Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department is taking steps to help plan a negotiated settlement on (a) a two-state solution and (b) recognition of a Palestinian state.

We support a two-state solution that guarantees security and stability for both the Israeli and Palestinian people. We must give the people of the West Bank and Gaza the political perspective of a credible route to a Palestinian state and a new future. And it needs to be irreversible. This is not entirely in our gift. But we and our partners can help by confirming our commitment and vision. Crucially, we must state our clear intention to grant recognition, including at the United Nations. That can't come at the start of the process. But it doesn't have to be the very end of the process.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has an important long-term role to play. We already provide technical and practical support to the PA, and will work with our allies to continue this, and do more. But the Palestinian Authority also must take much needed steps on reform, including setting out a pathway to democratic progress. And just as the PA must act, so must Israel, which means releasing frozen funds, halting settlement expansion and holding to account those responsible for extremist settler violence.