18/06/2026
Parliament is due to debate Israeli influence in British politics on Monday, after more than 117,000 people signed a petition calling for an inquiry.
The Labour government has flatly rejected the call – perhaps because numerous members of the cabinet have accepted large donations from the pro-Israel lobby.
Or perhaps it’s because at least 24 ministers, including 12 members of the cabinet, have joined Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), a Zionist lobby group that funds trips to the apartheid state for UK politicians.
LFI has removed a list of MPs who support it from its website, but the names previously published there are still accessible online.
As of May, there were 122 people holding ministerial posts in the UK government, of whom 23 are cabinet members. That means that just under 20% of all ministers and 52% of the cabinet are known to have supported LFI. Here are their names.
Keir
Starmer
The prime minister has defended Israel's use of starvation tactics in Gaza, saying it has the right to cut off water, food and power to the strip's civilian population. He accepted a £50,000 donation from pro-Israel tycoon Trevor Chinn for his Labour leadership run.
Bridget Phillipson
Education secretary
Phillipson has accepted £60,000 from the Israel lobby, according to figures from Declassified UK.
Peter Kyle
Business secretary
Kyle is a former honorary vice-chair of LFI. In 2025 he called the police on a constituent who emailed him expressing her opposition to the genocide in Gaza, alleging she acted abusively. The case was dismissed by a judge this week.
Pat McFadden
Work and pensions secretary
In 2024, more than a year after Israel began its mass slaughter of civilians in Gaza, McFadden, a former LFI vice-chair, said the UK "will always support Israel's right to defend itself".
Liz Kendall
Science secretary
Kendall said in 2015 that recognising Palestine as a state was "not the right thing to do". She has failed to sign letters calling for sanctions and an arms embargo in Israel and for the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hilary Benn
Northern Ireland secretary
Angela Eagle
Minister of state (security)
Michael Shanks
Minister of state (energy)
Photos: UK Parliament
Darren Jones
Chief secretary to the prime minister
Christian Wakeford
Junior lord of the treasury
Stephen Morgan
Minister of state (environment)
Steve Reed
Housing secretary
Karin Smyth
Minister of state for health
Taiwo Owatemi
Junior lord of the treasury
Jonathan Reynolds
Parliamentary secretary to the treasury
Chris Bryant
Minister of state (trade)
Alison McGovern
Minister of state (local government and homelessness)
Photos: UK Parliament
Keir Mather
Parliamentary under-secretary of state
Diana Johnson
Minister of state (employment)
Chris Elmore
Parliamentary under-secretary of state
Lilian Greenwood
Parliamentary under-secretary of state
Preet Kaur Gill Parliamentary under-secretary of state
Rachel Reeves and Yvette Cooper chancellor zach, eves od a Labs triede of srael,
event: "I will be here for you this year, next year, and the year after that - I will always be with you. As a friend of Israel."
In her previous role as home secretary, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper banned peaceful direct action group Palestine Action, leading to thousands of arrests of nonviolent protesters expressing their support for the group.
Photos: Number 10 | Foreign, Commonwealth.
David Lammy and Dan Jarvis
The deputy prime minister received £30,000 from Trevor Chinn for his failed 2015 campaign to be London's mayor and £2,550 from Labour Friends of Israel for a "hi-tech industry fact-finding visit" to Israel in 2012.
Newly-appointed defence secretary Dan Jarvis voted to ban Palestine Action, as well as failing to sign letters calling for sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel and for the UK to uphold the ICC arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu. Jarvis received £13,500 from Trevor Chinn between 2016 and 2018.
Photos: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office | Home
Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting
While not a current member of the cabinet, Burnham could soon become prime minister if he wins the Makerfield byelection, and then a Labour leadership vote.
He joined LF in 2015, the same year as his previous leadership bid, and said efforts to boycott Israel were
"spiteful". Earlier this month he refused to call Israel's killings in Gaza a genocide.
And let's not forget the former health secretary and Burnham's potential leadership rival, Wes Streeting.
A longstanding supporter of LFI, Streeting took £15,000 from Trevor Chinn between 2021 and 2025 and has accepted roughly £30,000 in pro-Israel donations overall.