Starmer cabinet split as PM facing ‘overwhelming pressure’ to recognise Palestinian state immediately
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.”
