Recognition of Palestinian state ‘long overdue’, says SNP MP

The UK’s recognition of a Palestinian state is “long overdue”, says the SNP’s spokesperson for international affairs.

Stephen Gethins, MP for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, spoke about the UK Government’s decision to recognise Palestine as a state on BBC Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme.

He said: “We’ve pushed this for a long time and actually think it’s long overdue, almost two years into this horrible and brutal war in Gaza that’s cost the lives of tens of thousands of innocent civilians.

“It also means that if you believe in a two-state solution, and there seems to be a coalescence around that you need two states, and we didn’t have two states and the UK didn’t recognise two states.”

The Prime Minister made an announcement on Sunday recognising the state of Palestine

Sir Keir Starmer said he wanted to “revive the hope of peace and a two-state solution”.

Mr Gethins said that the recognition of the state of Palestine was not a “solution” and “more needs to be done”.

He said: “Additional pressure needs to be brought to bear on Israel, through economic sanctions – stop selling them weapons that they are using in this devastating war in Gaza, and work with our international partners – especially elsewhere in Europe and in Europe’s neighbourhood as well.”

First Minister John Swinney is attending an event at the Palestine Mission in London today.

In his column for the Daily Record, he said while the UK’s recognition of the state of Palestine is a welcome step, “it is nowhere near enough”.

He wrote: “This is long overdue and is for sure a welcome step.

“But it is nowhere near enough. Let me be blunt – the government of Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

He continued by calling for further sanctions on Mr Netanyahu, and added: “I have set out a plan for what the UK Government should do. It needs to sanction Benjamin Netanyahu and key members of the Israeli government, stop co-operating with Israel’s military and join the case at the International Court of Justice at the very minimum.”

The UK Government has been approached for comment.