Ahead of votes at the UN Human Rights Council later this month, Middle East Minister James Cleverly has reaffirmed the UK Government’s opposition to permanent Agenda Item 7, which singles out Israel for criticism at each session.
Minister Cleverly said that the UK “has been clear that the existence of a dedicated agenda item (‘Item 7’) damages the prospect for a two-state solution and does little to advance dialogue, stability or mutual understanding”.
“As such, at the 40th session of the Human Rights Council in March 2019 we moved to voting against all resolutions under Item 7”, he said.
The Minister’s remarks came in response to Written Parliamentary Questions on the subject from CFI Vice-Chairman John Howell OBE MP and CFI Officers Rt. Hon. Karen Bradley MP and Craig Williams MP.
In recent weeks, Conservative parliamentarians have urged the UK to vote against all anti-Israel resolutions at the Human Rights Council, including those proposed outside of Item 7.
Mr Howell called for the UK to seek a vote on resolutions under Item 7 in order to ensure that they do not pass by consensus.
