British public ‘revolted' by Gaza crisis, Starmer says: ‘It's a catastrophe'
The Prime Minister, appearing alongside Donald Trump at his Turnberry golf course in Scotland, described the situation in the Palestinian territory as an 'absolute catastrophe'.
It comes as senior ministers plan to meet this week to discuss the crisis in the Middle East.
Sir Keir is expected to urge the US president to apply pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the population is facing starvation.
'It's a humanitarian crisis, it's an absolute catastrophe,' the Prime Minister said of the situation in Gaza as he arrived in Ayrshire.
He added: 'Nobody wants to see that. I think people in Britain are revolted at seeing what they're seeing on their screens, so we've got to get to that ceasefire.'
Israel announced at the weekend that it would suspend fighting in three areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day and open secure routes for aid delivery, while the UK confirmed it was taking part in plans led by Jordan to airdrop aid into the territory.
Sir Keir is expected to present a UK-led plan to bring peace to the Middle East to Mr Trump and other allies in the coming days, Downing Street indicated.
Work on the plan began alongside France and Germany over the weekend after a call with the two countries' leaders, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz.
Writing in the Mirror newspaper on Friday, the Prime Minister likened the plan to the international effort to support Ukraine towards a lasting peace, the coalition of the willing.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said the plan would build 'on the collaboration to date that paves the way to a long-term solution on security in the region'.
He added: 'As I've said, the Prime Minister will be presenting that plan to other key allies, including the USA and Arab states, over the coming days, and indeed convening Cabinet this week. You can expect to see more coming out of that.'
There is no indication yet of which day this week the Cabinet meeting – which gathers together the government's most senior ministers – will take place.
The Prime Minister is meanwhile facing calls from a growing number of MPs to immediately recognise a Palestinian state.
Palestinians have an 'inalienable right to statehood', and it is a 'question of when, not if' the UK will agree to recognition, No 10 said.
More than 250 cross-party MPs have now signed a letter calling for ministers to take the step, up from 221 on Friday.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds earlier dismissed the idea that there is a split at the top of government over when to recognise a Palestinian state.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting is among those to have signalled a desire for hastened action calling for recognition 'while there's still a state of Palestine left to recognise', while Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government wants to recognise a Palestinian state 'in contribution to a peace process'.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Mr Reynolds said: 'There's no split. The whole of the Labour Party, every Labour MP, was elected on a manifesto of recognition of a Palestinian state, and we all want it to happen.
'It is a case of when, not if.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
5 minutes ago
- BBC News
List of key Jersey 2026 and 2027 election dates published
A list of key election dates for 2026 and half of 2027 in Jersey has been published by the Privileges and Procedures Committee (PPC). Officials said it was hoped releasing the list now would help prospective candidates with forward planning further into the 20 April 2026, the electoral candidate nomination period begins, with it closing just two days later at 17:00 BST. Then, on 7 June, is the public election of all 49 States members, with the first meeting of the newly-elected States Assembly and the election of a chief minister designate due on 19 June. campaign manager Emily Thomas said: "Throughout the Plan To Stand campaign, has provided prospective candidates support and encouragement to mobilise early and prepare for a fair and competitive election in 2026. "Having advance notice of the key dates associated with the 2026 election is a huge help for people who are already making plans for their election campaign."
The Herald Scotland
16 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Smithsonian removed Trump from impeachment exhibit over 'appearance'
"The placard, which was meant to be a temporary addition to a 25-year-old exhibition, did not meet the museum's standards in appearance, location, timeline, and overall presentation," the post reads. "It was not consistent with other sections in the exhibit and moreover blocked the view of the objects inside its case. For these reasons, we removed the placard." The museum added that the impeachment placard will be "updated in the coming weeks to reflect all impeachment proceedings in our nation's history." Confusion over the exhibit began on July 31 when The Washington Post first reported that references to both of President Donald Trump's impeachments were removed. Why were Donald Trump's impeachments removed from exhibit? The museum explained on Aug. 1 in a statement to USA TODAY that the references to Donald Trump's impeachments, which occurred in 2019 and again in 2021, were part of a "temporary label." In September 2021, a "temporary label on content concerning the impeachments of Donald J. Trump" was added, according to the Smithsonian's statement, with the museum adding that "it was intended to be a short-term measure to address current events at the time, however, the label remained in place until July 2025." For now, the display currently appears how it did nearly 20 years ago, according to the Smithsonian statement and the Washington Post's report, which also noted that the exhibit now reads, "only three presidents have seriously faced removal," omitting Trump. "In reviewing our legacy content recently, it became clear that the 'Limits of Presidential Power' section in 'The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden' exhibition needed to be addressed," the museum's statement reads. "Because the other topics in this section had not been updated since 2008, the decision was made to restore the 'Impeachment' case back to its 2008 appearance." Where is the impeachment placard located at the Smithsonian? The "impeachment" placard is housed within an exhibition called "The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden," which opened in 2000, according to the emailed statement from the Smithsonian. The placard is part of a display featuring information and artifacts about Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon, the display's companion website says. Nixon resigned before he could be formally impeached. Other impeached presidents featured on Smithsonian website The display's companion website does not include a dedicated section for the Trump impeachments, but does note in an introductory sentence, "The House of Representatives impeached Andrew Johnson in 1868, William J. Clinton in 1998, and Donald Trump in 2019 and again in 2021. In all four cases the Senate voted to acquit." Additionally, the website features sections about Johnson's impeachment, including tickets and newspaper clips from the time; Nixon's Senate hearing and resignation, including testimony papers and photos from the proceedings; and Clinton's trial, with tickets and Senate question cards.
