Recognising Palestine is a historic and vital decision

LAST week, the UK Labour Government announced the most significant decision by a UK government regarding the path to peace in Israel and Palestine since the Oslo Accords of the 1990s.

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On Tuesday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced – in light of Israel's continued siege of Gaza and creeping occupation of the West Bank - that the United Kingdom will formally recognise the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly this autumn.

It came just days after France said they would recognise the state of Palestine, and it was followed by Canada saying they would do the same.

This is a historic moment.

After decades of injustice, the people of Palestine will have their state recognised by the UK. As someone who has campaigned for Palestinian statehood since my teens, this is personal to me.

I've been to the West Bank and met the Palestinians who live every day in fear of settler violence and have to pass checkpoint after checkpoint to go to work or to access healthcare.

And I have helped deliver an energy generator to the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City to allow medical procedures to take place.