BRITISH MPs voted to recognise Palestine as an independent state by a large margin on Monday.
274 MPs supported the motion with just 12 voting against it, although more than 350 MPs were absent from proceedings.
The motion, put forward by Labour MP Grahame Morris with an amendment by Jack Straw, the former Foreign Secretary, stated: “That this House believes that the Government should recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two state solution.”
The motion is symbolic and does not bind the UK government to change its foreign policy, which is to extend recognition to Palestine when it believes it will benefit the peace process. Cabinet ministers did not take part in the House of Commons vote.
But Mr Morris said he put the motion forward in a bid to clear the current impasse between Palestine and Israel in the wake of the latest war in Gaza, in which over 2,100 people died, mostly Palestinians.
The prime minister’s spokesman said before the debate: “The government’s position is very clear and hasn’t changed, so I think that is a very clear indication of the British government’s approach.
“The government’s approach is a long-standing one and is in support of a two-state solution and we will continue to work with a range of international partners – Israel, the Palestinian Authority – in support of that.”
However former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind was more scathing about the motion: “You do not recognise a state which has not yet got the fundamental ingredients that a state requires if it’s going to carry out its international functions and therefore, at the very least, I would respectfully suggest this motion is premature.”
Some Labour MPs were said to be furious with leader Ed Miliband after he demanded Labour MPs present at the debate vote in favour of the motion. Some Labour MPs, including Ian Austin, Louise Ellman and John Woodcock, are strongly pro-Israel.
Stoke Newington MP Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn, the MP for Islington North, were among the supporters of the bill. However, MPs representing other areas populated by the Turkish-speaking communities – including David Burrowes, Nick de Bois, Lynne Featherstone and David Lammy – were not present for the debate and did not vote.
