Sky News halted for breaking Palestine news and it is a huge blow for Keir Starmer

Keir Starmer has been dealt a huge blow as US Vice President J.D. Vance confirmed that America won't be following the UK's lead and recognising the state of Palestine. During a meeting with Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Kent on August 8, Vance was asked what he thought of the UK's decision, which Starmer announced last month. "Obviously, the United Kingdom is going to make its decision. We have no plans to recognise a Palestinian state," he confirmed.

"I don't know what it would mean to really recognise a Palestinian state, given the lack of a functional government there. And what the President has made very clear is our two goals are very simple right now, vis-à-vis the situation in Israel and Gaza. Number one, it's we want to make it so that Hamas cannot attack innocent Israeli civilians ever again, and we think that has to come through the eradication of Hamas. Second, the President has been very moved by these terrible images of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. So we want to make sure that we solve that problem.

"I think all of us can work on how to solve that problem. Obviously, it's not an easy problem to solve, or it would have already been dealt with.

"But we share, I think, that focus and that goal. We may have some disagreements about how exactly to accomplish that goal, and we'll talk about that," he said.

Sir Keir Starmer announced that he will recognise an independent state of Palestine in September, whether Israel agrees or not.

The Prime Minister bowed to pressure and set out plans to recognise a Palestinian state unilaterally before a meeting of the United Nations beginning on September 9, unless Israel ends the "appalling situation" in Gaza and commits to a long-term peace process that would deliver a Palestinian state with its co-operation.

Speaking to the Cabinet on July 29, the Prime Minister said that "because of the increasingly intolerable situation in Gaza and the diminishing prospect of a peace process towards a two-state solution, now was the right time to move this position forward". Starmer said the move was designed to create "a long-term peaceful outcome".

He said the UK "will recognise the state of Palestine in September, before United Nations General Assembly, unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, reaches a ceasefire, makes clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, and commits to a long-term peace process that delivers a two-state solution".

He reiterated that "there is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas and that our demands on Hamas remain, that they must release all the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, accept that they will play no role in the government of Gaza, and disarm".

He committed to making an assessment "ahead of the United Nations General Assembly on how far the parties have met these steps before making a final decision, ensuring that no one side will have a veto".