Layla Moran, the first and only British MP of Palestinian descent, will on Wednesday present a bill to UK parliament seeking to recognise Palestinian statehood.
Moran, who belongs to the Liberal Democrat party, has presented the bill in every parliamentary session since she was elected in 2017.
It calls on the UK government to formally recognise Palestine as a sovereign and independent state on the basis of pre-1967 borders, and to recognise the inalieable right of Palestinians to self-determination.
The bill also calls on the government to grant the Mission of Palestine in London status as a full diplomatic mission, and thus afford its staff members all applicable diplomatic privileges and immunities.
The bill is being co-sponsored by a number of MPs from different parties across the UK.
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These include Labour’s Alex Sobel, Andy McDonald and Andy Slaughter, Conservative MP Kit Malthouse, Liberal Democrat lawmakers Calum Miller, Alistair Carmichael and Tom Morrison, and Ellie Chowns from the Green Party.
A similar bill calling for the recognition of a Palestinian state was put forward by independent MP Shockat Adam earlier this week.
It was co-sponsored by several independent MPs, as well as lawmakers from the Greens, Labour, Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru.
In its election manifesto, Labour committed to recognising a Palestinian state “as a contribution to a renewed peace process which results in a two-state solution”.
In June, reports suggested that Prime Minister Keir Starmer was set to delay recognising Palestine over concerns it could jeopardise Britain’s relationship with the United States.
Last week, nearly 50 British parliamentarians from seven political parties backed a parliamentary motion calling for the government to take measures including “ending all military exports to Israel, banning the import of goods from illegal Israeli settlements, and revoking the 2030 Roadmap which deepens UK economic, trade and security ties with Israel”.
Meanwhile, Starmer said last week he is “looking at” sanctioning Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, as well as the National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir over “abhorrent” comments they made about Palestinians.
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