Mick Lynch has come under fire for appearing to compare Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to the slave trade.
The general secretary of the RMT union said a decision by David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, to end some arms sales to the Jewish state was akin to the liberation of some slaves in the nineteenth century.
Last week the Government announced it was suspending 30 out of around 350 arms licences to Israel, which was condemned as “shameful” by Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s prime minister.
Mr Lynch’s comments were branded “deeply offensive” and Labour has been urged to distance itself from them.
Speaking at a pro-Palestine fringe event at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) conference, Mr Lynch said: “I saw David Lammy making this major intervention last week. Some licences will not be renewed or will be revoked. Some licences, what was it? 30 out of 150 or something of that number?