Britain’s distinctive role could be using its expertise from Northern Ireland to make a meaningful contribution to peacebuilding, Dame Emily Thornberry writes for the Sunday Mirror
At last, this week brought the brilliant news of a ceasefire in the Middle East.
Without President Trump, this would not have happened. Netanyahu listens to him, and no one else. Not even his own people. It is deeply uncomfortable for me to put so much hope in Donald Trump. But if it would save the life of a single Palestinian child, I would wear a MAGA hat.
But let’s not overlook Britain’s role in this. When President Trump visited last month, he and Keir Starmer had spent an hour discussing foreign policy. The PM also revealed their teams had been working on a peace plan.
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There are many other nations who deserve credit. Over the last year, and particularly since Israel’s appalling attack on Qatar last month, an international coalition has emerged united in its ambition to find peace in the Middle East. Each nation has had its own role: Turkey, Qatar, Egypt and others put pressure on Hamas, while France and Britain spoke directly to Trump. We have been his sensible friend.
And the President will need sensible friends for what comes next. Because the ceasefire is the easy part. Many people are going to have to work very hard to secure anything like a long-term peace. It is really important that we make sure the US President does not lose the focus he has had in recent weeks.
In July, the Foreign Affairs Committee, which I chair, made a number of recommendations about how the UK should support that long-term peace. First was that the UK should recognise Palestine, which was important because to the Israeli public, it shows how isolated their government has made them. To the rest of the region, it shows that the United Kingdom is serious about our long-term commitment to building and securing a two-state solution. Other nations have begun to follow suit.
To protect any prospect of those two states, there must be serious action against settlements. We must ban the import of settlement goods and extend the strong existing sanctions against settlers and the organisations which enable them.
Britain’s distinctive role could be using its expertise from Northern Ireland to make a meaningful contribution to peacebuilding. I don’t care if that includes Tony Blair, as long as it works.
We must bridge the divide between Israelis and Palestinians. Investment in grassroots civil society will help. And we must help the Palestinian Authority to reform and become a government fit for purpose. We may not have Trump’s power, but we have expertise. Only if we work together will we find the peace and hope Israelis and Palestinians deserve.
‘Time-consuming disputes over which bit of the NHS owes another bit of the NHS rent’
Everybody is in favour of neighbourhood health, turning hospitals to face outwards into the community. None more than health workers themselves. But it does throw up some complications.
Health workers at River Place Group Practice in my constituency told me about time-consuming disputes over which bit of the NHS owes another bit of the NHS rent.
What’s more, you can end up with two nurses working alongside each other, one employed by the hospital and the other employed by the GP, with very different pay and conditions.
And that’s without getting into the huge challenges in neighbourhood mental health care, which we all know is a Cinderella service. Over to you, Wes!
‘President Putin is not just at war in Ukraine’
Why should we care about an election in Moldova?
Because President Putin is not just at war in Ukraine, but there is another type of war going on in Eastern Europe. A war to destabilise pro-Western governments using disinformation, paying for votes, and intimidation.
But in Moldova he has failed. Pro-EU President Maia Sandu was re-elected last week. And she is very welcome.
‘More independent venues close every week’
Last week I visited cocktail bar Nightjar, owned by constituents Rosie and Edmund. Over a cocktail, we discussed the enormous difficulties facing the hospitality industry. 80,000 jobs have been lost in the last year and more independent venues close every week.
My drink was called the ‘Charlie Chaplin’ – it wore a little hat and smoked! It’s a hard life being an MP.
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