Clegg: Lib Dems committed to two-state solution

The Liberal Democrats yesterday condemned the “disproportionate force used by all sides” in the Middle East conflict and “Israel’s continued illegal policy of settlement expansion” during the launch of their manifesto.

Speaking in South London, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said his party is committed to negotiations and the two-state solution to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Adding that the Liberal Democrats would only back military intervention where there was a “clear legal and/or humanitarian case, endorsed by a vote in Parliament, working within the remit of international institutions wherever and whenever possible.”

To this end, Liberal Democrats support the training of Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters against the threat of the Islamic State (ISIS) in the region. They would also continue to call for greater humanitarian relief for those displaced by both the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Syria as well as supporting the political transition of “Syrian moderates from all sides to unite against extremism and tyranny”.

Clegg said he also seeks to support multilateral negotiations to stop Iran obtaining nuclear weapons and will continue the normalisation of “our diplomatic relations with Iran, including reopening the British Embassy in Tehran.”

On national security, the Liberal Democrats said the police and enforcement agencies would be restricted in the information obtained particularly when sourced “from foreign governments that would not be legal to obtain in the UK under UK law.”

In terms of countering terrorism in the UK, they pledged to “work with religious and community leaders, civil society groups and social media sites to counter the narratives put forward by extremists, and create the space for the expression of contrary viewpoints and religious interpretations.”

Laws that are against terrorist activity would be maintained but his party would stir clear from those that “stigmatise or alienate Muslims or any other ethnic or faith group” in efforts to protect all UK citizens equally.