Ed Miliband to Acknowledge Labour's Past Stance on Palestine 'Fell Short'

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is set to tell the Labour Party conference that the party's previous approach to the Palestinian cause did not go far enough, according to a report from The Guardian.

Miliband is expected to tell campaigners and party members who had raised concerns about the plight of Palestinians that they were right, acknowledging that Labour's approach had not been enough. He is expected to say he is heeding the calls of millions of people by imposing sanctions on Israeli settlements.

According to the report, Miliband will tell the conference that Labour is not there to accept the status quo but to change it, signaling a shift toward a more explicitly progressive foreign policy stance under Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The remarks suggest the UK government intends to position itself as a leader among like-minded countries in what Miliband is expected to describe as a new age of diplomacy.

The comments come as foreign policy toward Israel and the Palestinian territories has remained a prominent and often divisive issue within the Labour Party and UK politics more broadly. Party conferences have in recent years served as a venue for debating and setting out the government's stance on the issue.

Further details of Miliband's speech, along with reaction from party members and other political figures, are expected to follow as the Labour conference continues.