Over 300 officials at the Foreign Office have just signed a private letter to David Lammy.

Over 300 officials at the Foreign Office have just signed a private letter to David Lammy.

They warned that UK support for Israel was enabling war crimes – and putting staff at legal risk.

Their concerns could send complicit UK politicians to The Hagu

– Continued UK arms sales to Israel
– 15 aid workers killed in March
– Starvation used as a weapon
– Aid blockade on Gaza
– Settlement expansion in the West Bank

They said UK policy was eroding global norms:

They feared the UK could be held accountable under international law, especially those tasked with implementing these decisions.

And what they got back wasn’t reassurance.

It was something far darker:

The reply came from the top: Sir Oliver Robbins and Nick Dyer.

These are the two most senior civil servants in the Foreign Office.

It’s almost certain their response had the blessing of Starmer and Lammy.

And they made one thing painfully clear:

If your disagreement with government policy is profound,” they wrote,

“your ultimate recourse is to resign.”

And they called that “an honourable course.”

That line stunned officials.

But it wasn’t the worst part:

The most chilling line came later:

“The bargain at the heart of the British Civil Service is that we sign up to deliver the policies of the government of the day wholeheartedly…”

Translation: You’re either with us…or against us.

To some, it felt like history repeating:

The 2016 Chilcot Report condemned civil service “groupthink” during the Iraq War.

Warnings ignored. Dissent silenced. Orders followed blindly.

That pattern is emerging again – this time, over Gaza:

One former official has said:

The response gives the government “plausible deniability” for enabling violations of international law.

Another said the civil service had “learned nothing” from Iraq.

Former diplomat Mark Smith put it plainly: