Keir Starmer is set to announce the UK’s official recognition of Palestinian statehood later today. In July, the Prime Minister had said that the UK would recognise the state of Palestine if Israel did not improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza and commit to a long-term peace process.
Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News this morning, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said that Israel’s attack on Qatar and its highly controversial ‘E1 development’ plan to divide the West Bank show that Israel is not committed to ‘two states’. Phillips noted that the UK government had set conditions for Israel, but not Hamas. Lammy said the government has been ‘crystal clear’ that Hamas is a terrorist organisation and can play no role in any Palestinian state, but that we must not ‘confuse the Palestinian people with Hamas’. He argued that the only prospect for peace is a two-state solution.
Husam Zomlot: ‘This is more about Britain than it is about Palestine’
On the BBC, the Head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK Husam Zomlot welcomed the UK’s recognition of Palestinian statehood, calling it a ‘step forward in the direction of peace’. Asked what it means for Palestinians, Zomlot said it meant a lot, but noted that Palestine existed ‘long before the Balfour Declaration’ and that British people should celebrate ‘ending the denial of our existence’ and a day when ‘history is being corrected’. Zomlot claimed it was Britain’s ‘colonial error’ which has led us ‘directly to the genocide in Gaza today’ and quoted David Lammy saying that ‘the hands of history are on our shoulders’.
Mel Stride: Internal politics has driven recognition of Palestinian statehood
Laura Kuenssberg also spoke to shadow chancellor Mel Stride, asking him why his party didn’t support the government’s decision to recognise Palestine if they believed in a two-state solution. Stride argued that the government needs to ‘use leverage at certain times’ to ‘accelerate us’ towards a two-state outcome, and that Labour’s decision to make its announcement now does ‘nothing to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza’ or apply any leverage. Stride claimed that Keir Starmer has made his choice because of pressure from inside Labour, and said it is ‘not a good basis on which to conduct foreign policy’.
Ed Davey calls for Elon Musk’s arrest
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey called Elon Musk a ‘criminal’ on Sky News, telling Trevor Phillips that Musk’s ‘fight back or die’ comments at the Unite the Kingdom rally amounted to inciting violence, and that some content posted on X is in breach of the Online Safety Act. Davey said, ‘there are examples of adverts pushing people on self-harm, on grooming… even selling videos showing paedophile acts’, and that Musk ‘should be held to account for them’. Phillips asked Davey if he was arguing that Musk should be arrested if he landed on British territory. Davey said yes, Musk had cut back on the ‘safety teams’ on X, and was ‘just interested in his bank account’.
Ed Davey on asylum hotels: ‘Let’s call it what it is: an emergency’
The Liberal Democrat conference will take place on Tuesday in Bournemouth. Trevor Phillips asked Davey if it was fair to say Reform are the party he is ‘really afraid of’. Davey acknowledged that he will warn people about the ‘divisive politics of Nigel Farage’, but said he wanted to present the Lib Dems to voters ‘in a positive way’ with their policies on social care and plans to halve energy bills over the next ten years. Asked about illegal migration, Davey said the Labour government had been ‘timid’ and ‘unambitious’ with the issue and suggested hiring 4,000 emergency caseworkers to deal with the asylum backlog, claiming it could be sorted in ‘under six months’.
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