THE Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow has overwhelmingly backed a ban on arms sales to Israel, as it stood in solidarity with the people of Palestine.

A motion, tabled by Cunningham South Constituency Labour Party (CLP) with the support of Glasgow Kelvin CLP, condemned US President Donald Trump’s stated intention to “own” Gaza and his claim that Palestinians had “no right to live there.”

It went on to argue that these plans amount to ethnic cleansing under UN and other international treaties in a land already in the midst of a genocide.

Urging Britain’s Labour government to heed the calls of Palestinian civil society — including trade unions — for states such as Britain to “end all complicity with Israel’s crimes,” it demanded the government support the people of Palestine in their quest for self-determination and block any actions to drive them from Gaza.

The motion went on to explicitly demand an end to all arms sales to Israel amid what it termed “the genocidal actions of Benjamin Netanyahu,” an end to all public funding for any companies who supply part to Israeli war machine, and for Britain to ban all trade with “illegal Israeli settlements.”

Celebrating the victory, Campaign for Socialism secretary and Glasgow Kelvin CLP delegate Peter Duffy told the Star: “Pressure from left-wing members and trade unions has moved Scottish Labour from a position in October 2023 when it banned internal debate on Gaza, to one where it supports not just a complete arms embargo, but also an end to trade with illegal Israeli settlements.

“We will keep up the fight to show solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for the creation of a Palestinian state.”