Call over British aid to PA

A LABOUR MP has urged the government to send a “clear, transparent signal” to the Palestinian Authority over its alleged misuse of UK aid money.

Ian Austin, MP for Dudley North, expressed concern after the Department for International Development (DfID) released its “Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU) with the PA, which sets out the conditions under which aid is provided.

The document pledged a total of up to £287 million in support of Palestinian development from 2013 to March 2016.

It stated that the UK government’s “statebuilding and development partnership” with the PA “is based on adherence to a Palestinian political programme which upholds the principle of non-violence.”

Mr Austin, who lobbied for the release of the document, has written to Priti Patel, Secretary of State for International Development, asking for clarification about current arrangements governing DfID aid to the PA.

He also asked whether “potential breaches by the PA of the principle of non-violence”, including the use of aid money to pay salaries to convicted terrorists, had been raised by the department.

Mr Austin, who is a supporter of Labour Friends of Israel, said: “There are very serious questions about the actions of the PA…

“Whatever behind-closed-doors conversations DfiD has or hasn’t been having don’t seem to have been working. It’s time, in the words of the MOU itself, for DfID to send a ‘clear, transparent signal’ that our government will hold the PA to the commitments to which it has signed up.”