Senior Tory MPs and peers break ranks to call for recognition of Palestine

Exclusive: Conservatives ask Keir Starmer to stand against indefinite occupation' and reinforce international law'

More than a dozen senior Conservative MPs and peers have written to the prime minister calling for the UK to immediately recognise Palestine as a state, breaking ranks with their own party to do so.

Seven MPs and six members of the House of Lords have signed the letter to Keir Starmer urging him to defy the Israeli government and give formal recognition to Palestine in advance of key UN talks next month.