Here is an overview of the positions on Palestine from the UK political parties.
Conservatives:
Initially, the Conservative Party did not call for a ceasefire, repeating the line of “Israel has a right to defend itself”. They are now calling for humanitarian pauses to “let aid in” and have said that they support a ‘sustainable ceasefire’, but will not restore the UK’s UNRWA future funding until the investigations are complete.
They have also said that there should be no ‘forced displacement’ from Gaza and reaffirm the international law position that Gaza is Occupied Palestinian Territory and will be part of a future Palestinian state.
The post conflict priorities include establishing a ‘credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution’, ensuring that Hamas is not in control of Gaza.
They also condemn the violence in the West Bank from violent Israeli settlers and the UK government has placed sanctions on settlers and settler groups.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak considers the South Africa case at the ICJ as “unhelpful” and “unjustified”. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden also said that “the Conservative government would defy an arrest warrant issued by the ICC for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if re-elected in July.” The government has also criticised the ICC for implying that there is an equivalence between Israeli leaders and Hamas leaders.
The Conservatives also introduced the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill, also known as the “Boycott Bill”. This bill makes the provision to prevent public bodies from being influenced by political or moral disapproval of foreign states when taking certain economic decisions. This bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons, but as it has failed to pass parliament before the upcoming election, it is highly unlikely that it will come into law.
The Conservatives believe in the recognition of Palestinian statehood alongside a “safe and secure” Israel “when the time is right” and when judged to ‘best serve the objective of peace’.
Labour:
Initially, the Labour Party did not support an immediate ceasefire, again echoing the line of “Israel’s right to defend itself”. In February, they called for an ‘immediate humanitarian ceasefire’, after previously calling for humanitarian pauses in December and a ‘sustainable ceasefire’ in late December/early January.
On 11 October 2023, Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said in an LBC interview that Israel “has the right” to withhold power and water from Gaza as part of Israel’s “right to defend herself”. He later clarified these comments and said that although Israel had a ‘right to self defence’, he did not mean that it should withhold humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The Labour Party also calls for unimpeded aid into Gaza and call for the restoration of UK funding to UNRWA, as well as an international investigation into the deaths of humanitarian workers in Gaza.
The Labour Party calls for Israel to immediately comply with the binding orders of the ICJ and supports the independence of the ICC and recognition of the jurisdiction of all conducts of all parties in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. However, on the ICC, Starmer did state that comparisons between Hamas and Israeli leaders by the ICC Prosecutor are unhelpful.
The Labour Party also calls for the UK government to unequivocally commit to complying with international law in this conflict, including strictly applying the licensing criteria governing arms exports, but have fallen short of calling for an immediate arms embargo.
The Labour Party recognise that settlements are illegal under international law and an obstacle to peace.
The Labour Party are in opposition to the Boycott Bill.
The Labour Party supports a diplomatic process with international partners to deliver a pathway to the sustainable peace of a two state solution. They also said that they will recognise a Palestinian state ‘at the right time in a peace process’.
Scottish National Party (SNP):
The Scottish National Party called for a bilateral ceasefire since the beginning of the conflict.
The SNP calls on the UK to follow the footsteps of Ireland, Norway, and Spain to formally recognise the State of Palestine to move towards a just and durable long term peace. It will bring forward a binding vote in the House of Commons on the formal recognition if the government will not immediately commit to doing so.
The SNP also calls for an end to arms sales.
The SNP also strongly discourages trade with companies active in the Occupied Palestinian territories and the Scottish Government has issued formal procurement advice to public advice to public bodies to reinforce this.
The SNP also calls on the UK government to take up reports of ill-treatment of children in custody and to demand immediate action from the Israeli government to behave in line with international law.
Liberal Democrats:
The Liberal Democrats have called for an immediate bilateral ceasefire since November.
The Liberal Democrats have also called for the far right Israeli ministers and extremist leaders Itamir Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich to be sanctioned, as well as violent extremist settlers.
The Liberal Democrats also believe that there should be a presumption of denial when considering whether to grant arms export licences for equipment bound for countries that are listed in the Government’s Human Rights and Democracy Report as countries of concern, which currently includes Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The Liberal Democrats do support trade sanctions on illegal settlement goods.
The Liberal Democrats are committed to seeing a negotiated peace settlement with a two state solution. In their recently published manifesto, they have committed to officially recognising the independent state of Palestine with immediate effect.
The Green Party:
The Green Party called for the UK government to push for an immediate ceasefire on 17 October 2023.
The Green Party has also called for the UK government to cease all military collaboration with Israel, including allowing Israeli use of British bases and RAF intelligence flights over Gaza.
The Green Party also support the implementation of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign across the UK economy. This includes the exclusion of Israel from international sporting and music events, withdrawing all public money from funds with investments in Israel and ending beneficial trade agreements with Israel.
The Green Party would also introduce targeted sanctions against key individuals, which would include travel bans and asset freezes on Israeli leadership and cabinet members, in particular those calling for new settlements in Gaza and the annexation of the West Bank.
The Green Party backs the ICC in seeking arrest warrants for Hamas and Israeli war criminals.
Plaid Cymru:
Plaid Cymru have supported an immediate ceasefire since the start of the conflict.
Plaid Cymru believes that the UK should ban the import of settlement goods in the UK.
Plaid Cymru also supports an arms ban to Israel until it ceases violations of international law.
Reform UK:
No clear policy, but the London Mayoral candidate for Reform UK stated that “as London Mayor, I would not allow any pro-Palestinian protests to take place in London whilst the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues in Gaza”.