Oral Answers to Questions

Philippa Whitford Excerpts

Tuesday 17th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Alistair Burt]

It does and, as many of us are aware, the outline of the parameters of a peace agreement, including some degree of land swaps, is known. However, the encroachment in recent years of Israeli settlements on areas well beyond those anticipated to be part of a future land swap undermines the credibility of the so-called commitment to that answer.

[Dr Philippa Whitford (Central Ayrshire) (SNP)]

17. It is 100 years since the Balfour declaration promised not just a Jewish homeland but to protect the rights of non-Jewish communities in Palestine. What I saw on the west bank during my recent visit amounts to conquest by concrete and totally undermines any possibility of a two-state solution. With Palestinian reconciliation providing new impetus, will the UK Government recognise their responsibility to re-establish a meaningful peace process?

[Alistair Burt]

We work extremely hard to play our part in fulfilling that second half of the Balfour declaration. I met one of the negotiators appointed by President Trump at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and I was recently in Israel to talk to people there. We believe it is absolutely essential to make progress on the middle east peace process, which is not something to be managed but something to be solved, and the United Kingdom is bending all its efforts to seek to do so, particularly in this sensitive year.

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[Mr Speaker]

I know that we are out of time, but that does not trouble me too much. There are many colleagues whom I wish to call on these very important matters, so brevity is required. I call Dr Philippa Whitford; very briefly—well done.

[Dr Philippa Whitford (Central Ayrshire) (SNP)]

T7. On my recent trip, I visited Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is appalling. In Northern Ireland, all parties were involved in achieving peace, so will the UK Government change their approach to Hamas and include it, to isolate those extremist groups?

[Alistair Burt]

The short answer is no, as the Foreign Secretary indicated earlier, until there is movement on the Quartet principles. However, resolution to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza is urgently needed, and we are doing all that we can to support that.