David Lammy has reiterated that Labour would seek to implement an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu if one was issued by the international criminal court.

Speaking to CNN, the shadow foreign secretary said a Labour government would comply if an order was issued for the arrest of the Israeli prime minister, adding that he expected the response to be the same all over Europe.

Lammy has made the same commitment previously, but his remarks to the US TV channel’s Fareed Zakaria came at a time when the ICC is drawing closer to making a decision on the issue of warrants.

Labour has faced criticism from Israeli groups for making the commitment, which was previously made before the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, called a general election. Explaining his rationale, Lammy said: “The architecture that was created after the second world war, the rules-based order that we believe so much in, the international legal structure – one of the big architects of that was Churchill in our country.