The charity Save the Children has angered the government with a social media post marking Keir Starmer’s impending exit from Downing Street.
The organisation suggested on X that the outgoing prime minister was complicit in the deaths of thousands of civilians in the Israel-Gaza war.
On Tuesday, it posted a mocked up picture of a commemorative blue plaque, which read: “History will not forget complicity. Keir Starmer witnessed 73,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, including 21,000 children, and kept supplying arms to Israel.”
Starmer’s government placed some restrictions on arms sales to Israel in 2024, but stopped short of a complete suspension.
Save the Children’s X post had been viewed more than 300,000 times by Wednesday afternoon. Gaza’s health ministry said this week that more than 73,000 Palestinians have died since the beginning of the conflict on 7 October 2023, after Hamas attacked Israel.
The death toll included 1,000 people who had been killed since the start of a ceasefire in October last year, according to the ministry.
Officials from the Foreign Office are understood to have contacted Save the Children soon after the post went live to demand an explanation.
Tensions have apparently been heightened by the fact the government provides a significant proportion of the charity’s funding. The Guardian understands it has received about £114m since the beginning of 2024.
A government source suggested on Wednesday that the post could increase anxiety among MPs already worried about their security as a result of Ann Widdecombe’s death last week. Counter-terror police said the former Conservative MP, who later joined Reform UK, had been killed in a “targeted attack” and are examining a possible political motive.
“This is deeply irresponsible rhetoric from Save the Children at a time when MPs are already fearful for their safety,” the source said. “This to a prime minister who has recognised the state of Palestine and put so much pressure on other countries to come with us supporting Gaza, making sure we ringfence cash for Palestinians. It’s beyond the pale.”
“Divisive hyperbole and misinformation like this are completely unfitting for a children’s charity,” a minister added. “This kind of language makes the concept of complicity utterly meaningless, which does no favours to the many children at risk of atrocities around the world.”
Save the Children is part of a coalition of 17 humanitarian organisations who issued a joint statement on Wednesday calling on the incoming prime minister, Andy Burnham, to take “decisive action on Gaza and the occupied West Bank” when he takes office next week.
Among its central demands is the complete suspension of arms sales to Israel and the imposition of trade sanctions until alleged breaches of international law are brought to an end.
The group, which includes ActionAid and Amnesty International, also wants the government to publish its response to the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion on aid provision in Gaza and set out a “clear timetable for implementing its recommendations”.
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The court said in October that Israel had a legal obligation to deliver aid to Gaza and had not substantiated its claims that a UN agency for refugees in the territory lacked neutrality or were members of Hamas and other armed groups. Israel rejected the opinion as “political”.
Liz Bradshaw, a senior conflict and humanitarian advocacy adviser at Save the Children UK, said: “For far too long, Palestinian children have endured the devastating consequences of relentless violence, displacement and the destruction of the basic services they need to survive.
“No child should ever wish for death so they can eat in heaven, while other children are asking our staff to include them in photographs so they will be remembered if they are killed. They cannot keep waiting for our leaders to act while their lives, futures and fundamental rights continue to be stripped away by Israel’s ongoing atrocities.
“The incoming prime minister must chart a different course to his predecessor. This means acting decisively to protect Palestinian children, uphold international law, and ensure the UK is not complicit in violations of children’s rights.”
George Graham, the executive director of global impact at Save the Children UK, said: “Our campaign aims to highlight this government’s political legacy of inaction and complicity.
“The government has taken some steps to try to advance the protection of Palestinian children, but these have fallen well below the UK’s moral and legal obligations. This stands in stark contrast to the active measures the government has taken on arms, accountability, and trade in relation to Sudan and Ukraine, for example.
“The incoming government has an opportunity to take a new approach. It must end its complicity by suspending all arms sales to Israel. We recognise that this is a divisive and sensitive issue. The safety of parliamentarians and all those involved in making and shaping policy is paramount.”
Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, defended the government’s record on Gaza when she appeared at the foreign affairs select committee on Tuesday, saying it had suspended the previous government’s negotiations on a trade deal and sanctioned members of the Israeli cabinet.
