‘In an apparent sign of division between back and front bench MPs in the House of Commons, backbenchers have secured a vote for the House to recognize the state of Palestine.
The title of the debate will be: THE FUTURE OF THE TWO STATE SOLUTION IN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE.
The debate will take place on 13 Oct 2014, it will be six hours long and happen in the main chamber.
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It will be a debate on a substantive motion: “That this House calls on the government to recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel”
What Does It Mean?
The debate will be a Backbench Business Debate (BBD). Backbench MPs can make applications for debates and the Backbench Business Committee (BBC) decides on whether to allow the debate time in parliament. It is the BBC who are responsible for making the debate happen.
The application was originally presented to the BBC on 8th April 2014. They deferred their decision until after recess. Sources within Westminster told Scriptonite Daily that the primary reason for this was a rival application submitted by a coalition of Labour, Lib Dem and Tory friends of Israel.
Grahame Morris MP (Labour) re-presented the application again last Tuesday with the support of two Lead Members: Sarah Teather MP (LIB) and Crispin Blunt MP (CON). Labour’s Gerald Kaufman MP joined Morris, and the pair persuasively argued the case for the debate.
It’s the government, not the House that recognises states. Plus, it’s a BBD so the motions are none binding. Essentially, the vote will be an expression of the will of the House.
If it’s a yes vote the government and any subsequent government would be pressured towards recognising Palestine. It would be a PR disaster for the govt. to refuse to recognise Palestine if MPs expressed their will that Palestine should be recognised.’
Read More: UK Parliament Will Vote to Recognize the State of Palestine
