Starmer: There has to be a ‘safe and secure Israel’ for Labour to recognise Palestine
Speaking to Jewish News the Labour leader clarified his party's manifesto commitment to recognise a Palestinian state 'as part of a process'
Keir Starmer has moved to clarify Labour’s position on recognition of a Palestinian state after reports claimed his party’s manifesto would call for this to happen before any peace talks with Israel were concluded.
Speaking to Jewish News as he visited the Brent Cross Town housing development in north London, the Labour leader ruled out this happened while Hamas retained any control in Gaza saying:”There has to be a safe and secure Israel.”
Asked to clarify Labour’s position, following a report in the Guardian which suggested Starmer was ready to make significant concessions to pro-Palestine voices on the left, Starmer said :”It’s very important that I set out what our policy is full is, which is to recognise Palestine as part of the process for a two state solution. But part of a process.
“That means it has got to be at the right time in the process, because we need a viable Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel.
“We don’t have either of those at the moment, and therefore it has got to be at the point of the process where we could see both of those outcomes.”
But he added:”It is important for me to say that recognising Palestine, a Palestinian state, is not in the gift of Israel or anyone else. It is a right.
“But it has to be in process so that both things happen. ”
Asked again if this process could happen while Hamas remained in some control of Gaza, Starmer again stressed:”There has to be a safe and secure Israel.”
He also stressed the manifesto, published next week, would reflect a “long-standing” Labour position in support for a two-state solution.
Starmer visited the impressive housing development with deputy leader Angela Rayner, and Finchley and Golders Green Labour parliamentary candidate Sarah Sackman.
“I am glad that he clarified that Labour will not recognise a Palestinian state while parties committed to violence remain in control of Gaza, and that we need a renewed peace process which results in a two state solution with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state,” said Sackman.
Asked by journalists for his reaction to Rishi Sunak’s decision to leave the D-Day commemoration event in Normandy prematurely he said the prime minister “will have to answer for his own actions.”
“For me, there was nowhere else I was going to be,” Starmer said, who added meeting with veterans was an emotional experience for him.
Earlier Rayner, sporting patriotic union jack socks, and Starmer spoke with a new home owner at the development, which has been praised by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who also attended Friday’s campaign event.
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