A daily newspaper editor has hit back at claims by foreign secretary David Lammy that a story it published about arms sales to Israel was “clickbait.”

The National first reported earlier this month that in the last quarter of 2024, the Labour Government licensed more exports of military equipment to Israel than the Tories did for all of 2020-2023 combined.

Independent MP Zarah Sultana then raised the story in the Commons, only for Mr Lammy to respond that she was “keen on clickbait.”

The response infuriated National editor Laura Webster who insisted she stood by the story and accused the foreign secretary of attempting to “silence” the paper.

In an editorial, Laura wrote: “Politicians say all kinds of things about The National. We are all very used to it and actually, we often laugh about various insults in the newsroom.

“However this week, I was genuinely infuriated by the words of a senior UK Government figure. In describing a news story we broke as “clickbait”, David Lammy attempted to discredit us and silence us on the most important story of our times – Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

“The official Oxford Languages definition of “clickbait” is: “Content whose main purpose is to attract attention and encourage visitors to click on a link to a particular web page.” Labour would know plenty about this.

“What is not clickbait, however, is well-researched stories, based on official verified figures. Even when it is shared by a news outlet that you don’t like because it actually bothers to hold you accountable. We at The National stand by our story.

“To dismiss such a serious matter as the export of arms to a state which is clearly breaching international human rights law as “clickbait” shows us how intellectually lazy this class of government ministers is, and how morally bankrupt they are.

“You can say “clickbait” as many times as you want, Dave. It doesn’t change the facts. You exported more weapons in three months than the Tories did in three years. If you want to be complicit in Israel’s assault on Gaza, at least have the guts to own it.”

Acccording to The National’s original story, between October and December 2024 the Government approved over £127m in export licenses to Israel, compared to £115m under the Tories from 2020 to 2023.

In the Commons, Coventry South MP Ms Sultana asked Mr Lammy ‘how he slept at night’ in the light of such figures.

Mr Lammy, pictured, responded by saying he didn’t “recognise” the figure, claimed he had banned the sale of arms that could be used in Gaza, and told the Commons that Ms Sultana was “keen on clickbait”.

Ms Sultana was heard repeating “it’s genocide, it’s not clickbait” as Mr Lammy spoke.