Northern Gaza Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Rachael Maskell
Main Page: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)Department Debates - View all Rachael Maskell's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(2 days, 15 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)
I am aware of the time, and I am aware of the number of Members who want to ask a question, so I will run things slightly longer, but I ask Members to keep their questions and answers as short as possible.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
I listened to what the Minister said about the recognition of a viable Palestine, as opposed to the recognition of Palestine. As that could happen in a number of steps, will he take the first step in recognising the state of Palestine, before moving to a full viable Palestine, as he describes?
Mr Falconer
Any state needs to be viable. We would want to create the conditions for a sovereign Palestinian state that could perform the basic functions of a state, so it would need to be viable. As I am sure the House can tell, I am keen to remain focused on the necessary diplomatic steps to make that happen.