FOREIGN OFFICE documents from then-foreign secretary James Cleverly’s 2023 Israel visit show the British government likes Israeli arms firm Elbit precisely because its kit is proven by war on Gaza.

Cleverly went on a two-day trip to Israel in September 2023, including visiting the Israeli Air Force’s Palmachim air base.

This January I asked the Foreign Office (FCDO) for papers on the trip under freedom of information rules.

FCDO told me my request was “a priority” but then took 10 months to hand over any documents. FCDO said they “apologise for the length of time” it took to answer the inquiry. Some papers were withheld for “national security” reasons.

The original press release for Cleverly’s trip emphasised the “thriving military-to-military relationship” between Britain and Israel, emphasising Cleverly would inspect Elbit’s drones on the trip.

The briefing papers are even keener on drones. Cleverly’s briefing enthuses about his “opportunity to witness cutting-edge Israeli capabilities in tackling and responding to security threats,” visiting a simulator for one of Elbit’s Hermes 450 drones, which fly from the Palmachim airbase “mostly along the Egyptian Border, Gaza and overseas.”

Britain also had a fleet of Hermes 450 drones, but as the documents note, the RAF version was an unarmed surveillance drone.

By contrast Cleverly’s briefing said: “It is worth noting that Hermes 450 flying from Palmachim can be armed and it is probable that they have been used to strike terrorist targets in Gaza in the past” — Elbit’s kit being involved in active lethal fighting over Gaza is seen as a very attractive feature by the British Foreign Office.

These drones had also killed civilians even before the current Gaza war: missiles from Elbit’s drones killed civilians in Operation Cast Lead in 2008. A notorious missile attack that killed four Palestinian children on a Gaza beach in 2014 was also launched from an Elbit drone.

But Elbit’s drones being war-proven is a plus point for a British government interested in military hardware.

Some of the briefing notes for Cleverly were written by an unnamed official who says he can’t be on the trip because “I am in the UK with an Israeli delegation to DSEI.” DSEI is Britain’s largest arms fair, a biennial showcase of drones, rockets, guns, bombs and  tanks that takes place in London’s Docklands.

This note suggests the Foreign Office see this arms trade — either selling to, or buying from, Israel — as very important. Cleverly was met on the visit by Israel’s then-foreign minister Eli Cohen. The papers say Cohen was “eager to demonstrate the importance of the UK bilateral relationship.”

The documents suggest Britain saw that relationship as all about Israel’s military strength and exciting weapons.

Since Cleverly’s visit there have been big changes, including the October 7 Hamas attacks, Israel’s war on Gaza and Britain’s 2024 election.

Britain also recently abandoned its fleet of Elbit drones for not being “advanced” enough — in part because unlike Israel’s, they are unarmed. However, despite these changes Britain’s interest in Israel as a military power with an exciting arms industry endures.

Tom Watson’s sordid post-Labour career

IN NOVEMBER former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson announced he was now an adviser to Palantir UK, British arm of the controversial US tech firm that wants NHS , defence and other public services contracts.

It was another example of how Watson, who was lauded by the press for rallying the “centre left” against Corbyn supporters in the Labour Party is really committed to getting in bed with the worst possible companies.

Between 2017 and 2020 the media used to pretend Watson was deeply committed to pushing  “social democratic values” against the “extremism” of Corbyn. But it looks like those values included outsourcing to US companies and deregulation.

Palantir is a defence-oriented IT company set up by right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel,  a major supporter of Donald Trump. Watson, who now sits in the Lords as a baron, announced on his Lords Register of Interests that he is now a “Member, Public Services Advisory Board, Palantir UK Ltd.”

Palantir wants to win NHS contracts in Britain. Critics worry that Palantir wants to get its hands on NHS data, which could be commercially exploited by drug firms.

Thiel, a free market fundamentalist, told the Oxford Union in January 2023 that British commitment to the NHS was “Stockholm syndrome” — the name for when hostages get too dependent on their kidnappers.

As well as likening the NHS to a kidnapper, Thiel said that “the NHS makes people sick” because free healthcare creates dependency. He doesn’t share the values of the NHS, but he wants to squeeze value for his firm from our health service. He is just the kind of guy Watson wants to work for.

And who will work with Watson? Palantir UK’s local boss is “senior vice-president – UK and Europe,” Louis Mosley. Mosley is in charge of “Palantir's business in UK & Ireland, including Palantir’s UK government engagements.” Louis is a former Conservative councillor who is also the grandson of British fascist leader Oswald Mosley,

Palantir is very happy to throw money at “political insiders” who in turn are happy to work for the firm. Palantir is a lobbying client of Global Counsel, Peter Mandelson’s consulting firm that offers to help corporations who “see opportunities in politics.”

Watson, Mosley, Mandelson — what a bunch we find working for Palantir.

And how absurd do the pretences that Watson was a “social democrat” who wanted to help the party look now we see his post-Labour career.

Watson is also a paid adviser to Flutter, a gambling giant with a history of multimillion-pound fines for exploiting problem gamblers.

At the time the Labour left said the “centrists” trying to undermine Corbyn were really interested in privatisation, deregulation and their own corporate careers.

Mainstream pundits wouldn’t countenance these arguments. Watson seems keen to prove the left was correct with his own lucrative “consultancies.”