Sir Keir Starmer will plead with Donald Trump to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza and end the suffering of thousands of Palestinians when he meets with the US president in Scotland on Monday.
The growing crisis in the Middle East will top the agenda when the two hold their bilateral meeting at President Trumpâs Turnberry golf course in Ayrshire, with the prime minister under immense political pressure to change the UKâs policy on recognising Palestine as a state.
It comes after the IDF announced a âtactical pauseâ in fighting to allow aid to get in, with thousands of people trapped in Gaza facing mass starvation. On Sunday, Jordan and the UAE carried out the first airdrops of food and essential supplies.
A Downing Street source said that the prime minister and the president have a âshared desire to bring an end to the barbaric warâ.
The meeting comes after a Sunday bilateral between Mr Trump and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen at Turnberry, where the two struck a trade deal to avoid a tariff war despite the US president having told reporters beforehand that he was ânot in a good moodâ.
It was put to Mr Trump that Sir Keir would ask him about a Middle East ceasefire, but he replied: âWeâre meeting about a lot of things. We have our trade deal and itâs been a great deal.
âItâs good for us. Itâs good for them and good for us. I think the UK is very happy, theyâve been trying for 12 years to get it and they got it, and itâs a great trade deal for both, works out very well.
âWeâll be discussing that. I think weâre going to be discussing a lot about Israel. Theyâre very much involved in terms of wanting something to happen. [Starmer] is doing a very good job, by the way.â
The mini-summit at Turnberry was intended primarily to focus on the continuing problem of steel tariffs imposed by President Trump, and other aspects of the trade deal the two signed last month.
Sir Keir also wants to press the president on providing a backstop for the âcoalition of the willingâ he is establishing with French president Emmanuel Macron to provide a guarantee of peace in Ukraine once the war with Russia comes to an end.
But with harrowing pictures emerging over the past week of malnourished children in Gaza, alongside reports of the impact of starvation in the territory, the Middle East crisis has risen to the top of the agenda.
Sir Keir is hoping that the strong personal relationship he has developed with the US president will help him in persuading Mr Trump to move on a number of these issues.
The two will continue to talk when they travel together to Aberdeen for a further private dinner at Mr Trumpâs other Scottish golf course, which is dedicated to his mother. The president is looking for support to host an Open championship.
Downing Street has insisted that âthe strength of the UK-US relationship will be on display againâ as the prime minister meets President Trump for what it described as âwide-ranging talksâ.
But the meeting is likely to be overshadowed by pressure on Sir Keir to join Mr Macron in officially recognising a Palestinian state.
There was some speculation on Friday that the prime minister was close to doing so, after 221 MPs signed a cross-party letter supporting the move. Labourâs biggest donors, the trade unions, have also collectively demanded action on recognising Palestine.
Sir Keir used his strongest language yet on Friday when he described Israelâs actions in Gaza as âunspeakable and indefensibleâ, adding that Palestinians have an âinalienable rightâ to their own state.
Pressure was further added by Mr Macronâs announcement that France was preparing to recognise Palestine as a state, just ahead of an E3 phone call on Friday with Sir Keir and the German chancellor Friedrich Merz.
But Sir Keir has held off taking similar action, with some suggesting that he wanted to see what President Trump would have to say about the crisis at their meeting at Turnberry before making a final decision.
The problems kicked off further on Sunday, when Live Aid founder and former pop star Sir Bob Geldof clashed with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch on the topic of Israel and Gaza.
The two appeared on Sir Trevor Phillipsâs Sunday morning show on Sky News.
When asked about Israeli government claims that there are hundreds of trucks full of aid waiting to get into Gaza that are being held up by United Nations incompetence and Hamas, Sir Bob hit out at Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.
âThe Israeli authorities are lying,â he claimed. âTheyâre lying. Netanyahu is a liar. The IDF are lying.â
The comments enraged the Israeli government, which has denied being at fault after reports emerged that more than 110 people have died of hunger during the conflict. Israel has blamed Hamas for âstealing aid and prolonging the warâ.
Israelâs deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, told The Independent: âBob Geldof says that âwe are way beyondâ the attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October 2023. This is complete rubbish. Hamas still holds 50 hostages in their dungeons of torture. They have been held for 660 days. I donât hear Bob Geldof calling for their release?â
When Sir Bobâs remarks were put to her by Sir Trevor, Ms Badenoch said he was wrong.
She said: âI disagree with that. What Iâm seeing is Israel allowing humanitarian aid to go in. This has been an unbelievably difficult situation. Itâs been heartbreaking seeing some of the pictures, hearing those stories, and what we all want to see is this awful war coming to an end, and that will happen when those hostages are released. We need a ceasefire.â
Polling by More in Common has shown that the British public side with Palestinians more than with Israel, by 29 per cent to 15 per cent.
