Row over Burnley aero parts jobs breaks out in Gaza debate

The call came as a Labour councillor warned such a ban could hit the jobs and wallets of local aerospace workers.

A bitter argument broke out over Gannow ward's Cllr Gemma Haigh's remarks as Burnley's Full Council voted to write to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calling for the embargo as the conflict between Israel and Hamas approaches its one-year milestone.

A group of Labour councillors quit the party in Burnley following the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas and the subsequent response by Israel, seizing control of the council as an independent group.

Moving the motion, Coalclough with Deerplay Liberal Democrat Cllr Gordon Birtwistle said: "Gaza has become a massive wasteland where 50,000 innocent men, women and children and babies have been killed.

Labour Cllr Gemma Haigh pointed out many jobs in Burnley rely on the aerospace and military industry and a sales embargo could put those at risk"The majority of them have been killed by missile attacks fired by F35 fighter jets 35,000 feet in the sky.

"On the television last week there was a little girl sat on her father's knee in a barber's shop. Four years old.

"She was smiling. Thirty seconds later she was dead.

"She was taken out by a missile fired from an F35 fighter. This is an outrage.

"That little girl did nothing wrong sat on her father's knee in that barber's shop.

"She's been taken out by a missile fired from 35,000 feet in the air delivered by an F35 fighter where parts of that aeroplane are made in our constituency."

Lib Dem Cllr Gordon Birtwistle moved a motion calling for a ban on arms sales to Israel Labour's Cllr Haigh said: "A fresh review of arms sales was undertaken in July and the legal advice given to the government was that 30 licences out of out of 350 might be used to violate international humanitarian law.

"Nobody in this chamber wants to see British made arms being used for that purpose but the licences were for things such as components for fighter jets and targeting equipment and drones.

"The remaining licences are for trainer aircraft, naval equipment, telecoms and data equipment.

Fighting has been going on between Israel and Hamas for almost 12 months "The government cannot put out a blanket arms embargo.

"I can't support a motion calling for an arms embargo without evidence to back it up legally, especially whilst aerospace is a huge employer for us in our constituency.

"Yes the arms are being made here - but that's how many people are paying their bills."

Whittlefield with Ightenhill Conservative Cllr Don Whitaker said: "Cllr Haigh mentioned that people have bills to pay from arms sales.

"I find that genuinely abhorrent. An elected representative is placing paying bills above selling arms that are killing people."

Cllr Haigh said: "I didn't say that people have bills to pay and that therefore it doesn't matter that arms made in our constituency are being made to harm people.

"What I said was that the remaining licences are for things such as trainer aircraft, naval equipment, telecoms and data equipment and the government would not be able to legally remove these at the moment.

"I am not saying that we should send arms to Israel because people have got bills to pay."

Cllr Birtwistle said: "I equally am horrified at Cllr Haigh. I wouldn't want my bills to be paid by the blood of that little girl in the barber's shop."