More than a third of MPs have signed a letter to Sir Keir Starmer calling for the UK to recognise a Palestinian state.

Some 220 MPs from nine political parties have backed the call - more than half of them Labour - arguing that UK recognition would send a"powerful" message and a vital step toward a two-state solution.

The letter piles pressure on the prime minister after France committed to recognising a Palestinian statehood within months.

In a statement after an emergency phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Friedrich Merz, Sir Keir said the move would have to be part of a"wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution".