Sir Keir Starmer has rejected MPs’ calls to imminently recognise a Palestinian state despite pressure from inside Labour described as “overwhelming”.
The prime minister held a call with fellow E3 leaders – French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz – on Friday to discuss the crisis in Gaza amid growing fears of mass starvation being caused by the Israeli blockade on food and aid supplies.
But it was overshadowed by France’s decision to recognise Palestine, adding to pressure from divisions within Sir Keir’s own cabinet for the UK to follow suit. Some 221 MPs from Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, SNP, Greens, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and independents, have also signed a letter calling on the government to take the step.
Israel said on Friday it will allow airdrops of aid by foreign countries into Gaza, with Sir Keir pledging the UK will “do everything we can to get aid in via this route”.
But while the prime minister insisted he was “unequivocal” about recognising a Palestinian state, he said he would do so when it would offer “maximum utility to improve the lives of those who are suffering”.
In the statement issued on Friday, Sir Keir said: “Alongside our closest allies, I am working on a pathway to peace in the region, focused on the practical solutions that will make a real difference to the lives of those that are suffering in this war.
“That pathway will set out the concrete steps needed to turn the ceasefire so desperately needed, into a lasting peace.
“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. This is the way to ensure it is a tool of maximum utility to improve the lives of those who are suffering – which of course, will always be our ultimate goal.”
Describing the scenes in Gaza as “appalling”, “unrelenting” and “indefensible”, he also condemned Israel’s “disproportionate military escalation” in the Strip.
These words were among his strongest yet on the worsening crisis in the embattled enclave, coming after he described the actions by Benjamin Netanyahu as “unspeakable and indefensible”.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who came close to losing her seat to a pro-Gaza independent MP in last year’s general election, and several other cabinet ministers want immediate recognition of Palestine as a state.
But it is being claimed there is resistance from cabinet ministers closely linked to the Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) group, whose members include Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Another senior minister linked to LFI, technology secretary Peter Kyle, also made the case for not recognising a Palestinian state immediately during broadcast rounds on Friday morning.
He insisted: “The timeline for peace and stability and a negotiated solution to the war that’s currently unfolding and ultimately Palestinian statehood is in the gift of Palestine and Israel themselves. It cannot be imposed from the outside.”
One senior Labour figure told The Independent that “the pressure feels overwhelming” on the prime minister to recognise Palestine.
And Labour’s biggest financial backers, the trade unions, have reiterated their demands through the TUC for immediate recognition of Palestine as well as the suspension of a trade agreement with Israel.
It comes after a majority of members on the powerful Foreign Affairs Select Committee in the Commons also issued a report overnight demanding immediate recognition of a Palestinian state.
On top of that, the cross-party group of 221 MPs, led by Labour chair of the Commons International Development Committee Sarah Champion, sent the prime minister a letter repeating the demand.
It read: “British recognition of Palestine would be particularly powerful given its role as the author of the Balfour Declaration and the former Mandatory Power in Palestine. Since 1980 we have backed a two-state solution. Such a recognition would give that position substance as well as living up to a historic responsibility we have to the people under that Mandate.”
Added to that, the emergence of Jeremy Corbyn’s new party, which has the support of pro-Gaza independent MPs poses a major problem for Sir Keir.
Despite the prime minister’s comments on Friday, there is still speculation that he could go ahead with recognition.
It has been suggested within Labour that Sir Keir could do so after he meets Donald Trump in Scotland on Monday, to ensure that the bilateral with the US president is not derailed by the issue.
The US has overnight condemned France for “rewarding terrorism” by recognising a Palestinian state.
Speaking out against the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has seen 45 people die from starvation in four days, Sir Keir did appear to edge closer to agreeing to formal recognition in a statement issued on Thursday night.
He said: “We are clear that statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people. A ceasefire will put us on a path to the recognition of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution which guarantees peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis.”
