Record backing for Palestinian recognition heaps pressure on Starmer

A record number of 221 British MPs from all political parties have signed a letter urging the government to immediately recognise a Palestinian state.

The move adds even greater pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to take the step, after France on Thursday announced it would do so.

The MPs, from nine different parties, have called on the government to recognise the state of Palestine ahead of the UN conference on Monday co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia.

“While we appreciate the UK does not have it in its power to bring about a free and independent Palestine, UK recognition would have a significant impact due to our historic connections and our membership on the UN Security Council, so we urge you to take this step,” the MPs said.

The letter was co-ordinated by Labour MP Sarah Champion, chairwoman of the international development committee. Ms Champion said she accepted that recognition would not end the suffering in Gaza, but it was “an important symbolic step on the path to the two-state solution”.

“The broad support, from across the House, that my joint letter has received, shows clearly the strength of feeling from parliamentarians in favour of recognising the state of Palestine without delay,” she added.

Ms Champion argued that recognition would “send a powerful symbolic message” that British MPs support the rights of the Palestinian people “that they are not alone”.

Minutes after the letter was sent, Mr Starmer responded stating that while recognition of Palestine was one of the key steps to a lasting peace it had to be “part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis”.

But he also went further than previously in his criticism of Israel stating that its “disproportionate military escalation in Gaza” was “indefensible”, as was the blocking of supplies leading to starvation in the enclave and extremist settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

Mr Starmer also condemned Hamas for continuing to hold Israeli hostages in the enclave.

Mr Starmer will meet President Donald Trump in Scotland on Monday and it is understood that Gaza will be top of the agenda.

He will be looking to get American support to put pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree a peace deal with Hamas, although that received a blow on Thursday after US envoy Steve Witkoff pulled out of the talks.

Israel has also recalled its team from the talks, though mediators Qatar and Egypt said on Friday that their efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza will continue.

Mr Starmer said he was “working on a pathway to peace in the region” and that would “set out the concrete steps needed to turn the ceasefire so desperately needed, into a lasting peace”.

The UK leader also on Friday initiated an emergency meeting of the E3 countries – France, Germany and Britain – that produced a joint statement calling on Israel to lift humanitarian aid restrictions on Gaza to allow the UN to “take action against starvation”.

Gaza withdrawal

Although the E3 also called on Israel to withdraw from Gaza, it did not go as far as some hoped in condemning its actions or moving towards recognition of a Palestinian state.

While France has said it would make that move in September, Germany, a strong ally of Israel, confirmed on Friday that it would not.

German recognition of Palestine would be “one of the final steps” in a Middle East peace settlement, said a statement from Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s office.