The revelation that an airport in the UK, (Prestwick in Scotland), has been used as a transit station for the transportation of US weapons to Israel has come as ashock to many MPs and commentators. The fact that senior ministers in both the British Government and the Scottish Government have stated that they were unaware of this arrangement begs a number of questions.
First, how long has this practice been going on?
Second, if the Foreign Secretary was unaware of this arrangement, was the Prime Minister, any of his staff, the British Intelligence Services or the Secretary of State for Defence aware that this was happening?
Third, who in the British Government authorised this practice?
Fourth, what assessment was undertaken of the risk to UK interests and indeed the safety of our citizens of allowing the UK to be used in this way?
This incident destroys any last vestige of Tony Blair's claims about the neutrality of his stance between the differing parties in the Middle East. The use of UK soil as an airstrip for the US' role in arming Israel will confirm on the Arab street whose side Tony Blair is really on. More enemies will have been made by this incident and it will serve to confirm yet again in many eyes the subservient relationship between the Blair administration and the Bush regime.
I am calling for a full inquiry into how the US can use our airports to transport weapons to a foreign country in conflict and who in government has given the political go ahead for such an arrangement.
