Key events
We are expecting an announcement from Keir Starmer on recognising Palestinian statehood early this afternoon.
As we have mentioned in the blog already, Israel has condemned the move, which has also caused some tension between London and Washington. The US is fuelling Israel’s war by supplying it with vast amounts of weapons and giving it diplomatic cover.
Starmer has tried his best to keep on the right side of the Trump administration, placating the volatile president as he seeks to maintain a good trading relationship with America. But Starmer’s critics have argued this has come at the cost of stronger action over Israel’s assault on Gaza, which is increasingly being recognised as a genocide.
The F-35 programme is an international defence programme which produces and maintains the F-35 fighter jets, with the UK having contributed components for both assembly lines and an international pool.
Israel has used the jets to devastating effect in its deadly bombardment of Gaza, killing many civilians.
Last September, the Labour government suspended about 30 arms export licences for offensive use in Gaza, leaving 200 arms licences in place. It also gave a carve-out for equipment used in the F-35 programme, saying national security required that the F-35 supply chain remained intact.
The suspensions were due to a clear risk that Israel, which has regularly targeted civilian infrastructure like schools and hospitals, might use the arms to commit serious breaches of international humanitarian law.
The British government continues to struggle to explain its export licensing regime. Ministers say they have stopped the sale of arms, but it was reported in July that there were more than 300 licences in operation. In addition, analysis of trade data shows UK firms have exported thousands of military items including munitions to Israel despite the government suspending key arms export licences last year.
As my colleague Pippa Crerar notes in this analysis piece, when defending its record the British government points out that it has restored funding to Unrwa, provided millions in humanitarian assistance, sanctioned far-right Israeli ministers and those who committed settler violence, and broken off trade negotiations with Israel.
But these moves are simply seen by many as inadequate in the face of the scale of the human suffering and death caused by Israel during the war on Gaza, which was triggered by the Hamas-led 7 October attack on southern Israel in 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage.
More than 65,000 Palestinian people have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to Gaza’s health ministry, whose figures the UN see as reliable. Many of those who were killed were women and children and the actual death toll is feared to be much higher as many people’s bodies are buried under rubble.
After calling for criminal sanctions against Elon Musk, Ed Davey also insisted the Lib Dems are a party of free speech.
Asked whether his party share the values of those who joined the Unite The Kingdom march, Davey said he thought far right rally organiser Tommy Robinson’s core group of supporters were “abhorrent”.
But speaking about the wider crowd, he said:
They’re protesting about the problems in the local NHS. They’re protesting about the costs of living and maybe free speech as well. But guess what? We’re a party of free speech, where a party wants to tackle the cost-of-living problems.
Ed Davey brands Elon Musk a ‘criminal’ and called for him to be prosecuted
In some other news, Ed Davey, the Lib Dems leader, has branded Elon Musk a criminal over remarks he made at the “Unite the Kingdom” rally in London last week.
Addressing the crowds last Saturday via video link, Musk, the owner of X, said: “I think there’s something beautiful about being British and what I see happening here is a destruction of Britain, initially a slow erosion but rapidly increasing erosion of Britain with massive uncontrolled migration.
“This is a message to the reasonable centre, the people who ordinarily wouldn’t get involved in politics, who just want to live their lives.
“They don’t want that, they’re quiet, they just go about their business.
“My message is to them: if this continues, that violence is going to come to you, you will have no choice. You’re in a fundamental situation here.
“Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die, that’s the truth, I think.”
Asked by Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme if he thought the billionaire was a criminal, Davey replied:
Yes. Not just because of the awful things he’s done, inciting violence. For example, he says a civil war in our country is inevitable, that our democratically elected government should be overthrown. They were bad enough.
But on his platform, there are examples of adverts pushing people on self-harm, on grooming, even selling videos showing paedophile acts, child sex abuse acts. And I think he should be held to account for them. Him personally and his business.
Ofcom now have the powers under the Online Safety Act… I know that is a new act and maybe we need to give them a bit more time but I personally think they need the encouragement and the support to take on powerful people and we shouldn’t just let powerful people get away with it.
