Macron plan to recognise Palestine puts pressure on Starmer to choose a course

Prime minister risks either provoking mutiny in his cabinet and party over Gaza or alienating White House

France's decision to recognise Palestine at the next UN general assembly is an attempt to build momentum for change and make a break from the major western powers' impassivity in the face of Israel's mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza.

Emmanuel Macron's declaration, announced in typically dramatic fashion on social media late on Thursday night, draws a line between the paths followed by the US and France over the Gaza war, and significantly raises the pressure on the UK, Germany and other G7 powers to pick a side.