A profile in courage: Sayeeda Warsi, a baroness and a senior minister in the British Foreign Office dealing with the United Nations, resigned over the government’s Gaza policy, saying it was inconsistent with “our values” and the rule of law and would damage the country’s reputation.

With deep regret I have this morning written to the Prime Minister & tendered my resignation. I can no longer support Govt policy on #Gaza — Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) August 5, 2014

It’s been retweeted 23,000 times in six hours. Here’s coverage at The Guardian:

Lady Warsi, the senior Foreign Office minister, has resigned from the government in protest at its policy on Gaza, describing it as “morally indefensible”… In her resignation letter, Warsi said the government’s “approach and language during the current crisis in Gaza is morally indefensible, is not in Britain’s national interest and will have a long term detrimental impact on our reputation internationally and domestically”. She said the UK’s stance was “not consistent with the rule of law and our long support for international justice”, adding: “The British government can only play a constructive role in solving the Middle East crisis if it is an honest broker and at the moment I do not think it is.”

More at Huffpo from an interview with Mehdi Hasan:

She wanted to see those who are alleged to have committed war crimes over the past four weeks, both in Gaza and in Israel, held to account – but did not believe that the British government would support that process. “As the minister for the International Criminal Court, I’ve spent the last two and a half years helping to promote, support and fund the ICC. I felt I could not reconcile this with our continued pressure on the Palestinian leadership not to turn to the ICC to seek justice.”… “Our position not to recognize Palestinian statehood at the UN in November 2012 placed us on the wrong side of history and is something I deeply regret not speaking out against at the time.”

The letter in full at the Guardian: