Cardiff Senedd Briefing Urges Wales Funding Review 2026

Key Points

• The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) organised outreach events in Cardiff on 29 September 2026, including a briefing for Members of the Senedd.
• Tayab Ali, who heads the international law team at Bindmans and acts as advisor to ICJP, briefed Welsh Members of Parliament on international human rights law and Welsh Government action.
• As quoted by Martin Shipton of Nation.Cymru, Ali suggested Welsh public authorities might scrutinise grants, contracts, pensions and investments in respect of conduct which has been ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice.
• According to Ali, the UK Government’s position of 8 September 2026, issued by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, had diminished the grounds for suggesting that Welsh measures would conflict with UK foreign policy.
• Ali suggested that Welsh public authorities would undertake due diligence in procurement, business grants, inward investment and support for the defence industry.
• In this connection, Ali mentioned the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 as relevant legal frameworks.
• Ali praised the recently announced ethical framework for engagement with the defence industry by Welsh Government, as introduced by enterprise minister Adam Price on 3 September 2026.

Cardiff (Wales Times) September 30, 2026 – The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has expanded its outreach to Wales after briefing Members of the Senedd in uk/local/cardiff/">Cardiff on international human rights law and the legal steps the Welsh Government could take concerning public funding, procurement and investment linked to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.

The organisation said it was in Cardiff on 29 September to brief Welsh Senedd members and to hold a public event, marking a broadening of its engagement beyond Westminster and into Welsh devolved politics. Tayab Ali, a leading human rights lawyer who heads the international law team at Bindmans and advises ICJP, led the briefing.

What did ICJP tell Senedd members?

As reported by Martin Shipton of Nation.Cymru, Ali told Members of the Senedd that the central issue for Wales was not whether the devolved government should conduct its own foreign policy, which remains reserved to Westminster, but whether Welsh public money could be supporting conduct found unlawful under international law.

“The question for Wales is not whether Wales should have its own foreign policy. It doesn’t have one and it doesn’t need one,” Ali said, according to Nation.Cymru. “The question is whether Welsh public money, meaning Welsh grants, Welsh contracts, Welsh pensions and pension savings, is being used in ways that help sustain conduct which the highest court in the world [the International Court of Justice] has found to be unlawful.”

ICJP’s announcement described the visit as involving a briefing to Senedd members on international human rights law, alongside a public event in Cardiff. The organisation has previously said its work supports and coordinates legal activity in the Middle East, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada and the United States.

Why does the UK Government’s position matter?

Ali said that a statement by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband in the House of Commons on 8 September had changed the legal and political context for Welsh public bodies. As reported by Nation.Cymru, Ali said the UK Government now regarded the occupation as unlawful, in line with what he described as the central finding of the International Court of Justice.

“Until very recently, you might have been told that acting on any of this would put Wales at odds with UK foreign policy. Well, that’s not true any more,” Ali said, as quoted by Nation.Cymru.

He also referred to the UK Government’s announced plans concerning imports from Israeli settlements, advertising for settlement property, exports and companies involved in settlement expansion. ICJP separately welcomed those measures earlier in September, while warning that they should not be left as “symbolic gestures”.

What action is ICJP urging in Wales?

Ali argued that Welsh public bodies could review grants, contracts and investments in light of the UK Government’s stated position on the occupation. He said that declining to fund, contract with or invest in companies that help sustain the occupation would amount to applying the UK Government’s own legal position, rather than creating a separate Welsh foreign policy.

“International law does not distinguish between Cardiff and Whitehall,” Ali said, according to Nation.Cymru. “The conduct of any organ of the state, central or devolved, is the conduct of the state.”

He added that whether a particular grant breached an international obligation would depend on the duty involved, the evidence and the contribution made by the support. “That is exactly why the checks matter: Wales cannot be the weak link in that chain,” he said.

Which Welsh laws were highlighted?

Ali pointed to the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, which includes a goal of a “globally responsible Wales”. He said the Act is not a foreign-policy power and does not by itself require any particular position on Palestine, but creates a statutory lens that Welsh public bodies must apply.

“How can a public body say it is contributing to a globally responsible Wales, while funding companies that supply forces credibly accused of grave violations, without even asking the question?” Ali said, as reported by Nation.Cymru.

He also cited the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023, which places a socially responsible procurement duty on Welsh contracting authorities. Nation.Cymru noted that First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth has described what is happening in Gaza as genocide.

What was said about the defence sector?

Ali welcomed an ethical framework for Welsh Government engagement with the defence sector, announced by enterprise minister Adam Price on 3 September, and said a consultation was due in the autumn. He said the framework could become a “gold standard” if ministers set clear conditions on public support.

“Of course the defence industry is an important industry. We just want it to act ethically, responsibly and within the law,”

Ali said, according to Nation.Cymru.

He urged ministers to write “clear red lines” into grant agreements, including no support for companies supplying weapons, components or services where there is a clear risk of use in serious violations, assistance in maintaining the unlawful occupation, or exposure to UK sanctions. He also proposed conditions and clawback provisions in public funding agreements.

What happens if Welsh Government does not act?

Responding to a question from Nation.Cymru, Ali said the Welsh Government could face judicial review if it failed to act consistently with the UK Government’s newly stated position. He did not say that a judicial review would necessarily succeed; rather, he identified it as a potential legal consequence of inaction under the circumstances he described.

Ali also called for due diligence to extend beyond the defence sector to business grants, inward investment, procurement and the work of government-sponsored bodies. He suggested procurement policy, statutory guidance under the 2023 Act, model contract clauses, supply declarations and future human rights legislation as possible mechanisms.

Background of the development

ICJP describes itself as an organisation supporting and coordinating legal work relating to Palestinians across several jurisdictions. Earlier in September 2026, ICJP and the Labour Muslim Network published a policy briefing, Legal Brief: Priority Measures for UK Policy on Palestine, which was sent to the UK Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary and set out six areas for UK policy.

On 8 September, ICJP welcomed UK Government measures on trade with Israeli settlements as “a first, overdue step towards bringing UK policy in line with its obligations under international law”, while urging further action. The Cardiff briefing forms part of that wider campaign to encourage public authorities and political institutions to consider international law in procurement, investment and public funding decisions.

Prediction: What could this mean for Wales?

For Welsh policymakers, the development could increase scrutiny of how devolved grants, contracts, pension investments and inward-investment support are assessed against international-law and human-rights considerations. If the Welsh Government adopts further procurement guidance or conditions in its defence-sector framework, public bodies may face more detailed due-diligence requirements when awarding funding or contracts.

For Welsh businesses, particularly those in defence, construction, technology or supply chains connected to public contracts, the proposals could mean additional declarations, compliance checks and contract conditions. For Welsh voters and civil-society groups, the ICJP’s outreach may make Palestine-related legal and ethical questions a more visible issue in Senedd scrutiny, budget decisions and procurement policy.