John Swinney calls on UK government to impose more sanctions on Israel
Scotland’s first minister John Swinney has welcomed the UK recognition of a Palestinian state as a “historic moment” but said it must not be conditional and must be backed by sanctions on Israel.
His comments come after a UN commission last week said it had reasonable grounds to conclude Israel is committing a genocide against the Palestinian population in Gaza, a charge Israel denies despite the overwhelming evidence supporting it (you can read more about the commission’s findings here).
The UN independent international commission of inquiry (COI) cited the killing of civilians and children in a “scorched-earth military strategy”, starvation and deaths caused by restrictions on food and medicines, mistreatment of detainees, forced displacement and the physical devastation of much of the territory to support its conclusion.
In comments carried by the PA news agency, Swinney said:
The recognition of a Palestinian state is a historic moment which should have come long ago.
I welcome this long-awaited recognition but stress that it must not be conditional and it must be backed by sanctions against Israel.
In addition to the recognition of the State of Palestine, Israel must agree to a ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid to flow freely to address the starvation being faced in Gaza.
A two-state solution is the only way that the Palestinians and Israelis can live side by side in peace, prosperity and security.
I am proud to be attending an event to mark the recognition of the State of Palestine and will continue to do all that I can to support those suffering in Gaza and the West Bank.
Lammy says it is time to ‘stand up’ for the two-state solution
David Lammy has also been on the BBC, speaking to Laura Kuenssberg on her Sunday morning programme.
Lammy is asked about what he would say to the families of Israeli hostages who say recognising Palestinian statehood is ill-judged and seriously complicates efforts to bring their loved ones home.
The deputy prime minister, who has repeatedly called for the hostages being held by Hamas to be released, said he continues to meet with hostage families.
He added:
Hamas is not the Palestinian people. A Palestinian state is a just cause, and our country, 108 years ago, signed up to the Balfour Declaration, we believe in a homeland for the Jewish people, but we also stated that we believed in the civil and religious rights of the Palestinian people, and now is the time to stand up for that two states.
Otherwise you are effectively saying you believe in no state for the Palestinian people or one state in which you would have to explain how there is proper equality before the law for the Palestinian people.
Trevor Phillips pressed David Lammy over whether or not there will be any conditions for Hamas, the Palestinian militant group Israel says are being rewarded by the British government’s plan to recognise Palestinian statehood.
Lammy said:
We have been crystal clear. Hamas is a terrorist organisation. There can be no role for Hamas, actually, as a consequence of the decision that we made back at the end of July, we saw the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League be crystal clear that there can be no role for Hamas the first time they had done that. So we’re absolutely clear they are terrorists, they should release the hostages. That is unequivocal.
But notwithstanding that Trevor, and this is an important point, when we talk about a Palestinian state, and any step to recognise it is because we wish to keep alive the prospects of a two state solution. That is what is in jeopardy. That’s not just about Gaza. It’s also about the West Bank, settler violence and expansion.
Hamas, a Palestinian militant group and political movement in the Gaza Strip, has been the sole ruler in the Gaza Strip since 2007 and is designated as a terrorist organisation by many countries, including the UK, the US and Israel. Israel has said Hamas cannot have any involvement in the postwar governance of Gaza, something the British government has also said.
The Palestinian Authority is an interim body that governs the occupied West Bank and recognises Israel. It is unpopular with many people living in the West Bank. Arab powers, the UK and European countries have previously signalled that they want the PA to take a central role in the administration of Gaza once Israel’s war ends, though they agree it needs reform.
The prospect of a ceasefire in Gaza ‘lays in tatters’, Lammy says, as he defends recognition move
The deputy prime minister, David Lammy, is speaking to Sky News’ Trevor Phillips this morning on behalf of the government.
Lammy, who will represent the UK at the general assembly, has said a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel “lays in tatters” after Israel carried out an airstrike on a Hamas negotiating team in Qatar at the start of the month, and the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law.
Qatar, a close US ally, has been hosting negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war, and plays a key role as an intermediary.
