A British Foreign Secretary with his own favourite tragedy

IRISH GOVERNMENT BLAMES FLOODING ON THE DUBLIN-GALWAY ROAD ON THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT

No, that is not a headline Ed Miliband is likely to wake up to tomorrow morning. But, what if it did happen? Wouldn’t he turn around and say, ‘Look, Ireland, you’ve been running your country since we gave it to you in 1922. Surely it’s your responsibility now?” But the big difference is that Ireland will not have murdered citizens at Glastonbury, taken hostages and started a war with Britain before making that claim.

Ed Miliband posted a video accusing Benjamin Netanyahu of blocking winter supplies to Gaza. Images of rain and miserable conditions, not altogether unknown to have been produced by AI in the past by Hamas, raise a tenable concern. Yes, civilians should not endure unnecessary suffering. But it also raises a very important question.

Why does the Foreign Secretary appear to have such intense, personal and highly visible outrage for only Israel, while so many other world catastrophes struggle to attract even a passing mention? Suffering in Gaza should not be ignored, and Israel is not above criticism, but ethically and morally, neither is Hamas, especially as a proscribed terrorist organization.

Hamas rules Gaza, and it started the October 2023 war. For decades it has amassed a huge military infrastructure of tunnels, rockets and weaponry. That certainly helps reduce suffering. Not. Hamas continually faces repeated accusations concerning the diversion of resources and humanitarian aid to itself instead of to the population it is supposed to. Yet when Gaza suffers, some British politicians suspect and suggest only one villain. Israel. The terrorist dictatorship of Hamas doesn’t seem to warrant any mention.

Perhaps Hamas should be asked what it has done with the enormous sums of money that have flowed through it over the years. Perhaps he needs to ask as a matter of urgency why civilian infrastructure is apparently less important than underground military infrastructure, namely, tunnels longer than the London Underground that can accommodate their iconic machine-gun-mounted white Hi-Lux 4x4s.

And perhaps Mr Miliband might care to devote some long-overdue attention to Hamas’s refusal to disarm under the proposed ceasefire arrangements. An organization refusing to surrender its weapons is hardly advertising an enthusiastic commitment to permanent peace.

The big issue is consistency. A blatant lack of it, to be precise. I have appended some of his actions in more detail, or perhaps, his total lack of actions, to the end of this blog.

China’s treatment of the Uyghurs continues to attract international condemnation. Christians and other civilians continue to suffer appalling violence in Nigeria. Women and girls in Afghanistan have seen their most basic freedoms systematically destroyed. Millions have suffered hunger and displacement in Yemen. The Rohingya and other civilians remain victims of atrocities in Myanmar.

But where are Mr Miliband’s similar videos and his outrage?

Mr Miliband has addressed other international crises. He has spoken about Sudan (once to the UN, once on “X”) and taken action concerning Iran (summoning the Iranian Ambassador on 12 October 2026, reporting it on Facebook, sanctioning two Iranian individuals over Tehran-linked threats and advocating for continuing economic sanctions against Iran at the 2026 Labour Conference). That is how it should be. But that was it. End of! Not another word has he issued.

But it’s not whether he has ever mentioned another country. It is whether his outrage creates a partisan pecking order of suffering. When civilian suffering and human rights matter, they matter everywhere. Does he have an ulterior motive for such actions? Not that I would for one moment suggest it might be to attract voters in marginal Labour seats. Or the “A” word. Anti… oh, you know the word!

Governments should be publicly berated when civilians suffer, but that principle cannot suddenly become less urgent when it’s Hamas and the Palestinians. Britain needs consistency, not Miliband’s selective outrage. Perhaps he should ask himself a very simple question as a matter of urgency: if Gaza were not Gaza, and Israel were not Israel, would he be producing quite so many videos and becoming so passionate? Or would this tragedy simply join the long queue of other humanitarian catastrophes waiting for his passing mention?

Britain needs a Foreign Secretary with a foreign policy, not one with his own personal favorite, vote-garnering tragedy.

Here’s Ed Miliband’s impressive lack of action in response to world affairs thus far since his elevation to one of the UK’s most senior ministerial positions. Not included is his persistent obsession with Israel and his continued practice of not mentioning the missing party in his persistent Gaza narrative, the terrorists of Hamas. Israel is routinely and repeatedly held responsible for virtually everything that happens there, yet Hamas, 100% responsible for the recent war, seems to have become the invisible participant.

Any serious discussion about Gaza can’t just be decided at the whim of the Foreign Secretary of the UK to pretend that Hamas has zero responsibilities whatsoever. He should at the very least remind the public and his audience that Hamas started the war. Yet Mr Miliband’s public interventions remain quite willing to continually tell Israel what it must do while at the same time applying considerably less, if any, pressure on the terrorist regime of Hamas.

This is simply not acceptable in any shape or form.

China and the Uyghurs

Since taking office in July 2026, Miliband has faced public appeals from campaigners, including Stop Uyghur Genocide executive director Rahima Mahmut, urging him to formally recognize China’s treatment of Uyghurs as genocide and ban forced-labour imports.

Direct public condemnations from Miliband as Foreign Secretary regarding the Uyghurs since becoming Foreign Secretary in July 2026 are not present in available sources, though he previously backed measures banning solar panels linked to forced labour in Xinjiang while serving as Energy Secretary in April 2025.

Nigeria

Available records do not show public condemnations by Miliband regarding the persecution of Christians or religious violence in Nigeria since July 2026. His recorded engagement with Nigeria in November 2026 focused on bilateral discussions with Nigerian Foreign Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting regarding student visas, port rehabilitation, and the 2027 Nigerian elections.

Afghanistan and Yemen

Public statements or condemnations directly issued by Miliband regarding the oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan or mass starvation in Yemen since his appointment in July 2026 are not present in any available sources.

Myanmar (Burma) and the Rohingya

Direct, personal public condemnations by Ed Miliband regarding the Rohingya, the broader post-2021 death toll, or the November 2026 airstrikes are not present in available reporting, while advocacy groups such as Burma Campaign UK continue to lobby him to impose new sanctions.