UNESCO

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville Excerpts

Wednesday 16th November 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

That is, of course, a broader question. The noble Lord is absolutely right that the question of Palestinian statehood lies behind the question of whether partial arrangements, as it were, for statehood should be made by Palestine applying to various UN organisations, of which UNESCO is one. It is the judgment and view of Her Majesty’s Government that the way forward must be by negotiation for the emergence of the Palestinian state. We reserve the right to recognise the Palestinian state at the moment of our choosing. We take the view that a fragmented application to UNSECO and other bodies is probably a mistake and will delay negotiation. We also take the view that, if the matter is to go to the Security Council—I say “if”—and if then, as is almost certain, the Americans vetoed it, that, too, would set back negotiation very substantially. It may be rather limited now but it is going to be even more limited—indeed, it will screw it up completely—if that course is followed. There are plenty of ifs and buts in the future. Beyond that, there is the possibility that it might go to the General Assembly as well, but all these matters have yet to be decided.

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, how often do Her Majesty’s Government receive representations from our allies about our own decisions on international subscriptions?

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

I did not hear the precise words—were they “how often”?

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

On how many occasions do Her Majesty’s Government receive representations from our allies on our decisions on international subscriptions?

[Lord Howell of Guildford]

I have absolutely no idea. The world is not like that. It is not a question of representations. Obviously there are discussions in the corridors at multinational meetings on who is going to subscribe to what. That is perfectly natural, but we make our own decisions in the end.