Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in (a) the government of Israel and (b) the Palestinian authority following the recent vote in the House on Palestinian statehood.

On 20 October I discussed the issue of Palestinian statehood with Israel's Ambassador Taub and the Palestinian Head of Mission in London, Professor Hassassain. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Consulate General in Jerusalem have discussed it with senior officials from both sides.