Former UK Labour party leader lambasts British bases’ role in Gaza

The United Kingdom’s Labour Party’s former leader Jeremy Corbyn engaged in an evisceration of the country’s military bases in Cyprus, asking “what is the purpose, the point of this base other than to support Israel in its illegal occupation of the West Bank and its continued … bombardment of Gaza?”

In an interview with news website the Famagusta Gazette, he said he is “concerned” that the bases “are being used as an intermediary point in flights to Israel by British, and I suspect American planes as well, and are being used for surveillance under Gaza”.

“It is very unclear where the information is going,” he added, saying that a number of British MPs have asked that the information collected, if any, be handed over to the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes.

Asked whether the bases do otherwise contribute to stability in the Middle East region, he asked two questions of his own: “what do they mean by security and stability coming from those bases?”, and “what are the bases actually being used for at the present time?”

“If you want to achieve peace across the region, that means primarily dealing with the issue facing the Palestinian people, which means an end to the occupation and an end to the bombardment of Gaza. British bases have supported what Israel has been doing in its illegal activities in Gaza and the West Bank,” he said.

He added, “that, to me, is the whole reason why we have to question their whole use and purpose”.

He then delved into the history of British overseas military installations, pointing out that in the 1960s, the country’s then prime minister Harold Wilson had withdrawn British troops from many parts of the world to focus on joint Nato operations, which were at the time primarily located in the Atlantic Sea and in Europe.

“Britain had closed its bases in a number of other places including Aden [in modern day Yemen], including Singapore … and so to me, the base [in Cyprus] was an anomaly, and I also think that it is strange that there should be British sovereign bases in what is, albeit divided, but what is an independent country in Cyprus,” he said.

Asked what he thinks would happen if the bases were to close, he said the British troops currently stationed in Cyprus would “obviously be stationed in other places, and that has happened whenever bases have closed around the world”.

He added, “no bases are for all time”.

He went on to say that the closure of the bases “would have to be done by agreement with the Cypriot government of the day”, but said that given how he perceives the Republic of Cyprus’ typical stance in terms of relations with its neighbours, this would be advantageous for the country.

“It seems to me that the role Cyprus has always wanted to play in the region has been one of peace and support for people, and maybe the facilities at the bases could be used for a lot of other things as well,” he said.

However, he said that this stance may have been damaged by the British government’s use of the bases since Israel’s military offensive in Gaza began in October 2023.

“I think the experience of the past 18 months, of this continual flying over Gaza by RAF and I suspect American planes as well has really put Cyprus into a position where, whether it likes it or not, it’s facilitating the most awful things that are going on in Gaza,” he said.

Corbyn led the Labour Party between 2015 and 2020 and was expelled from the party last year after not being permitted to stand as the party’s candidate in the London constituency of Islington North which he has represented since 1983. He was re-elected as an independent MP at last year’s general election.