Sir Keir Starmer had been under a lot of pressure to recognise Palestinian statehood.
He was under pressure from more than 250 MPs who signed a letter urging recognition.
He was under pressure from Jeremy Corbyn’s new left-wing party, which placed alleged UK complicity in the horror in Gaza at the centre of its launch.
And he was under pressure from top Labour figures, from London Mayor Sadiq Khan to members of his cabinet.
But today, Starmer announced that Britain would recognise the state of Palestine in September – on a few conditions.
Starmer said recognising an independent Palestinian state would happen if Israel does not agree to a cease-fire with Hamas, part of a broader European effort to end the deadly war between them.
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The tiny coastal enclave of Gaza is not what it was before October 7 – Israeli forces have killed 60,000 people, destroyed 90% of homes and imposed an aid blockade fuelling an imminent famine.
New polling from More in Common has found 41% of Brits backed the move, compared to 21% who are opposed to it.
However, just 24% said it should happen immediately, with the public more likely to say recognition should only happen once Hamas no longer controls Gaza.
Why hasn’t the UK recognised Palestine already?
The UK is deeply entwined in the history of the region currently occupied by Israel and Palestine.
In 1916, the British claimed control of the region called Palestine amid the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and the following year, Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour said the UK would back a ‘national home’ for the Jewish people in the area.
A little over three decades later, in 1948, David Ben-Gurion declared the independence of Israel. The UN admitted Israel as a member in 1949, but not Palestine.
It was not until 1988 that Palestinian statehood was recognised by any UN member states, after the Palestinian National Council formally declared independence.
Today, 147 of the UN’s 193 member states recognise Palestine, including the vast majority of the countries in Asia, Africa and South America.
The US, Canada, Germany, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are among the nations that do not.
In 2014, MPs in the House of Commons voted 274 to 12 in favour of recognising Palestine as a state.
But David Cameron’s government responded with a line that remains familiar today – that recognition would wait until it was deemed most appropriate for the peace process.
Will the UK government recognise Palestine?
While Starmer’s dramatic shift today is the hardest he’s ever been on the issue, it’s still one that has terms and conditions attached to it.
But many top officials have been asking Starmer to recognise a Palestinian state regardless.
Among the high-profile cabinet members reportedly arguing in favour are Deputy PM Angela Rayner, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
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The UK has also been closely aligning with France on the issue, as part of the E3 group of nations alongside Germany.
Labour’s election manifesto last year said the party is ‘committed to recognising a Palestinian state as a contribution to a renewed peace process which results in a two-state solution with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.’
The letter, signed by 221 MPs, organised by Labour’s Sarah Champion, said the announcement of recognition should come at a UN conference co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on Monday and Tuesday.
It said: ‘British recognition of Palestine would be particularly powerful given its role as the author of the Balfour Declaration and the former Mandatory Power in Palestine. Since 1980, we have backed a two-state solution.
‘Such a recognition would give that position substance as well as living up to a historic responsibility we have to the people under that Mandate.’
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