PARLIAMENT is currently in a short recess, coinciding with half-term week.

Unusually, after a series of late sittings, I finished late last Wednesday night and, at the crack of dawn on Thursday, found myself at Heathrow, boarding a flight for a three-day visit to Japan, at the request of the embassy.

It will be a whistle-stop series of meetings with Japanese ministers and discussions on trade and other matters. I will be back in time to conduct an advice surgery and give a group of constituents a tour of Parliament.

Foreign affairs have continued to be prominent in my postbag over the past week. Being on official business makes it possible to leave parliament a day early but I was sorry to be unable to oblige the many constituents who asked if I could attend and speak in Thursday’s debate on Israeli settlements.

I know that some constituents were concerned by the recent UN resolution condemning settlements, seeing it as a betrayal of Israel.

The UK government was and is a proud ally of trading partner of Israel, but its position on this issue remains unchanged – the settlements are illegal under international law, an obstacle to peace and make a two-state solution even harder to achieve.

Foreign Office ministers have called on the Israeli authorities and Bedouin community to work together to find a solution that meets the needs and respects the rights of the people affected.

I firmly believe that the UK government’s determination to support a two-state solution is the only way to give the Palestinian people the state that they need and the Israeli people the security and peace they are entitled to. I continue to regularly lobby ministers on the matter. Sadly, there is no straightforward solution to this long-running and difficult dispute. I am confident that the Government will continue to use all the diplomatic levers it has at its disposal to press for a solution, and it has my full support.