The former foreign secretary told Sky News:
Well, since that announcement in July, in fact, with the attack on Qatar, a ceasefire at this point lays in tatters, and the prospects are bleak.
And of course, we’ve also seen Israel move forward with an E1 development which would run a coach and horses between both the north and south West bank and ensure that we do not get to two states.
Lammy condemned Israel’s so-called E1 plan, a highly controversial and illegal project for more than 3,400 new homes which would effectively split the occupied West Bank in half.
As my colleague Peter Beaumont explains in this story, the plan would extend the existing Jewish settlement of Ma’ale Adumim towards Jerusalem, further cutting occupied east Jerusalem from the West Bank, and further separating the north and south of the territory.
Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich – who backs both the plan and the imposition of Israeli sovereignty through the occupied West Bank – gloated that he believed construction on E1 would “bury the idea of a Palestinian state”.
What does recognition of Palestinian statehood entail practically?
The Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, has done a useful explainer with a section looking at what recognising Palestine would look like in practice. Here is an extract:
Recognition is largely symbolic. When the UK’s position was announced the then foreign secretary, David Lammy, said: “It will not change the position on the ground.”
But it allows the UK to enter treaties with Palestine and would mean that the Palestine head of mission becomes a fully recognised ambassador.
Some argue that a greater onus would be placed on the UK to boycott goods imported into the UK by Israel that come from the occupied territories.
But it is seen more as a statement on Palestine’s future, and disapproval of Israel’s refusal to negotiate a Palestinian state…
There are genuine fears that Israel is about to annex the West Bank or make Gaza so uninhabitable that Palestinians are forced over the borders into Jordan or Egypt, so destroying the possibility of a Palestinian homeland.
Recognition that Palestine is a state with the right to self-determination is an attempt to show Israel cannot simply annex land that the international court of justice has declared to be illegally occupied.
Keir Starmer set to announce UK recognition of Palestinian state later today
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics.
The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, is expected to announce the UK’s recognition of a Palestinian state in a statement on Sunday afternoon, despite fierce Israeli opposition and US pressure to reconsider.
Starmer said in July he would recognise Palestinian statehood before the UN general assembly in New York this month if Israel did not meet a series of conditions to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including agreeing to a ceasefire and committing to a long-term peace process leading to a Palestinian state coexisting alongside Israel.
But Israel’s continued restrictions on aid into the devastated territory, causing starvation in parts of the Strip, the IDF’s relentless bombardments, killing a high number of civilians and destroying much of Gaza’s infrastructure, and Israel’s expanded assault on famine-stricken Gaza City, which has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee, has made the government feel like taking stronger action – no matter how symbolic – is necessary.
The UK government is also said to be alarmed at plans to accelerate Israeli settlements in the West Bank which ministers fear will end any hope of a two-state solution.
High-level meetings at the UN summit involving world leaders begin on 23 September. In a rare diplomatic break with Washington, Starmer has found himself at odds with the Trump administration over the move, which is opposed to giving official recognition to the state.
Portugal’s foreign ministry said on Friday that it would also formally declare its recognition for Palestinian statehood on Sunday.
Lisbon had already announced in July that it intended to do so, citing the “extremely worrying evolution of the conflict”. Similar moves have been made by Australia, Canada, Luxembourg and France. The Israeli government says that recognition rewards Hamas’ terrorism.
Labour has sought to stress that recognition of a Palestinian state is not a reward for Hamas, and emphasised that it would have no role in the future governance of Gaza.
It is expected the government will ratchet up sanctions on Hamas in due course, and it has stepped up demands for the release of hostages.
Family members of some of the hostages taken by Hamas during its attack on southern Israel in October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, urged Starmer to hold off from recognition until the 48 still in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to still be alive, had been returned safely.
The letter said:
Your regrettable announcement of the UK’s intention to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations general assembly has dramatically complicated efforts to bring home our loved ones.
Hamas has already celebrated the UK’s decision as a victory and reneged on a ceasefire deal. We write to you with a simple plea – do not take this step until our loved ones are home and in our arms.
