Govt Caught Using Loophole To KEEP ARMING ISRAEL!

Right, so should it be of any surprise that the government of Keir Starmer and the equally pro Israel government of Rishi Sunak before him have allowed a loophole in the UK arms export industry to not only be created, but allowed to remain in place as it has now been blown wide open thanks once again to the brilliant investigative journalism of Declassified UK. Of course this loophole has been used to benefit one foreign state recipient of UK military expertise, of course it was going to be Israel, but what the UK has been caught supplying parts for, or allowing the supply of parts for, might just have nailed on British complicity in Middle Eastern genocide more blatantly and clearly than anything else and for all of those suspended export licences that the British government enforced, a loophole like this not only exposes them doing the bare minimum at the time, but may have enabled further exploitation – one instance has come to light now, but how many more might there be? Clearly an independent investigation into UK arms exports needs to be done, but what are the chances of that ever happening when all they need do is pleased national security to block it? We deserve to know what our governments do in our name, especially when we know they support the oppressor against the oppressed when it comes to Israel and Gaza, so how can we trust them when news like this comes to light?
Right, so here we go again with UK arms exports to Israel it seems, because if you don’t want people to know you’re supplying military bits a pieces that may be used against the civilian populace of Gaza, then it seems simply not licensing it is the way to go, or at least it was until Declassified UK did what they are so good at and exposed it anyway. The scandal they have unearthed has laid bare the extent of the United Kingdom’s complicity in Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza possibly more blatantly than anything to date, because there is no hiding from it or denying it. At the centre of this revelation is a small, Dorset-based company, RCV Engines Ltd, whose logo was spotted on the casing of Israel’s latest quadcopter attack drone, the APUS 25, by investigative journalists at Declassified UK. Manufactured by the Israeli state-owned arms giant Israel Aerospace Industries, or IAI, the APUS 25 has been touted as a technological leap forward — thanks, in no small part, to its British-made combustion engine, the part in question that is being exported.
So how did the engine get there then Damo? You might be thinking. Surely an engine for an Israeli attack drone would very much be under licence and that licence surely would have been stopped? You ought to be right for thinking that, the government’s own blurb with relation to arms export licences after states that:
‘One of the criteria used by the government when assessing applications to export strategically controlled goods (arms) states that it will “not grant a licence if it determines there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law”. Arms export licences are regularly reviewed, says the government.’
And yet these engines are very much there. Here’s an image of the drone itself, look at the tiny logo on the engine casing. Here’s RCV Engine’s logo, it’s clearly a match.
Yet this is no accident or oversight, it is deliberate. It was the result of a deliberate exemption secured for RCV Engines, championed by their local Conservative MP at the time, the appalling Tory Christopher Chope. In 2022, under that Conservative government, RCV Engines managed to have its products removed from the UK's arms export control list, thereby freeing it from the obligation of securing an arms export licence for its engines — engines now powering lethal operations against Palestinian civilians. In fact RCV thanked Chope for his intervention, a LinkedIn post of theirs reading:
‘Sir Christopher first came to RCV in 2022. On that occasion he helped us remove the need for an export licence when shipping worldwide. This significantly improved lead times, reduced the admin burden and enabled the securing of more orders worldwide.
The success that we have seen since 2022, which is directly linked to the export control status, has meant RCV has been steadily growing. We are investing heavily in all areas of the business with recent upgrades to the test facility, employing of more staff and growing the product range. This was a good opportunity for us to say thank you and show the impact his efforts had for us.’
What’s more damning is that despite a change in government since, Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has failed to rectify this gaping loophole, even as they moved belatedly to suspend other arms exports to Israel amid widespread outrage over Israel’s atrocities, including the killing of British aid workers in the World Central Kitchen strike, the then still Sunak government having approved further arms sales to Israel, sales signed off on incidentally by former Prime Minister David Cameron and current Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, they really are absolutely no different from each other at all are they?
RCV Engines Ltd, a company based in Dorset, specializes in advanced combustion engines for unmanned systems.
By removing these engines from export controls, the UK government knowingly created a pathway for British technology to contribute to the military capabilities of foreign powers, without scrutiny or accountability.
And so then the question arises: How could this have been justified? UK arms export licences are supposedly governed by rigorous criteria as aforementioned that prohibit the sale of military components likely to be used for internal repression, serious violations of international humanitarian law, or aggression against another country. By granting an exemption to RCV, the UK circumvented its own ethical framework and setting up a corrupt, not to mention extremely dangerous precedent.
The Conservative government's role in this debacle cannot be overstated. In 2022, at the time RCV were removed from the export control list, the Gaza Strip was already suffering under a brutal and illegal blockade, with periodic Israeli bombardments causing regular civilian casualties. That the Tory government would create an unregulated pathway for British-made components to find their way into Israeli military systems — knowing full well the implications — is nothing short of grotesque, but this is the Tories for you.
Moreover, when the Gaza genocide began following the night of October 7th 2023, with entire neighbourhoods flattened and thousands of civilians killed, the government knew or ought to have known that British engines were now part of the killing apparatus and yet still they remained silent.
Meanwhile, RCV's engines are now providing even more of a tactical advantage to Israeli forces. The APUS 25 drone, equipped with RCV's combustion engine, represents an apparent game changer for Israel. Unlike electric drones, which are limited by battery life and range, the APUS 25, using jet fuel or petrol can operate for far longer. It can carry payloads of up to 10kgs and depending on payload can fly for up to 8 hours which would be an additional nightmare the people of Gaza absolutely don’t need, let alone anyone else.
Now with the Tories out and Starmer’s Labour in, for all the change Starmer crowed about being, like so many things, there’s been no change here either. Starmer can’t call a genocide a genocide, Starmer won’t criticise Israel, Starmer is a Zionist without equivocation and its pretty much the only thing sadly, that he wasn’t lying about.
