Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa and Dame Judi Dench join open letter urging suspension of arms sales to Israel
19 June 2025, 08:56 | Updated: 19 June 2025, 10:32
Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa and actress Dame Judi Dench have joined a growing list of celebrities in signing an open letter urging Sir Keir Starmer to suspend arms sales to Israel.
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The pair have added their signatories to the letter, published by refugee charity Choose Love last month, which calls on the Prime Minister to "use all available means" to ensure humanitarian aid gets in to Gaza.
They are among some 400 people to have signed the letter, which includes a slew of other high-profile figures such as Dua Lipa and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Other new signatories include actors Stanley Tucci and Florence Pugh, former England rugby captain Chris Robshaw and musicians Paul Weller and Self Esteem.
These household names have urged the PM to "make a commitment to the children of Gaza" by brokering an "immediate and permanent ceasefire".
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Josie Naughton, CEO of Choose Love, said: "Since we urged the Government to end its complicity in the horrors of Gaza, more people have added their voice to our call.
"We cannot be silent while children are being killed and families are being starved."
Choose Love initially published the letter in May and also held a vigil outside Parliament, during which a number of signatories read aloud the names of 15,613 children killed in Gaza.
While ministers have already suspended licences for some arm sales to Israel, the UK still exports parts for the F-35 fighter jet used by Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
Activists have demanded a total ban on these exports. However, the Government argues this is not possible due to the UK's role in global supply network, which limits its control over the final destination of such parts.
Downing Street has also sanctioned two Israeli ministers, accusing them of "inciting violence against Palestinian people" and "encouraging egregious abuses of human rights".
Ms Naughton added: "The situation is changing by the second, but until the UK Government has halted all arms sales and licences to Israel, ensured that humanitarian aid can reach people starving inside Gaza and stopped the killing, they will not have done enough."
