Senior Labour MP says UK has failed Palestinians after recognising Palestine
A senior Labour MP has accused the UK government of failing the Palestinian people and doing too little after recognising Palestine as a state. Emily Thornberry, who chairs the foreign affairs select committee, said the decision taken more than eight months ago should have been only the first step in a wider effort towards a two-state solution. She made the remarks at an event in Westminster on Monday night, where she also criticised Donald Trump over Gaza.
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Thornberry said the government had not made it economically impossible for Israel to continue to act with impunity in the West Bank and Gaza. She said ministers had lacked ambition and had been "wringing their hands" on the Palestinian crisis. In her comments, she argued that recognition of Palestine should have been followed by further action, asking what the "second step" and "tenth step" would be.
She also challenged the idea that Gaza is experiencing a genuine ceasefire. Thornberry said the death toll continued to rise and referred to more than 72,000 Palestinians being killed, while saying more than 700 had been killed in Gaza since Trump proclaimed what she described as "the greatest moment in humanity". She added that people in displacement camps were living in rubble and said children were sleeping in conditions where they had been bitten by rats.
The intervention is significant because it comes from a senior figure in the governing party and touches directly on Britain's foreign policy response to the war in Gaza and the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Thornberry said Britain had long valued international law, but that its record on Palestine had fallen well short. Her remarks also suggest growing pressure within Labour circles over how far the government should go beyond symbolic recognition of Palestinian statehood.
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Thornberry said Benjamin Netanyahu had announced last week that Israel intended to take over 70% of Gaza, which she described as evidence of a "staggering" sense of impunity. She also said the UK had failed to use its economic leverage to change Israel's conduct in the West Bank and Gaza. The comments were made at an event convened by Medical Aid for Palestinians and the Council on Arab-British Understanding, both of which have been active in advocacy around the conflict.
What remains unclear is whether Thornberry's criticism will translate into any change in government policy or wider Labour debate. It is also not clear whether other senior ministers will respond publicly to her remarks. The immediate question is whether the UK will take any further diplomatic, legal or economic steps after recognising Palestine, and how the government will frame its position as the conflict continues.
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