MPs likely to vote to recognise Palestine as a state

The House of Commons is likely to recognise Palestine as a state for the first time on Monday as MPs debate a motion on its right to independence.

Labour MPs will be whipped to vote in favour of the motion calling on the government to recognise Palestine as a state, while many Liberal Democrats and some Conservatives are also likely to back it. However, the motion is only symbolic and ministers will abstain, since the official position of the government is to support negotiations for a two-state solution.

Britain abstained on a vote about Palestinian statehood in the UN general assembly in 2012. The UN voted to upgrade the Palestinian status from “permanent observer” to “non-member observer state”.

The six-hour backbench business debate was won by Labour MP Grahame Morris, former Conservative justice minister Crispin Blunt and former Liberal Democrat children’s minister Sarah Teather.

Morris said: “For too long the international community has cruelly refused the Palestinian people this right and by doing so has hindered the realisation of peace and security in the region.

“The two-state solution has been Britain’s stated policy aim for decades, but in politics talk often comes cheap.

“So far the government’s support for a two-state solution has been in rhetoric only.

“Not only is statehood the undeniable right of the Palestinian people, but only an independent and sovereign Palestinian state can save any hope of a two-state solution.”

The vote comes after Sweden became the first major European country to officially recognise Palestine as a state, to the dismay of Israel, which has lobbied against this.

Some within Labour are not happy about voting for the motion and may abstain despite the party whip. Some of the same people were opposed to the tough stance of party leader, Ed Miliband, on the conflict in Gaza over the summer when he condemned the shelling of schools as disproportionate.

Douglas Alexander, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, said the motion was compatible with Labour’s current official policy on Palestine.

“Labour’s consistent support for the principle of recognising Palestinian statehood, as part of continuing steps to achieve a comprehensive negotiated two-state solution, is why we will be voting to support the principle of Palestinian statehood when the House of Commons debates the issue on Monday,” he wrote on the LabourList blog.