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Starmer faces pushback following Palestinian statehood announcement
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer is facing pushback after announcing the UK will recognise a Palestinian state if the crisis in Gaza is not brought to an end.
The prime minister said the UK could take the step of recognising Palestine’s statehood in September, before a major UN gathering.
The UK will only refrain from doing so if Israel allows more aid into Gaza, stops annexing land in the West Bank, agrees to a ceasefire and signs up to a long-term, peace process over the next two months.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, must immediately release all remaining Israeli hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and “accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza”, Starmer also said.
But the PM’s announcement rewards “Hamas’s monstrous terrorism”, his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed.
In a statement on social media site X, Israel’s prime minister added: “Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails.”
Donald Trump, who met Starmer on Monday and discussed measures to end the starvation faced by Palestinians in Gaza, suggested the pair had not talked about recognising Palestinian statehood.
But Trump said he did not mind the PM “taking a position” on the issue.
This was a contrast with his reaction to Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that France will recognise Palestine at the UN general assembly in September, which the US president said would make no difference.
In other news:
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Transport secretary Heidi Alexander rejected the idea that Keir Starmer’s pledge to recognise a Palestinian state is gesture politics. She told Times Radio on Wednesday that the decision to recognise a Palestinian state in September is about making sure it comes at the time of “maximum impact” and denied that it’s a “reward for Hamas”.
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Nigel Farage is “happy for there to be a free for all on the internet”, Alexander said on Sky News on Wednesday, as she appeared to double down on her fellow Cabinet minister’s claim that the Reform UK leader is on the side of “people like Jimmy Savile”. Technology secretary Peter Kyle also accused Mr Farage of being on the side of “extreme pornographers” on Tuesday.
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Keir Starmer spoke with a series of world leaders throughout Tuesday, including Netanyahu, and King Abdullah II of Jordan, whose nation is leading efforts to airdrop aid into Gaza. About 20 tonnes of aid have been dropped by the UK and Jordan in recent days, according to foreign secretary David Lammy.
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High-level representatives at the UN conference on Tuesday urged Israel to commit to a Palestinian state and gave “unwavering support” to a two-state solution. The New York Declaration, issued by the conference, sets out a phased plan to end the nearly eight-decade conflict and the ongoing war in Gaza.
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Foreign states are becoming bolder in their attempts to silence dissidents in the UK and the government must take stronger action, parliamentarians have warned. In a report published on Wednesday, the Joint Committee on Human Rights said transnational repression had increased in recent years, with foreign states using online harassment, lawsuits and physical violence to intimidate people in the UK.
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Thornberry also denied the suggestion that the UK is “irrelevant” and said Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu “completely lost it” overnight after Keir Starmer’s statement.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the chair of the foreign affairs committee was asked whether the UK is irrelevant if it makes demands of Israel that are then ignored.
She said:
No, we are not irrelevant.
If we were completely irrelevant why has Netanyahu completely lost it overnight?
Later referring to the Israeli leader’s statement, she said:
It’s not exactly a considered, diplomatic, careful statement ... it’s a furious statement.
We are long-term allies, we remain long-term allies, but not with this far-right government, not with the way that it is behaving.
With Israel, and with the Israeli people, who are, you know, who are led by a government that is not doing what they want. They want peace.
Emily Thornberry has said it is “great news” that the UK has “finally” said it plans recognise a Palestinian state.
The chair of the foreign affairs committee told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the UK has to “get on to the front foot” and “kickstart a process”.
Asked whether prime minister Keir Starmer’s announcement was the right move, she said:
It’s great news. I’m so pleased that we finally got there.
This is a major change in British foreign policy, and it’s absolutely the right thing to do.
Asked why it was the right thing, she said:
Because what we’ve been doing until now is sitting close to the Americans and hoping that somehow or other there will be a peace process, and in the middle of that, we will be able to recognise Palestine.
We have to, I think, get onto the front foot and I think what we need to be doing is exactly what the Government has decided they’re going to do, which is to kickstart a process.
And that begins with recognition ... a statement of intent. This is where we want to get to.
Starmer faces pushback following Palestinian statehood announcement
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer is facing pushback after announcing the UK will recognise a Palestinian state if the crisis in Gaza is not brought to an end.
The prime minister said the UK could take the step of recognising Palestine’s statehood in September, before a major UN gathering.
The UK will only refrain from doing so if Israel allows more aid into Gaza, stops annexing land in the West Bank, agrees to a ceasefire and signs up to a long-term, peace process over the next two months.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, must immediately release all remaining Israeli hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and “accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza”, Starmer also said.
But the PM’s announcement rewards “Hamas’s monstrous terrorism”, his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed.
In a statement on social media site X, Israel’s prime minister added: “Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails.”
Donald Trump, who met Starmer on Monday and discussed measures to end the starvation faced by Palestinians in Gaza, suggested the pair had not talked about recognising Palestinian statehood.
But Trump said he did not mind the PM “taking a position” on the issue.
This was a contrast with his reaction to Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that France will recognise Palestine at the UN general assembly in September, which the US president said would make no difference.
In other news:
-
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander rejected the idea that Keir Starmer’s pledge to recognise a Palestinian state is gesture politics. She told Times Radio on Wednesday that the decision to recognise a Palestinian state in September is about making sure it comes at the time of “maximum impact” and denied that it’s a “reward for Hamas”.
-
Nigel Farage is “happy for there to be a free for all on the internet”, Alexander said on Sky News on Wednesday, as she appeared to double down on her fellow Cabinet minister’s claim that the Reform UK leader is on the side of “people like Jimmy Savile”. Technology secretary Peter Kyle also accused Mr Farage of being on the side of “extreme pornographers” on Tuesday.
-
Keir Starmer spoke with a series of world leaders throughout Tuesday, including Netanyahu, and King Abdullah II of Jordan, whose nation is leading efforts to airdrop aid into Gaza. About 20 tonnes of aid have been dropped by the UK and Jordan in recent days, according to foreign secretary David Lammy.
-
High-level representatives at the UN conference on Tuesday urged Israel to commit to a Palestinian state and gave “unwavering support” to a two-state solution. The New York Declaration, issued by the conference, sets out a phased plan to end the nearly eight-decade conflict and the ongoing war in Gaza.
-
Foreign states are becoming bolder in their attempts to silence dissidents in the UK and the government must take stronger action, parliamentarians have warned. In a report published on Wednesday, the Joint Committee on Human Rights said transnational repression had increased in recent years, with foreign states using online harassment, lawsuits and physical violence to intimidate people in the UK.
