SNP would support ‘formal recognition of a Palestinian state’

The Scottish National Party would push the British government to formally recognise an independent Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel, if it were to share power following next month’s election.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon unveiled the policy proposals in her election manifesto on Monday, saying: “We will call on the next UK government to pursue a two state solution for Israel and Palestine and to support the formal recognition of a Palestinian state.”

She has attracted attention for mirroring Labour’s plans to reintroduce the 50p top rate of income tax, a tax on bankers’ bonuses, a bank levy, a mansion tax, a crackdown on tax avoidance and the abolition of non-dom status.

The document has increased suspicions of an SNP-Labour coalition, which would likely find common ground on the question of Palestinian recognition, after Labour leader Ed Miliband last year tried to whip his MPs into doing likewise.