Keir Starmer resists pressure to recognise Palestine now as 220 MPs back call
Keir Starmer has resisted calls to immediately move to recognise a Palestinian state and said it must come as part of a "pathway to peace"
French President Emmanuel Macron said France would take the step at the UN General Assembly in September, piling pressure on the UK to follow suit. But the declaration sparked anger in Israel and Washington, with Donald Trump telling reporters that 'what he (Macron) says doesn't matter".
Mr Starmer is facing pressure from his Cabinet and MPs to act amid mass starvation in Gaza. Some 221 MPs - a third of the House of Commons - signed a letter tonight urging the PM to formally acknowledge Palestine statehood at a UN conference next week.
Writing in the Mirror, Mr Starmer said starvation and desperation in Gaza is "utterly horrifying" and the UK was scaling up its efforts to evacuate children who need medical help and to get aid in.
"It is a humanitarian catastrophe. And it must end now," he said. "We will pull every lever we have to get food and lifesaving support to the Palestinian people immediately."
The PM said recognition of a Palestinian state must come as a part of a pathway to a lasting peace in the region. "It must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis," he said.
"This is the way to ensure that recognition is a tool of maximum impact to improve the lives of those who are suffering – which must always be our ultimate goal."
The UK and its allies must work together to end the suffering, he said, pointing to efforts to form a "Coalition of the Willing" to support a potential peace deal in Ukraine.
The PM is expected to raise the situation in Gaza with Donald Trump next week while the US President visits his golf courses in Scotland. The talks come at a pivotal moment, and may allow Mr Starmer to use the relationship he has built with Mr Trump to press for the US to take a tougher stance.
But Mr Starmer is facing pressure himself to go further. 221 MPs from different political parties have joined forces to call on the Government to recognise a Palestinian state at a UN conference in New York next week.
In a letter, coordinated by Labour MP Sarah Champion, they said: "We are expectant that the outcome of the conference will be the UK Government outlining when and how it will act on its long-standing commitment on a two-state solution; as well as how it will work with international partners to make this a reality."
Ms Champion acknowledged "recognition alone will not end the suffering in Gaza or the rapid expansion of settlements and settler violence in the West Bank". But she said it would be an important step on the path towards a two-state solution to end the war.
She added: "Recognition would send a powerful symbolic message that we support the rights of the Palestinian people, that they are not alone and they need to maintain hope that there is a route that leads to lasting peace and security for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people."
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Britain's most senior Muslim politician, has said the move would send a strong message to Israel and was the 'best mechanism to get us through a peace process'. Health Secretary Wes Streeting also called for recognition "while there's still a state of Palestine left to recognise".
In a statement tonight alongside the leaders of France and Germany, the Prime Minister urged "all parties to bring an end to the conflict by reaching an immediate ceasefire".
Mr Starmer, Mr Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also called for Israel to stop restricting the flow of aid into Gaza.
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