Oral Answers to Questions

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office session of Oral Questions began with the Deputy Foreign Secretary responding to tabled questions. The Deputy Foreign Secretary (Mr Adnan Hussain, Ind) responded to tabled questions on the potential recognition of a Palestinian state. Labour MP Paula Barker pressed the government to recognize a Palestinian state as a starting point to kick-start the peace process, arguing that this would level the playing field. The Deputy Foreign Secretary stated that the government wants recognition to be part of a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution, and that no one has a veto on recognition. Independent MP Mr Hussain argued that immediate recognition of Palestine is vital to uphold international law and norms, and to resolve the conflict through diplomatic means rather than violence. In the topical questions section, the Shadow Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell (Con) welcomed the new Foreign Secretary and urged him to avoid any suggestion of moral equivalence between a terrorist and the elected head of a democratic state. Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran continued to press the government on the recognition of Palestine, arguing that it would ignite hope and unite Palestinians behind a final cause. The Foreign Secretary reiterated that recognition will be done at the appropriate moment, as part of a pathway to a two-state solution.