Two faces of hypocrite Hague

Mr Hague told the Commons that the government had officially recognised the Syrian opposition following a meeting in London last week.

But in the next breath the Tory minister warned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to push for observer status at the United Nations.

He claimed it would make it harder to return to peace talks and have "very serious consequences."

Mr Hague told MPs that the Syrian opposition group's assurances had been "encouraging" and as such the government had "decided to recognise the National Coalition of the Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people."

He also said he still hadn't ruled out arming the Syrian opposition.

Turning to the ongoing crisis in Gaza, Mr Hague again blamed Hamas for Israel's attack but urged the Israelis to be restrained.

"Our collective goal must be a two-state solution, based on 1967 borders with agreed land swaps, Jerusalem as the capital of both states and a just settlement for refugees.

"So while we support Palestinian aspirations and understand the pressures on President Abbas, we urge him to lead the Palestinians in to negotiations and not to risk paralysing the process."

Former foreign secretary Jack Straw urged Mr Hague to reconsider his position on the Palestinian bid for UN observer status.

"Since the experience of the last decade or more is Israel pockets any concession made by the West to accommodate its position and then not only does nothing but makes the situation worse, for example by illegal settlement building," Mr Straw said.

"Why don't you reconsider your position of the British government's refusal to vote for the United Nations general assembly resolution?"

Gerald Kaufman put it to Mr Hague: "It is interesting that when (President Bashar) Assad brutally oppresses the Syrian people he is the bad guy.

"But when (Israeli PM Benjamin) Netanyahu oppresses the Palestinian people he is the good guy.

"And when Syrians respond with brutal force to oppression they are the good guys but when Palestinians respond they are the bad guys."

He said that it was this hypocrisy that prevents peace in the Middle East.

Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German told the Star: "The double standards of this government are remarkably blatant.

"We have Israel - one of the most heavily armed countries in the Middle East with nuclear weapons, F16s and drones - attacking a tiny region which it's been oppressing for 70 years."