PM signals UK will help Gaza aid airdrop amid calls for Palestinian statehood
The Prime Minister said the UK will 'do everything we can to get aid in via this route'.
Sir Keir meanwhile faces growing calls to recognise a Palestinian state immediately, amid mounting global anger over the starving population in Gaza.
Some 221 MPs from Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, SNP, Greens, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and independents, have signed a letter calling on the Government to take the step at a UN meeting next week.
France's president Emmanuel Macron announced his nation would formally recognise Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September, leading UK politicians to question whether the British Government would follow suit.
US President Donald Trump suggested Mr Macron's announcement 'doesn't matter' as he left America for a visit to Scotland.
But Sarah Champion, the senior Labour MP who organised the letter by parliamentarians, said recognition 'would send a powerful symbolic message that we support the rights of the Palestinian people'.
Other senior Commons figures who signed the letter include Labour select committee chairs Liam Byrne, Dame Emily Thornberry and Ruth Cadbury.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey, as well as Tory former minister Kit Malthouse, and Sir Edward Leigh – Parliament's longest-serving MP – also signed it.
The majority of those who have signed, 131, are Labour MPs.
In a video statement released on Friday, Sir Keir made plain his desire for a ceasefire in the war.
He said: 'I know the British people are sickened by what is happening. The images of starvation and desperation are utterly horrifying.
'The denial of aid to children and babies is completely unjustifiable, just as the continued captivity of hostages is completely unjustifiable.'
The appalling scenes in Gaza are unrelenting.
The UK will pull every lever we have to get food and lifesaving support to Palestinians, and we will evacuate children who need urgent medical assistance.
This humanitarian catastrophe must end. pic.twitter.com/eNg7E5ABme
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) July 25, 2025
Signalling the UK is willing to help get aid into Gaza via air, the Prime Minister added: 'News that Israel will allow countries to airdrop aid into Gaza has come far too late, but we will do everything we can to get aid in via this route.
'We are already working urgently with the Jordanian authorities to get British aid on to planes and into Gaza.'
Children who need specialist medical treatment will be evacuated from Gaza to the UK, Sir Keir added.
The Prime Minister also called for an international coalition to 'end the suffering' in Gaza, similar to the coalition of the willing aimed at helping Ukraine.
Sir Keir had earlier responded to calls for the recognition of a Palestinian state, insisting such a move needed to be part of the 'pathway' to peace in the Middle East, which he and allies are working towards.
He added: 'Recognition of a Palestinian state has to be one of those steps. I am unequivocal about that. But it must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis.'
In a statement released on Friday alongside the leaders of France and Germany, the Prime Minister urged Israel to stop restricting the flow of aid into Gaza.
Charities operating in Gaza have said Israel's blockade and ongoing military offensive are pushing people there towards starvation, warning that they are seeing their own workers and Palestinians 'waste away'.
The Prime Minister will meet the US president during his trip to Scotland, where he arrived on Friday evening.
US-led peace talks in Qatar were cut short on Thursday, with Washington's special envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of a 'lack of desire to reach a ceasefire'.
The deal under discussion is expected to include a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Aid supplies would be ramped up and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting truce.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
Wealth tax should be considered by Treasury, former Labour minister suggests
A former Labour minister has suggested a wealth tax should be considered by the Treasury, as she argued the Government must face up to the fact that a longer-term approach is needed. Anneliese Dodds has argued it is 'important' for the Government to consider evidence set out by the Wealth Tax Commission, which looked at whether such a tax would be desirable and deliverable in the UK. In its final report, released in 2020, the Commission said a one-off wealth tax on millionaire couples paid at 1% a year for five years would raise £260 billion. Others in the Labour Party, including former leader Lord Neil Kinnock and Wales's First Minister Baroness Eluned Morgan, have also called for a wealth tax. Union leaders, including Sharon Graham of Unite, are also pressuring ministers to consider the move. A tax on the wealthy has not been formally ruled out by ministers, but Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds branded the idea as 'daft' in June this year. Ms Dodds resigned as a Foreign Office minister over the Government's decision to cut overseas aid to fund a boost to defence spending in February. Speaking to Sky News' Electoral Dysfunction, she said work undertaken by the Wealth Tax Commission 'has changed the debate'. The MP for Oxford East added: 'They looked at the operation of lots of different wealth tax. They looked at all of that evidence and set out how it would be possible to deliver something like that in a UK context. 'I would hope that the Treasury is considering that kind of evidence as well as other changes that have been put forward. 'We've seen the deputy leader of the Labour Party, for example, put forward suggestions. I think it's important for all of those to be considered now.' On Rachel Reeves' approach to welfare, Ms Dodds said: 'An attempt was made to deal with a quite immediate problem, but I don't think you can, particularly via cuts, actually deliver the kind of fiscal room that is necessary.' 'It may make sense tactically, but strategically a longer-term approach is needed and that's the the big issue that the Government has to face up to,' she added.
