The Birmingham Jewish community has written to the government chief whip to say that the formal warning given to Labour MP Tahir Ali over his remarks that the UK should take military action against Israel “does not nearly go far enough”.
In a letter to Anneliese Midgley MP, they said: “We write in relation to Tahir Ali MP’s comments in the House of Commons that the UK should deploy troops against Israel, a British ally and key intelligence, trade and military partner in the region.
“This is the second time he has expressed this opinion…which is a significant threat to the UK’s national security.
“We note your widely reported remarks to Mr Ali MP, that he has received a ‘formal warning’ from you, but we respectfully emphasise that, while welcome, this does not nearly go far enough.”
The group pointed out that Ali had previously made calls in the Commons for the deployment of British troops against Israel.
Speaking on July 22, Ali asked the then foreign secretary if he would “send military personnel to protect Palestinians from the genocide being committed by the IDF?”
During a debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict last week, Ali called for Israel’s “disarmament, given the atrocities that have been committed” in Gaza.
He continued: “Previous governments have intervened in the Middle East to take action on human rights abuses and protect international trade routes. Is it not about time that military action was taken against Israel as well?”
His comments were robustly condemned across the political spectrum.
Former Foreign Office minister Lord Goldsmith labelled Ali a “charlatan”, while Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said he “sounds more like a member of al-Qaeda than a member of the British parliament”.
The Labour Party also repudiated the MP for Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley’s remarks.
A Labour spokesperson told the JC: “Tahir Ali’s comments were unacceptable, and he has issued an unreserved public apology.
“The chief whip has formally warned him and reminded him of the standards of conduct expected of Labour MPs.”
Although he continues to hold the Labour whip, the JC understands formal warnings are rare.
Two days after his intervention in the chamber, Ali issued an apology and deleted a video of it from X that he had shared. “In parliament on Monday, I wrongly gave the impression that I support the use of military force against Israel,” he wrote on X.
“Those are not my views, and I apologise unreservedly. I do not support military action anywhere in the Middle East and have long been a campaigner for peace and conflict resolution.”
But later in the week another MP backed the call for British military intervention in Gaza, saying he would have “absolutely no hesitation” in sending British forces into the enclave to “protect civilians” against the IDF.
Ayoub Khan, the independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, said that he supported UN forces, including British troops, entering the West Bank and Gaza to protect civilians from “oppression, subjugation and murder”.
Replying to Ali’s apology on social media, Khan wrote: “I have absolutely no hesitation supporting UN forces entering the West Bank and Gaza to protect civilians from oppression, subjugation and murder. Frankly, I’d have sent British troops after the IDF killed three British former servicemen delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza,” apparently referring to a 2024 strike on a World Central Kitchen convoy in Gaza.
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