A suggestion that security agency G4S should relocate staff from Israel to serve at the Olympic village was roundly dismissed by a Home Office minister during a parliamentary debate.

Jenny Tonge, who in February resigned from the Liberal Democrats following anti-Israel comments made at an Israel Apartheid Week event, made the comment during a discussion on Olympic security.

She said: "Could the Minister persuade our Government to talk to the Government of Israel about transferring, as a good-will gesture, the G4S personnel who are currently guarding-rather brutally-the illegal settlements in the Occupied Territories of Palestine? "Could he persuade them to transfer those people, thus making the Games a great experience for Palestinians as well as for Londoners?"

Known for her constant attacks on Israel, Baroness Tonge was sacked from the front bench after she called for an inquiry into accusations that the IDF had harvested organs in Haiti following the devastating 2010 earthquake.

But in this case even less time was given to her suggestion. Home Office minister of state Lord Henley, who fronted the discussion, said simply: "I do not think that is a point that I need to respond to".