Alan Duncan cleared of anti-Semitism over attack on UK Tories over Israel

Former UK foreign and development minister says he was 'totally exonerated' by disciplinary panel

Former Conservative minister Alan Duncan said he had been 'totally exonerated' after a three-month investigation into his comments. Tim Stickings / The National

Former UK minister Alan Duncan has been cleared of anti-Semitism after accusing senior pro-Israeli Conservatives of “exercising the interests of another country”.

Mr Duncan said on Tuesday that he had been the victim of a “McCarthyite witch-hunt” after calling for two members of the Conservative Friends of Israel to be expelled from the House of Lords.

In a complaint he blamed on “invisible forces” in the party, it was alleged Mr Duncan had invoked the anti-Semitic trope of Jews being loyal to Israel rather than to their own country.

But a Conservative disciplinary panel ruled his comments were “not anti-Semitic” and “did not go beyond political debate”.

It said Mr Duncan had criticised the two peers for their pro-Israeli politics and had not raised the fact that one of them, Lord Polak, is Jewish. The second, Lord Pickles, is not Jewish. During his comments in the April radio interview, Mr Duncan made no further distinction.

Mr Duncan also accused the Conservative Friends of Israel of “doing the bidding” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He said the group had “undue influence at the top of government” and that Lord Polak was among those giving “appalling advice” to then prime minister Rishi Sunak.

But the Conservative Friends of Israel “does not hold itself out to be a Jewish organisation” and it “must be possible to scrutinise” its influence, the panel said in a 12-page judgment. It said Mr Duncan did not allege a Jewish conspiracy.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Duncan – an outspoken pro-Palestinian voice in the Conservative Party – said he had been “totally exonerated” and “will not be bullied or silenced”.

“Where anti-Semitism genuinely exists, it should be ruthlessly called out. But it should not be artificially used to divert attention from legitimate comment on Israel,” he said.

“The attacks on me have been vexatious and unjustified, as the panel concluded clearly.”

Mr Duncan also attacked the party's disciplinary process, saying no formal complaint had ever been lodged but that one was taken forward as a “political decision by invisible actors”.

“What we have seen is a perfect example of the underhand collusion that has existed for so long between immoderate defenders of Israeli extremism and figures at the top of the Conservative Party,” he said.

His comments in the April interview were criticised by groups including the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, which called for his expulsion from the party.

The National Jewish Assembly said its chairman, Gary Mond, had quit the Conservatives over their “failure to sanction” Mr Duncan.

“Anti-Semitism must be taken seriously by political parties and the failure of the Tories to deal with this issue is a great shame and problem,” it said.

Labour hopes

A former foreign and development minister, Mr Duncan told The National in a recent interview that Britain's “weak and naive” stance on Israel had damaged its standing in the world.

On Tuesday he said “money, improper influence, and the promotion of Israeli interests above our own” had contributed to “the destruction of the UK’s independent foreign policy”.

Despite saying he would remain a Conservative member, he said that the election of Keir Starmer's Labour government had “injected some rays of hope” into the Middle East debate.

Asked by The National about victories for independent pro-Gaza MPs, he said they reflected a lack of discussion of the war and concern that the major parties were “lukewarm” towards Palestinian statehood.

“On the Conservative Party, if you read the manifesto, there was almost nothing about foreign policy whatsoever. The words in the Labour manifesto were very much better,” Mr Duncan said.

“It is to be hoped that the Prime Minister’s own record as a human rights lawyer will inspire him to be courageous and principled.”

Although Labour now supports a ceasefire, its initial hesitation to do so rankled with many and the party suffered a startling loss of support in areas of the UK with a large Muslim population.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on his first official visit to Palestine that Britain supports an “irreversible pathway” to statehood.

Mr Lammy is also considering a resumption of UK payments to UNRWA, the aid agency that had funding paused by some donors over some staff's alleged links to Hamas.

The Conservatives, who were reduced to 121 MPs at the election, will soon hold a leadership election as they begin life in opposition.

Mr Duncan said he would regard two potential contenders, former home secretaries Suella Braverman and Priti Patel, as unacceptable due to their pro-Israeli views.

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Ms Braverman last year referred to pro-Palestinian rallies in Britain as “hate marches”, while Ms Patel resigned from the cabinet in 2017 over unauthorised meetings with Israeli leadership.

“Suella Braverman is just off the scale on this. Describing lawful marches in defence of Palestinian justice as hate marches was contemptible,” Mr Duncan said.

Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick is “a bit better, but not much”, Mr Duncan said. “The line-up is looking very, very questionable.”