The vice chair of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) has been found in breach of parliamentary rules, after failing to declare an all-expenses-paid trip to Israel.
Labour MP Peter Prinsley has now admitted he didn’t mention the trip because he was “attempting to avoid potential accusations of bias”. Yet a report by the parliamentary standards commissioner, published last week, concluded that the omission was “inadvertent” and accepted Prinsley’s apology. It marks the second time in the last 12 months that the MP has breached parliamentary rules over his failure to declare the trip to Israel.
Last year, he blamed the omission on an “administrative error” by one of his staff members.
The latest incident came when Prinsley was invited to declare his interests before the Home Affairs select committee last year, which was hearing evidence about the police ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans. But instead of mentioning his involvement with LFI, he simply said: “I’m a Jewish Labour MP.”
He has now admitted: “I believed that stating I was a Jewish MP effectively encompassed and signalled the related matters that might reasonably be inferred from that fact – including my association with Labour Friends of Israel and my visits to Israel.”
He added: “Although perhaps not a fully formed thought, I was concerned that my links to Israel such as they are […] might prompt unfair suggestions that I could not be objective in my questioning. Such allegations have been made against me before, and I accept that this concern may have influenced my judgment.” RELATED Israel lobby funded a quarter of British MPs While there, the delegation posed for a picture with President Isaac Herzog, who a UN commission has concluded “incited the commission of genocide” in Gaza.
But when Declassified questioned Prinsley at the Labour Party Conference in September, he told us he had “no idea” if voters would care about his meeting with Herzog.
“I really don’t know that they’d be interested in it, to be quite honest,” he said.
And when asked why he went, the MP said: “I was asked to go. I just do as I’m told.”
He also declined to describe Israel’s assault on Gaza as a genocide, saying: “I’m not an expert on this stuff.” Vice chair As a member of the Home Affairs select committee, Prinsley contributed to a controversial report that condemned West Midlands Police for banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.
Less than 24 hours after the committee hearing in December, it was announced that the MP had also been appointed as vice chair of Labour Friends of Israel. Along with the trip to Israel, this role had not been disclosed to the hearing the previous day.
However, the parliamentary standards commissioner refused to investigate whether this omission also amounted to a breach of the rules, telling Declassified there was “insufficient evidence to support the complaint”. It’s believed that this was due to the fact the formal announcement came after the committee hearing – even though it is likely Prinsley would have been aware of the appointment in advance.
LFI has previously described itself as “a Westminster based lobby group working within the British Labour Party to promote the State of Israel,” and has funded dozens of British politicians to travel to Israel.
But it has repeatedly refused to disclose where its money comes from, other than to deny that it is funded by the Israeli government.
Seven ministers – including Rachel Reeves and David Lammy – have each stated they are a “member” of the group in the List of Ministerial Interests. Meanwhile, the trade secretary, Peter Kyle, also claimed to be an LFI “member” at an event earlier this year, but has not formally declared.
Last month, Declassified repeatedly asked Kyle whilst he walked between meetings in Whitehall why he had not declared his LFI membership, particularly given his responsibility for arms exports to Israel.
He did not respond.
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