The Labour chair of the UK Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Emily Thornberry, has condemned her own government’s approach to the Middle East.
She argued that Great Britain has failed the Palestinian people.
She spoke at a Westminster event organised by Medical Aid for Palestinians and the Council on Arab-British Understanding on Monday night.
Thornberry stated that the UK has failed to implement economic measures severe enough to halt Israeli actions in the West Bank and Gaza.
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Her highly critical stance marks a significant shift from her previous commentary on the government’s Middle East policy.
Thornberry expressed deep frustration that more than eight months after the UK recognised Palestine as a state in 2025, no further actions have been taken by the administration to advance a two-state solution.
She emphasized that diplomatic recognition was only meant to be an introductory move, accusing the government of displaying a total lack of ambition and resorting to mere hand-wringing.
The committee chair pointed out that nearly two years have passed since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued its advisory opinion declaring Israeli settlements illegal, yet the UK government has still failed to publish its formal response.
To align with international law, Thornberry argued that the UK must take decisive economic steps.
She explained that the government should outlaw the importation of products manufactured in these illegal settlements, levy strict sanctions on individuals involved in their expansion, and bar British corporations and insurance networks from participating in West Bank construction.
She also urged the UK to reassemble the coalition of nations that supported Palestinian statehood last year to make settlement expansion economically unfeasible for Israel.
The Labour MP launched a fierce attack on U.S. President Donald Trump, accusing him of declaring a historic peace victory on paper only to completely walk away from the crisis.
She described the current situation in Gaza as a false truce, noting that the death toll has continued to climb past 72,000, with hundreds of Palestinians killed since the American president announced his peace deal.
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Thornberry highlighted the ongoing humanitarian disaster in the region, noting that displaced children are suffering from rat bites while sleeping in displacement camps built on mountains of rubble.
With the Israeli government recently announcing its intent to assume control over seventy percent of Gaza, she warned that the international community can no longer tolerate the current state of affairs.
Convening power
Warning that Gaza serves as a tragic lesson of what happens when global powers do too little too late, Thornberry stressed the urgency of protecting the West Bank from a similar fate.
She called on the UK to move past simple words of condemnation, which she insisted are entirely ineffective against the ongoing violence and displacement of Palestinian communities.
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She challenged the UK diplomatic corps to live up to its reputation as a major convening power.
She demanded that Britain immediately take a leading global role by organising international summits and sustaining a high-level diplomatic push to bring the Palestinian crisis back into the global spotlight.
