Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision to formally recognize Palestinian statehood may open Britain to unprecedented financial liability as Palestinian advocates mobilize to press for reparations claims. 

On Sunday, the United Kingdom, alongside Canada, Australia, and Portugal, officially acknowledged Palestine as a sovereign state, timing the announcement just hours before world leaders gathered at New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly. The move fulfilled Mr. Starmer’s July pledge to proceed with recognition unless Israel met specific demands, including agreeing to a cease-fire in Gaza. 

In the weeks preceding the announcement, Palestinian lawyers launched a legal campaign to secure financial compensation from Britain, establishing the “Britain Owes Palestine” initiative designed to hold the United Kingdom accountable for its historical role in the region.

The group filed a petition on September 7 that accuses the U.K. of “serial international law violations” during the British Mandate for Palestine between 1920 and 1948. The 400-page document calls on the government to accept responsibility for what the petitioners characterize as a “century of oppression” inflicted upon Palestinians. 

The legal filing presents seven specific demands to the British government, including issuing formal acknowledgement of historical wrongdoing, delivering a public apology in the House of Commons, and providing “meaningful reparations to the Palestinian people” through financial compensation and other measures.

The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, has long championed such demands, using international forums to press Britain for accountability. During his 2023 UN General Assembly address, Mr. Abbas pledged to “persist with our pursuit of accountability and justice” against both Britain and America “for their roles in the fateful Balfour Declaration.”

“We call for acknowledgement, we call for an apology,” Mr. Abbas declared. “We call for reparations, we call for compensation in accordance with international law.” 

While the petitioners define reparations broadly as “restitution, compensation, and satisfaction, either singly, or in combination,” they avoided specifying exact financial figures. However, according to the DailyMail, some legal experts have landed on 2 trillion euros — roughly equivalent to Britain’s entire national economy — as “a good place to start.”

The potential financial ramifications of recognizing Palestinian statehood add to the mounting criticisms of Mr. Starmer’s decision. America and Israel have condemned the move as rewarding Hamas for its October 7 massacre and British opposition figures have expressed similar alarm about the precedent being set.

The shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel, accused Mr. Starmer of “sending a dangerous message, where violence and extremism are tolerated and rewarded,” while the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, characterized the decision as “a surrender to terrorism and a betrayal of Israel.”

A Conservative House of Lords member, Lord Biggar, told GB News that while some Labour MPs support reparations in principle, paying such compensation “would be politically crazy for Keir Starmer to support now.”