Keir Starmer is facing mounting international and domestic pressure to formally recognise a Palestinian state. Dozens of MPs are expected to publish a cross-party letter this afternoon, urging Starmer to follow the lead of Emmanuel Macron. The French president last night declared that his country will formally recognise a Palestinian state when the UN General Assembly meets in New York this September. A report this morning by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee has also called for immediate recognition, a position that would put the UK at odds with the US.
Labour’s manifesto contains a commitment to recognise a Palestinian sovereignty. But the lack of a timeline has irritated parts of Starmer’s party
Labour’s manifesto contains a commitment to recognise a Palestinian sovereignty. But the lack of a timeline has irritated parts of Starmer’s party, including cabinet ministers, who are becoming increasingly vocal in calling for clarity.
Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, said at a constituency event this week that recognising a Palestinian state would be an important ‘step towards justice and peace’. He added that Palestinians ‘have waited too long for the dignity and rights that come with statehood’. Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy have also reportedly recently urged Starmer and David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, to move more quickly.
Peter Kyle, the new Secretary of State for Education, told BBC Breakfast today that the government is committed to recognition – but insisted this must be done in a way that ensures Palestinian sovereignty can be ‘exercised at the moment of attaining statehood’.
Lammy made similar remarks on Tuesday, telling the BBC: ‘We don’t just want to recognise symbolically, we want to recognise as a way of getting to the two states that sadly many are trying to thwart at this point in time.’
London Mayor Sadiq Khan called on Wednesday for the government to move forward with statehood recognition.
On the international front, the French president, who will co-host with Saudi Arabia a conference in New York on the two-state solution this month, has been pressing Starmer to make the same move. The Prime Minister is due to hold an ‘emergency call’ later today with his French counterpart, as well as with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, about the situation in Gaza. While the focus might be on the immediate humanitarian issue, Starmer can’t avoid the mounting pressure to recognise Palestinian statehood from his allies abroad and those in his party.
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