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The Guardian: Labour MPs pressure foreign office to recognise Palestinian statehood
The Guardian - Labour MPs pressure foreign office to recognise Palestinian statehood
Emily Thornberry calls for UK to join France, as Emmanuel Macron says June UN conference must be decisive moment
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Sun 13 Apr 2025 07.17 EDT
The Foreign Office is under pressure from Labour MPs to recognise a Palestinian state if Emmanuel Macron, the French president, presses ahead with plans to recognise Palestine at an international conference set for June.
France is co-chairing the conference at the UN in New York alongside Saudi Arabia, and Macron has said the conference must be a decisive moment.
Emily Thornberry, the chair of the foreign affairs select committee, said the time was coming for the UK to recognise Palestinian statehood, adding: “We need to do it with friends. We need to do it with the French. There are a lot of other countries sitting back and waiting.”
She said that if the west did not act soon, there would be no Palestine left to recognise.
Chris Doyle, the chair of the Council on Arab-British Understanding (CAABU), also backed the measure, saying it should have been done long ago and that such a step by two permanent members of the UN security council would send a powerful message.
/snip
Emily Thornberry calls for UK to join France, as Emmanuel Macron says June UN conference must be decisive moment
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Sun 13 Apr 2025 07.17 EDT
The Foreign Office is under pressure from Labour MPs to recognise a Palestinian state if Emmanuel Macron, the French president, presses ahead with plans to recognise Palestine at an international conference set for June.
France is co-chairing the conference at the UN in New York alongside Saudi Arabia, and Macron has said the conference must be a decisive moment.
Emily Thornberry, the chair of the foreign affairs select committee, said the time was coming for the UK to recognise Palestinian statehood, adding: “We need to do it with friends. We need to do it with the French. There are a lot of other countries sitting back and waiting.”
She said that if the west did not act soon, there would be no Palestine left to recognise.
Chris Doyle, the chair of the Council on Arab-British Understanding (CAABU), also backed the measure, saying it should have been done long ago and that such a step by two permanent members of the UN security council would send a powerful message.
/snip