Responding to comparison's made by Jeremy Corbyn MP of Israel's policy towards Gaza and the UK police tactic of "kettling" protesters via mass detentions, Bryant stated that it was "morally indefensible to 'kettle' the Palestinian people."

Israel has blockaded the Gaza Strip since the summer of 2007, preventing freedom of movement for the Palestinian people and allowing the delivery of only the most basic of humanitarian goods. Reconstruction materials, desperately needed in the wake of a conflict that damaged or destroyed 50,000 homes, have largely been prevented from entering the territory.

The Goldstone Report, commissioned to investigate the December to January fighting between the Israeli military and Palestinian groups, labelled the siege "collective punishment" and a potential war crime.

Click here to read the complete article by Stephen Sizer, 13th January 2010

Click here to read the transcript of the Parliamentary debate on the Goldstone Report, 12th January 2010