LIVE BLOG: British MPs vote on recognising Palestinian state - update 13th October 2014

(Photograph: Paul Cooper/Rex Features)

Lady Warsi, an ex-minister who quit over British Prime Minister David Cameron's refusal to take a tougher line on Israel during the Gaza war explains in an interview with the Observer her argument for recognising Palestine:

“There is a lack of political will and our moral compass is missing. There are no negotiations, there is no show in town. Somehow we have to breathe new life into these negotiations, and one of the ways we can do that is by recognising the state of Palestine.”

"Britain’s commitment to a negotiated two-state solution is fading so rapidly that the window has almost closed."

Warsi, 43, the daughter of a businessman who emigrated from Pakistan as a mill worker was named as one of the world’s “500 most influential Muslims” by the Middle East thinktank the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman, Jordan.