In September last year though, Labour’s hand was forced and Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced a suspension of certain arms export licences to Israel, citing concerns over humanitarian law violations, yet this still came months after after Israeli forces killed those seven aid workers, including three British citizens, from World Central Kitchen, which didn’t give the likes of Cameron or Badenoch pause for thought when granting further arms exports.
The problem now though, is that although Labour suspended some arms licences, still not going far enough even as that was, the F-35 jet licences being notably continued to much disgust, even this limited rebuke to Israel did nothing to address the pre-existing exemptions such as that enjoyed by RCV Engines, which we are now only learning about. RCV’s engines continue to be exported — without any licence needed — even after the world has witnessed 18 months of the utter depravity of Israeli attacks on hospitals, schools, and refugee camps, targeting civilians, not Hamas, but to so many Zionists there is of course no difference.
Is RCV Engines the only exception though? This is a question that we need an answer to, this exposes the suspension of arms licences by David Lammy as little more than political theatre, a move designed to placate public outrage without substantively addressing UK complicity. We thought not enough licenses were revoked, little did we know, or even think to consider, that many items of military aid, might not even be subject to licence, not least literal engines, for literal Israeli engines of death and destruction? If Starmer’s Labour were serious about ending British support for Israeli actions that could lead to the breaching of international law, closing these dangerous loopholes should have been an immediate priority. Their failure to do so raises serious questions about whether they are turning a blind eye to ongoing violations, think they can get away with it if it isn’t being reported, again we have Declassified UK to thank for this, not any mainstream outlets, so how can we believe Labour are ever being straight with us in such matters?
The manufacturer of this APUS 25 drone, is Israel Aerospace Industries, or IAI, who have long been a cornerstone of Israel’s military-industrial program. Owned by the Israeli state, IAI produces drones and aircraft used extensively in operations that have drawn condemnation from human rights groups worldwide.
IAI’s drones are not merely reconnaissance tools; they are active participants in combat operations. In Gaza, drones have been used for sniper-style killings, to drop bombs on civilian areas, and even psychological warfare tactics, such as broadcasting recordings of children's cries to lure civilians into open spaces where they could be targeted. They are filthy machines, used for depraved actions and it is a British company putting them in the air - it is an indictment of Britain’s ongoing role in enabling state terrorism by Israel.
This is arguably the most blatant action yet that fits into a broader pattern of UK complicity in Israeli atrocity. RAF Akrotiri, the British air base in Cyprus, has been used to carry out surveillance flights over Gaza, providing intelligence that has allegedly been shared with Israeli forces, supposedly to aid in the search for hostages, but what Israel use surveillance data for is not necessarily limited to just that.
Moreover, despite public outcry, it took six months after the strike on World Central Kitchen’s convoy for Labour to finally suspend some arms exports. And even now, the Department for Business and Trade has refused to confirm whether licences are still being quietly approved — or whether other exemptions like RCV’s still exist, because they refuse to comment on individual companies.
How many more RCVs are there? How many more loopholes have been quietly carved into UK export controls, permitting the free flow of technology for lethal effect to a state engaged in mass killing?
We deserve answers, do we not? It is entirely possible RCV are the only ones, one of its directors is a chap called Lawrence Gould is the brother of the former UK Ambassador to Israel, so who knows if nepotism didn’t play a part here?
Now that we know such exemptions exist, or at least one does, all exemptions to export licence requirement such as that granted to RCV Engines must be immediately revoked and we need to know what they all are if there are more. There should be no export of military-relevant technology whatsoever to a state credibly accused of genocide and I daresay the revocation of all other export licences including for those F-35 parts will come back into public focus once again. There should also be a full public audit of the arms export control system to uncover the scale of UK involvement and individuals responsible for creating, maintaining and exploiting these loopholes should be held to account.
We need full reform here. We need a government that will adopt a new standard with regards to granting arms export licences, where presumption of denial for all arms-related exports to any country credibly accused of violating international humanitarian law must be enforced, particularly Israel, given its longstanding record. If the arms manufacturers moan, well, put your prices up, that is the capitalist way isn’t it?
The use of UK-made engines in Israeli killer drones represents a profound failure of morals, ethics, and humanity, not to mention governance. Both the Conservative government that created the loophole and the Labour government that has thus far failed to close it bear responsibility. Worse, they have betrayed not only Palestinian civilians but also the British public, who deserve a foreign policy based on respect for human rights and international law and not deceit.
RCV Engines may be a small company from Dorset, but its story speaks to a larger, systemic rot at the heart of the UK’s arms export regime. Until these loopholes are closed and until accountability is restored, Britain remains complicit in atrocities — and history deserves to judge us accordingly, so thank God for alternative and independent media, Declassified UK in this case, that can at least do their jobs when the lousy mainstream fails again, either by accident or design.
Once more the UK has been found to be facilitating genocide, can we please elect people who won’t do this anymore? Is that really so much to ask?
Meanwhile, the Israel Lobby may be coming for our rights at work here in the UK too. The newly elected general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union has had his election overturned after the Israel Lobby kicked off about pro Corbyn leftist Matt Wrack getting the job, so now its all being rerun with Wrack demoted to interim GenSec. Interference in trade unions non top of the known interference in our politics – well where does this end? Anti Zionism getting people blacklisted? Get the details of that story in this video recommendation as your suggested next watch. Please do also hit like, share and subscribe if you haven’t done so already, so as to ensure you don’t miss out on all new daily content as well as helping support the channel at the same time, which is very much appreciated, holding power to account for ordinary working class people and I will hopefully catch you on the next vid. Cheers folks.