Starmer to raise Gaza ceasefire and UK steel tariffs in Trump meeting
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
Starmer says UK will recognize Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Tuesday the U.K. will recognize a Palestinian state in September – unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza and takes steps toward long-term peace. Starmer called ministers together for a rare summertime Cabinet meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza. He told them that Britain will recognize a state of Palestine before the United Nations General Assembly, 'unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, reaches a ceasefire, makes clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, and commits to a long-term peace process that delivers a two state solution." Britain has long supported the idea of an independent Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, but has said recognition should come as part of a negotiated two-state solution to the conflict. Pressure to formally recognize Palestinian statehood has mounted since French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country will become the first major Western power to recognize a Palestinian state in September.
The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
UK will recognise Palestinian state in September unless Israel ends ‘appalling situation' in Gaza, Starmer vows
Keir Starmer and his senior ministers have agreed to recognise to recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel ends its starvation tactics in Gaza. The prime minister held an emergency virtual cabinet meeting where he laid out his plan for peace agreed over the weekend with French President Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz. In an ultimatum to Benjamin Netanyahu's government, he used the threat of recognising Palestine in September to try to force Israel to change tactics. A readout from the cabinet meeting stated: 'The Prime Minister said it had been this Government's longstanding position that recognition of a Palestinian state was an inalienable right of the Palestinian people and that we would recognise a Palestinian state as part of a process to peace and a two state solution. 'He said that because of the increasingly intolerable situation in Gaza and the diminishing prospect of a peace process towards a two state solution, now was the right time to move this position forward. 'He said that the UK will recognise the state of Palestine in September, before UNGA, unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, reaches a ceasefire, makes clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, and commits to a long-term peace process that delivers a two state solution.' Pressure had been mounting on Sir Keir to recognise Palestine as a state, but the decision to put the ball in the Israeli government's court was a compromise to satisfy two competing factions in his cabinet. Senior Cabinet members who support plans to recognise a Palestinian state include deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, justice secretary Shabana Mahmood, energy secretary Ed Miliband and foreign secretary David Lammy. Mr Lammy is at a conference in New York discussing recognising Palestine as a state where he is due to speak. But on the other side chancellor Rachel Reeves, tech secretary Peter Kyle, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden, who have been officers of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), were worried recognition would 'reward Hamas'. Politically Sir Keir had been helped by Donald Trump when they met in Scotland on Monday, where the US president said he did not object to the prime minister taking a position on state recognition. This undermined the US State Department's opposition to the move, expressed angrily by secretary of state Marco Rubio last week, when President Macron announced France would recognise a Palestinian state. At home Sir Keir has been threatened by the creation of Jeremy Corbyn's new party which includes the former Gaza independents who unseated senior Labour MPs at the last election and came close to defeating Ms Mahmood and health secretary Wes Streeting. Added to that more than 250 MPs from nine different parties have called for Palestine to be recognised as a state. This included more than 90 of the new Labour MPs elected last year.
The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
Poll reveals the one major reason Britons aren't having children
Nearly half of British adults are putting off or deciding against having children, with money worries a top factor, a stark new poll reveals. A survey of 18 to 50-year-olds from pollsters Ipsos, shared exclusively with The Independent , shows that 44 per cent of adults plan to delay having children, or are deciding against it altogether – with the cost of raising children, including food, clothing and education, cited as the most common reason (39 per cent). And a third of prospective parents said they were put off by the cost of childcare in the UK – despite the government's rollout of extended free nursery hours. While a third of respondents said they weren't having children because they simply didn't want to, others said they were put off by fears over climate change, with worries over how global warming will affect their child's future, and how having children may harm the environment. The poll comes as birth rates in England and Wales are at their lowest rate on record, and as deaths are expected to consistently outnumber births in the UK from 2030. Lord Michael Farmer, a vocal supporter of family stability, criticised the systemic issues underlying low birth rates and argued that parents needed more financial support. 'The UK's tax system discourages childbearing; it is one of the least family-friendly in the OECD. No allowances are made for dependants, so our tax system also disadvantages single parents. The current level of marriage allowance gives scant recognition of low-earning or non-earning second parents,' he said in a House of Lords debate in November. In 2023, more people died than were born in the UK. This gap is only expected to widen between 2030 and 2050, according to projections from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This means that the majority of population growth is driven by immigration rather than births. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson told The Independent in June that the steep decline in birth rates is 'a big challenge' for the UK, which needs to be addressed. She added: 'I've heard from lots of people that the choices that they wanted to make have been constrained, in terms of when to start a family and how many children they have, by factors like the cost of childcare, housing costs, instability at work.' Fertility rates are shrinking faster than in any other G7 nation, falling by 25 per cent in the UK since 2010. However, women are still having slightly more children on average than those in Japan, Italy and Canada. Despite advancements in flexible working and parental leave, some parents polled said they believed that it is harder to raise children now than in previous generations, with the cost of living and the price of housing increasing beyond pay. The majority of adults (56 per cent) believe it is harder to be a parent in the UK today than 20 years ago, with 61 per cent of women saying it was harder to raise a child now compared to men (52 per cent). And even older generations agreed, with those aged 55 to 75-year-olds the most likely to believe (59 per cent) that parenthood is trickier now than two decades ago. The decline in birth rates has generated much discussion among politicians. Recently, Nigel Farage pledged he would abolish the two-child benefit cap if Reform came into power, as part of a '180-degree shift' to reverse low birth rates. But his stance has not yet fully won over the public, who still trust Labour more than any other party to support parents and families, according to Ipsos' poll. This is in spite of Sir Keir Starmer's refusal to remove the two-child benefit cap, after pledging to reduce child poverty, which sparked public rebellion among Labour MPs. Meanwhile, the Tories are less trusted to support families than both Reform and Labour. The party's current leader, Kemi Badenoch, has previously said she believes maternity pay is 'excessive', and that 'families on benefits should make the same responsible decisions about having children as everyone else'. But more than 1 in 5 people said that they don't trust any major party to support families with their policies. Tackling affordable housing is the most popular policy change, which would lead to people having more children, according to 42 per cent of Ipsos respondents. The cost of renting in Britain has now reached new record highs, according to Rightmove , with average asking rent at £1,365 per month. Meanwhile, fewer young people are buying homes, as housing prices are far outpacing wage growth. Over 1 in 3 adults also believe that making childcare more affordable for parents with preschool children would incentivise more people to have children. The government has rolled out 15 hours of free childcare to children aged nine months to two years old, which from September will be extended to 30 hours of childcare a week. However, recent calculations from the Institute of Fiscal Studies, revealed by The Independent, show that uptake is likely to be 25 per cent higher than expected, and since the number of childcare places has barely increased in recent years, it will be a struggle for many to secure places. Improving access to free nursery hours will no doubt be a welcome move, since full-time childcare on average costs between 37 to 43 per cent of the average income in the UK.
