Key Israel Arms Supplier Sponsors Labour Conference Event

One of the key suppliers of weapons to the Israeli military will be sponsoring an event at the upcoming Labour Party conference, Novara Media can reveal.

Northrop Grumman supplies the Israeli military with weapons and missile systems that have reportedly been used against Palestinian civilians. The American firm’s technologies are integrated into Israel’s main weapon systems, including its fighter jets and missile ships.

According to the charity Action On Armed Violence (AOAV), Northrop Grumman has supplied parts for F-35 fighter jets, which have been central to Israel’s military operations. The F-35s, produced primarily by Lockheed Martin but with significant components from Northrop Grumman, are regularly used in strikes across Gaza.

Northrop Grumman will be sponsoring an event at the Labour conference on 23 September, entitled, “A new era of defence: How can Labour address current and future challenges?”, hosted by the New Statesman magazine.

More than 40,000 Palestinians, including more than 14,000 children, have been killed in the Israeli military’s bombardment of Gaza since October 2023, according to recent estimates from the Gaza Health Ministry.

Northrop Grumman’s share price jumped by 11.43% in early October 2023, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the country was “at war” with Hamas following its massacre and kidnapping of Israeli citizens on 7 October.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has applied for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, for alleged war crimes.

Labour’s annual conference hosts dozens of fringe events organised by external groups, which tend to feature a panel of speakers – including a representative from the corporate sponsor. All events hosted within the official conference zone are reviewed and approved by the party, and the New Statesman claims in its 2024 agenda that “no other partnered event will get you as close to the biggest names and most important conversations in Labour politics.”

The New Statesman will also be hosting an event at this year’s conference, which is being held from 22 to 25 September in Liverpool, sponsored by the arms firm Babcock. Between 2008 and 2021 Babcock applied to the UK government for 12 arms export licences to supply weapons, components, or military technology to Israel.

The UK-based company has also previously worked in partnership with Israeli arms companies including Elbit Systems, Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

This is hardly the first time the New Statesman has hosted events by controversial sponsors, with its conference programme usually including a plethora of big corporate players. However, its decision to continue accepting arms-trade money during Israel’s onslaught on Gaza appears to be a particularly heinous violation of the magazine’s notionally progressive values.

“The sponsorship of political events by companies deeply embedded in the international arms trade, especially those linked to conflicts with significant humanitarian concerns, raises critical questions about the intersection of politics, ethics, and commerce,” said Iain Overton, executive director of AOAV. “Given the extensive evidence of arms supplied to Israel being used in Gaza, it’s vital for political entities to consider the implications of accepting such sponsorships.”

Katie Fallon, Campaign Agains the Arms Trade’s advocacy manager said: “The Labour party accepting sponsorship from an arms company like Northrop Grumman that is a major supplier to the Israeli military is unconscionable. It is sadly very much in line with the government’s contradictory and irrational approach to Israel and Palestine. It is also very much indicative of a far too cosy relationship between government and this industry which is responsible for so much death and destruction worldwide.”

The New Statesman also hosted an event sponsored by Babcock at last year’s Labour conference, which featured the party’s then shadow minister for defence procurement Chris Evans, and shadow international trade minister Nia Griffith.

This year’s event focuses on Labour’s “strategic defence and security review”, launched by the new government on 16 July to assess the current state of the armed forces.

Babcock made £1.1 billion from public bodies in the 2022/23 financial year, and holds contracts with the Ministry of Defence to develop submarines and warships.

“The current conflict in Gaza is devastating for everyone affected and we support calls for an end to the hostilities,” a Babcock spokesperson said. “Babcock does not provide defence support or equipment to Israel. We continue to work in collaboration with Israeli suppliers to deliver for our UK Ministry of Defence customer.”

The government this week announced that it would be suspending 30 of its 350 arms export licences with Israel, because there was a risk such equipment might be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law. Foreign secretary David Lammy said the move does not amount to an arms embargo.

The human rights group Amnesty International said that the suspension was “too limited” and “riddled with loopholes”. Amnesty pointed out that the F-35 fighter jet programme has not been suspended by the Labour government, “despite knowing that F-35s are being used extensively in Gaza”.

A former Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) adviser has also accused former Foreign Secretary David Cameron of ignoring advice from officials that there was clear evidence of breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza for which the UK risked being complicit.

Northrop Grumman, Babcock, the New Statesman and the Labour Party have been approached for comment.