The Herald Scotland
16 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Why it just got harder to become a doctor or lawyer
For people like her, navigating that maze just became far more challenging. Major changes are coming to higher education in the United States after President Donald Trump signed his major domestic policy bill into law. Among them is an end to Grad PLUS loans, a program that helps people pay for medical school and law school. Since Congress created the loans, direct from the federal government, in 2006, they have covered the full cost of attending graduate and professional school for nearly 2 million students. Beginning July 1, 2026, that won't be an option anymore. Trump's tax and spending law will eliminate the Grad PLUS program for new borrowers (students who take out loans before that date will be grandfathered in for up to three years). The measure imposes new borrowing caps - $50,000 annually and $200,000 overall - on the amount of federal direct loans students can take out for degrees in law and medicine. And it limits their repayment options after they graduate. Read more: Trump just made it harder to close the Education Department All those technicalities mean that some students like Tran may have fewer options for law school or medical school - or could be steered down a different career path altogether. "There's no way I can graduate early enough to avoid the Grad PLUS change," she said. The reforms represent the culmination of years of conservative efforts to rein in student lending. However, there has been bipartisan consensus about the causes of the underlying problem Republicans are trying to solve. Left-leaning groups and policymakers have also been highly critical in recent years of the crippling debt that some graduate programs impose on students. Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a doctor from Louisiana and chairman of the Senate education committee, said the new legislation will put a stop to a vicious cycle that has kept college costs too high. "The increasing availability of federal loans has resulted in skyrocketing tuition prices, trapping students in a cycle of overwhelming debt that they can't pay back," he said in a statement to USA TODAY. "By capping inflationary graduate loan programs, we prevent students from overborrowing and put downward pressure on rising college costs." Read more: Is grad school worth the investment? Our exclusive data shows some surprising answers. In 2024, the average annual law school tuition at a private university was nearly $60,000, according to American Bar Association data analyzed by the Law School Admission Council. For in-state residents attending public institutions, it was roughly $32,000. It's hard to know exactly how the loan limits will impact law schools, said Austen Parrish, dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law. It's likely, in his view, that higher-ranked, more expensive schools will enroll a greater number of wealthy students who won't be as reliant on loans. Other, less privileged students may have to trade prestige for cost, he said. "You're going to see students having to make difficult decisions," he said. Medical schools brace for shift Watching from north-central Montana as Congress passed Trump's spending bill, Julianna Lindquist was happy she started medical school when she did. The 23-year-old, originally from Connecticut, is in her second year at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Montana. (Of the two types of medical schools, osteopathic programs are the less-common version; their coursework is similar to that of other medical schools, but instead emphasizes a more holistic approach to patient care.) This semester, Lindquist is taking out the full amount of Grad PLUS loans she's eligible for - roughly $24,000. "I would not be anywhere without student loans," she said. "There's financial aid, but it's not enough." About half of all medical students rely on the Grad PLUS program, borrowing more than $1 billion annually, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Graduates of osteopathic schools, the vast majority of which take on Grad PLUS loans, often go on to serve rural areas or become primary care providers. With federal support disappearing, it'll be up to the private lending market to make up the difference, said Jane Carreiro, dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine at the University of New England in Portland, Maine. "How are students going to navigate that?" she said. "That's a question that we're all asking." Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@ Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @
