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After France's UN move, the Palestine statehood debate heats up in the UK
The SNP, an opposition party with just 9 seats in Westminster, announced that it will table a ‘Palestine Recognition Bill’ in September.
As French President Macron's declaration renewed conversation across Europe on ‘Palestinian statehood’, the focus is now in the United Kingdom, where a small opposition party vowed to bring forward legislation on recognising Palestinian statehood.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) also announced that it will force a parliamentary vote if Prime Minister Keir Starmer continues to stall the debate and refuses to change his position on the matter.
The move signals rising pressure within Europe amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The SNP, a pro-independence party with just nine seats in Westminster, announced on Sunday that it will table a "Palestine Recognition Bill" when Parliament returns from summer recess in September, AFP reported.
The party's leader in Westminster, Stephen Flynn, said that unless PM Starmer shifts his position, the SNP will force a full vote to compel the UK to follow France in formally recognising a Palestinian state.
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"Unless Keir Starmer stops blocking UK recognition of Palestine, the SNP will introduce a Palestine Recognition Bill when Parliament returns in September and force a vote if necessary," said Stephen Flynn.
The SNP threat comes after more than 220 British MPs, including dozens from Starmer's ruling Labour party, demanded on Friday that the UK government follow France and recognise a Palestinian state.
France's UN move on Palestine
French President Emmanuel Macron announced this week that France would recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from both Israel and the United States.
Macron's announcement marks a significant shift in European diplomacy and has sparked debate across EU capitals.
European nations open up
After Macron's UN move, Germany and Italy have rejected the idea for now, citing the need for a negotiated peace process. Starmer has earlier also echoed similar sentiments, saying Palestinian statehood should come "as part of a peace process," not in advance of one.
Yet critics argue that time is running out.
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Starmer has come under rising domestic and international pressure over recognising Palestinian statehood, as opposition intensifies to the ongoing war in Gaza amid fears of mass starvation there.
142 nations recognise Palestine
After the inclusion of France, Palestinian statehood is now recognised by 142 countries, according to an AFP tally, though Israel and the United States strongly oppose recognition.
In 1947, a resolution of the UN General Assembly decided on the partition of Palestine, then under a British mandate, into two independent states — one Jewish and the other Arab.