Telegraph
26 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Voters will agree with Donald Trump, not Ed Miliband about wind farms
Who's right about wind farms? Donald Trump or Labour and the SNP? The question arises because the wheels of Air Force One had barely touched down back in the USA before his opponents started singing the praises of wind farms. After Trump's pretty savage attack in which he described them, variously, as 'ugly' and as bird killers, ministers from both the British and Scottish Governments queued up to disagree with him. Labour and the SNP heaped praise on the decision to allow the development of what may turn out to be one of the world's biggest wind farms – with 307 turbines – at what's known as Berwick Bank, off the coast of East Lothian. Scottish Secretary Ian Murray welcomed the decision taken by the SNP – an extremely rare event – and said it tied in with his determination to prioritise more clean energy jobs in Scotland. And he said that the Berwick Bank project had the potential to make a 'huge contribution' to the UK Government's energy policy. Mind you, I don't for a second think that Mr Murray's priorities played any part in the Nats' decision. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband also praised the SNP decision saying that it meant the British Government was now 'within touching distance' of its offshore wind targets to deliver clean power by 2030. He added that the Berwick Bank decision was helping secure Britain's energy security. However, it's pretty certain that the relevant SNP minister, Kate Forbes, while acknowledging the gratitude of her political enemies, would prefer to hail her decision as a major contribution to Scotland's – and not necessarily Britain's – energy future. With opponents of this huge venture insisting that a wind farm on this scale would result in the death of thousands of sea birds – including everyone's favourite, puffins – Scotland's Deputy First Minister insisted that her final approval was subject to a 'detailed seabird compensation plan', to show how the birds could be saved. How's that for a bit of typical SNP 'havering' and trying to keep everyone sweet – from hungry developers to bird lovers? But Kate Forbes is at least one of the more practical nationalists and said that this project was a major step in Scotland's progress towards achieving net zero and tackling the climate crisis, as well as supporting national energy security and growing our green economy. During his recent Scottish visit Trump returned to his frequently expressed view that wind turbines were 'ugly, costly and harmful to wildlife', while large scale wind farms were 'a con job'. Both Labour and the SNP are super-keen on renewables, but while voters might still be persuaded about a rosy future for wind power, ministers in both parties would be mad to sneer at Trump's words about North Sea oil and gas being a 'treasure chest' for the UK. I'm certain that a great many voters agree with him, and will vote accordingly in next year's Scottish Parliament election.
Sky News
26 minutes ago
- Sky News
Former Labour minister Anneliese Dodds says she 'hopes' Rachel Reeves is considering wealth tax
A former Labour minister has said she wants Rachel Reeves to consider the "evidence" behind introducing a wealth tax in the UK. Anneliese Dodds, who quit as international development minister in February over Sir Keir Starmer's decision to slash the overseas aid budget, said she believed it was "important" that the government considers "who has the broadest shoulders". Speaking to Beth Rigby on the Sky News Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Ms Dodds, the MP for Oxford East, said there had been a "lot of discussion" about a wealth tax - a direct levy on all, or most of, an individual's, household's or business's total net wealth, rather than their income. Ms Dodds, who also served as shadow chancellor when Labour was in opposition, said she had been "a bit sceptical about some of those claims for a long time because, of course, wealth is taxed in the UK". However, she said work carried out by the Wealth Tax Commission in 2020 had looked at various types of international wealth taxes and how it would be possible to deliver one in a UK context. 1:57 She added: "I would hope the Treasury is considering that kind of evidence, as well as other changes that have been put forward." The former cabinet minister also said that tax proposals outlined by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to Rachel Reeves should be "considered". In a memo that was leaked to the Daily Telegraph in May, Ms Rayner suggested to the chancellor that she increase taxes, including reinstating the pensions lifetime allowance and a higher corporation tax level for banks. "We've seen the deputy leader of the Labour Party, for example, put forward suggestions as I understand it," Ms Dodds said. "I think it's important for all of those to be considered now." Ministers have signalled they will not bring in a wealth tax to balance the books, with Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds branding the suggestion "daft". Speaking to GB News last week, Mr Reynolds said: "This Labour government has increased taxes on wealth as opposed to income - the taxes on private jets, private schools, changes through inheritance tax, capital gains tax. "But the idea there's a magic wealth tax, some sort of doesn't exist anywhere in the world. "Switzerland has a levy, but they don't have capital gains or inheritance tax. There's no kind of magic. We're not going to do anything daft like that. "And I say to people: 'Be serious about this.' The idea you can just levy everyone. What if your wealth was not in your bank account, what if it was in fine wine or art? How would we tax that? This is why this doesn't exist. "There's a lot of populism out about this, and I'm frustrated. I see colleagues sometimes say this in parliament and I say: 'Come on, get serious.'" Ms Dodds said that while she had not spoken directly with Ms Reeves about a wealth tax, she believed the "trade-off we have to consider in a world of lots of difficult trade-offs is potentially making some big and significant changes early, or having to make many tactical changes through the parliament and potentially being forced into some of those difficult decisions anyway later on".
