Will this ease political pressure on Starmer?published at 18:29 BST 21 September
Harry Farley
Political correspondent
One of the factors behind this decision was the domestic political pressure on Keir Starmer to act.
The Green Party, which has attracted some voters who – angered by the pictures from Gaza – want the prime minister to take a firmer stance to Israel, has now called for an end to arms sales to Israel., external
But that’s not just a call Labour’s political opponents are making. Already some Labour MPs – not on the hard-left of the party typically hostile to Starmer – have argued the same.
Dr Simon Opher, a Labour MP blocked by Israel from entering the country this week, said the government had tried to use the threat of recognition as leverage to achieve a ceasefire but it had not worked.
“Now we have to very categorically opt out of any arms deals with Israel, stop any cooperation, and we need to think about proper trade sanctions,” he tells me, adding that would be “the next logical step”.
Other Labour MPs fear the move panders to the party’s left, and has not achieved anything.
“It feeds into the narrative that the government cares more about Palestinian flags than Union flags,” another Labour MP says.
“It gives the impression we care more about borders in the Middle East than the borders at Dover.”