Over 220 MPs sign letter calling for Palestinian statehood

1 year ago 28

Sam Francis

Political reporter

Reuters Sir Keir Starmer, dressed in a black suit jacket, white shirt, and green patterned tie, stands against a plain warm brown background.

More than a third of MPs have signed a letter to Sir Keir Starmer calling for the UK to recognise Palestinian statehood.

Some 220 MPs from nine political parties have backed the call, including more than 100 from Labour, arguing that UK recognition would be a "powerful symbolic message" and a vital step toward a two-state solution.

The letter piles fresh pressure on the PM after France made a commitment to recognise Palestinian statehood within months.

But in a statement after an emergency phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Friedrich Merz, Sir Keir said recognition of a Palestinian had to be part of a "wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution".