Palestine Statehood (Recognition) Bill [HL]

Lord Purvis of Tweed Excerpts

Friday 14th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

My Lords, there are times when we are reminded that we are all privileged to have a voice in public life. I am grateful to my noble friend for giving us the opportunity to have what has been a generally very thoughtful and respectful debate on a vital issue. It is a vital issue of British foreign policy, but also of the very nature of peace.

I say to those who have got close to suggesting that there are some motives behind my noble friend’s proposition linked with some form of emboldening terrorism, that no one in this House supports terrorism. No one in the British Parliament supports terrorism and we should not even get close to suggesting that that is part of the motive.

Some have argued in the debate that recognition will embolden extremists. The failure to have recognition, some have argued, has already emboldened the extremists we see within the political system in Israel. The answer, which I would assume should have consensus across all elements in this debate, is to remove the incentive for extreme positions on a situation which is, I understand, the settled will of the United Kingdom—that there will be a Palestinian state.

Therefore, my noble friend should be commended for bringing her Bill to this House, allowing us to debate the need to make rapid progress on a Palestinian state and the fact that the United Kingdom can play a very significant part through recognition. There has been reference to groups; the noble Lord, Lord Katz, referred to Yachad. I am a great admirer of its work. There is also the British Palestine Project, which is the former Balfour Project. There have been many UK-based organisations which are part of considered debates on this issue. That is to our overall credit in this country.

It has also been interesting to me that no one in this debate—not a single person—has denied that Palestine is an occupied territory, such occupation being illegal under international law. That is helpful. There seems to be a complete consensus on that in this debate. My party takes the view, over many years of consideration, that recognition is the platform for the conclusive negotiations of a longer-term arrangement between Palestine and Israel, not a conclusion where one state determines the status of the other—especially, in the context of what my noble friend Lord Alderdice said, when one of those states is illegally occupying the territory of another. That creates a distortion of incentive in any form of looking at a sustainable peace for the long term.

The issue for some—including, I suspect, for the Minister—is timing. Timing is policy in itself. Therefore, we should recognise this. I want to quote from Hansard, referring to Middle East peace:

“the Palestinian problem lies at the very heart of the issue. The objective here must be full and genuine autonomy for these areas as a step towards determining their final status. Nothing would do more to help these negotiations, to build trust in the area, and to win the consent of the Palestinians than for Israel to cease the expansion of its settlements in the occupied territories.”.—[Official Report, 14/5/1979; col. 240.]

This was Lord Carrington, in his first speech as Foreign Secretary when the Thatcher Government was formed in 1979.

As the noble Lord, Lord Soames, highlighted, that was the year of UN Security Council Resolution 446, prohibiting illegal settlements. They numbered not more than 15,000 people then. As he said, 45 years later, it is 750,000. He outlined the intent of certain Israeli Government Ministers—not a gesture, but intent—for that to be expanded further. Therefore, timing is of critical importance as policy. We will only repeat the failures of the past if we do not act.

The situation on the ground, some noble Lords have argued, prevents us acting now. When did that situation on the ground start? Was it 1979, or in 2025? Some in the debate have suggested that the conditions on the ground now—the presence of Hamas, and the continued displacement and threats—are a reward for terrorism. That is surely an argument to suggest that the current ceasefire is a mistake, but I have not heard them say that in this debate. I wonder why not. Do they feel that it is a grave error and legitimisation of Hamas for the US Government to have sat down bilaterally with Hamas last week, without that being part of any structured involvement of the Palestinian Authority or brokered talks through Qatar?

Some noble Lords have argued in the debate that, in the absence of finalised agreements on border areas, resource access, infrastructure challenges, displaced people, proposed land swaps that have not been agreed, and lack of normalisation at the start of the political process with its nearest neighbour, the time is not right —"the gesture”, as some have suggested. But if those criteria, set by them in this debate, were in place on 18 February 2008, we would not have recognised Kosovo. In recognising Kosovo, the then Labour Government said that the UK was doing so when others did not because they had made the judgment that it would be impossible to see a return to Serbian control. Some would argue, presumably, that that position should have been denied for South Sudan on 9 July 2011.

The situation on the ground is a political one. The question is whether we want to see two parties negotiate on an equivalent basis regarding an incentive for the future, as the noble Baroness, Lady Morris of Bolton, indicated. In many ways, the case is stronger for Palestinian recognition. I was not surprised that this debate had two eminent lawyers speaking in it; I was equally unsurprised that they took a contrary view. But a political view must see that Palestine has a defined territory, recognised in customary UK foreign policy, and in trade and partnership agreements between His Majesty’s Government and Palestine, based on historical borders, as my noble friend indicated. Palestine does have a permanent population within boundaries, as the UK has recognised through direct diplomatic consular representation of UK interests in those territorial areas. It has a Government, who we have supported on a consular, technical and funding basis, and a capacity to enter into relations with other states, which we know is happening now. All the criteria of the 1933 Montevideo convention apply more strongly to Palestine than they did to Kosovo in 2008 or South Sudan in 2011.

The noble Lord, Lord Katz, whom I respect, spoke clearly and sincerely. He suggested that this should happen at the end of the process, but not now. I have visited Israel—a visit promoted by Yachad—and I met others who took a position distinct from his. For me, the question is who now rebuilds from the rubble and who now negotiates a future for both states, where trauma is intense, where there are still extreme players, and where the ones with the highest stakes have a mutual need for security. It cannot be President Trump or his envoy, negotiating directly with Hamas; it has to be on the basis of there being recognised states from a United Kingdom perspective.

Before I close, I want to go back to 1979 and 1980, because what was the context then is the context now. The position on the ground is of importance when it comes to ownership and respect; we need to find a way to reduce extremist narratives, as there can only ever be a political solution. The year after Lord Carrington made his speech, David Steel led a Liberal delegation to the Middle East, in September and October 1980. The delegation met President Assad, the Prime Minister of Lebanon, His Majesty King Hussein, Shimon Peres and President Sadat. I close by quoting from the conclusion of that visit. On the question of recognition of Palestinian rights, the delegation said:

“The delegation is convinced that no lasting international agreement is either possible or just which does not recognise the rights of the Palestinian people. At the core of that recognition is the creation of a national Palestinian identity, free to determine its future relations with its neighbours. As the Lebanese Foreign Minister Mr Boutros put it, ‘The homeland is the beginning of a solution.’”


The time is now, not in another 45 years.