Select Committee, said that he could not “see how this government can now legally defend a position of keeping these arms export licences open”.

Labour MP Helen Hayes criticised her own party and said the government’s position on the “F-35 licences is not defensible.”

John McDonnell MP, who served as shadow chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn, lamented that: “We are still supplying essential parts for the F-35—the very vehicle that is dropping the bombs, firing the weapons and killing the children.”

Iqbal Mohamed, a pro-Gaza independent MP who represents Dewsbury and Batley, said that by selling F-35 components to Israel, “the government are culpable in the mass murder taking place.”

Responding to the arguments made in the debate on behalf of the government, Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer said that: “to bring down the F-35 programme would have significance to international peace and security and to our broader strategic role in NATO, and would affect Western equipment support for Ukraine.”

As part of an agreement with the US, Italy, Canada, Israel and a total of 19 international partners, British defence firm BAE systems produces an estimated 15 per cent of part in each jet for the F-35 programme.

The parts the UK supplies for the manufacture of the jet, are for the use of all partners on the programme.

In August, several defence experts, including former defence Minister Lord Spellar, warned about the severe international and domestic consequences for the UK a withdrawal from the F-35 programme, as a result of sanctions on Israel, could have.

The debate took place in response to 283,000 signatures on a petition demanding that the government “recognise the state of Palestine immediately” and another, with over 107,000 signatures, demanding the government “revoke all licences for arms exports to Israel”.

Overwhelmingly, MPs used the occasion to criticise Israel.

Another pro-Gaza independent MP, Ayoub Khan, accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza.

Although, early on in the debate, DUP MP Jim Shannon told the audience that “peace cannot co-exist with the likes of Hamas” and that “Any discussion of a future Palestinian state must begin with the dismantling of terrorist organisations that perpetuate hatred and violence.”

Labour MP Mike Tapp, who represents Dover and Deal, also took on his colleagues who were demanding a tougher arms embargo on Israel.

He said that it would only be “a largely symbolic gesture, with little practical impact on the situation in Gaza”, adding that, “It would also undermine our credibility as a security partner in the region and send the wrong messages to adversaries, including Iran.”