UK must recognize Palestine: Senior Labour MP

Arab News

14 hours ago

LONDON: Former Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry has called on the UK government to recognize an independent Palestinian state.
Thornberry told the BBC on Monday that there needs to be an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a long-term political solution to the crisis.
'The only way through this is for there to be an Israeli state that's safe and secure, alongside a Palestinian state that's recognized,' she told BBC Radio 4's 'Today' program.
Thornberry, who heads the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, was speaking following the state visit of Emmanuel Macron to London.
France's president, whose country will co-host an international conference on Palestine at the UN, told British MPs that a two-state solution is the 'only way' forward. The UK is expected to attend the conference.
Thornberry said the UK and France 'are the two parties to that ancient treaty more than 100 years ago, the secret Sykes-Picot agreement that carved up the Middle East in the first place.
'I think there is some kind of political significance to those two countries coming together again.'
She added: 'If we recognize a Palestinian state, I think we show ourselves to be a country that wants to be involved, that wants to be an honest broker, that wants to be a force for good, and we think a way forward is two states and we've always thought that.'
The war in Gaza has been raging since October 2023, with health authorities in the Palestinian enclave saying around 60,000 people have died.
Thornberry said: 'Too many people have been killed. There has to be peace. Peace can only be achieved through political conversation, through negotiations.'
The UK Foreign Office has refused to be drawn on when or if the government will recognize a Palestinian state, but Thornberry said: 'It's just a question of when.'
She added that the UK needs to use its relationship with the US to move the situation on Palestinian statehood forward, and clarify to Israel that continued settlement expansion in the West Bank is illegal, and individuals responsible would be sanctioned.
'We've been a force for good when it comes to Ukraine, but I do think we should also be saying to (US) President (Donald) Trump: 'We need you. You have the power of 100 presidents. You can do what all the other presidents couldn't do,'' Thornberry said.
'But the Israelis have to come onboard, and they can't continue just to say no and not have any credible alternative.'