( CNN ) -- UK lawmakers have voted in the House of Commons to recognize Palestine as a state `` as a contribution to securing a negotiated two state solution . '' The motion was backed overwhelmingly Monday by 274 votes to 12 . However , fewer than half of the 650 MPs in the House of Commons took part in the debate . The motion passed was , `` That this House believes that the Government should recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel , as a contribution to securing a negotiated two state solution . The measure is mainly symbolic and is not binding on the government . However , it lends added weight within Europe to calls for Palestinian statehood . Ten days earlier , the new government in Sweden said it would recognize a Palestinian state . `` A two-state solution requires mutual recognition and a will to coexist peacefully . Therefore , Sweden will recognise the State of Palestine , '' said Prime Minister Stefan Lofven in his first statement of government policy . 'Not a gift , but a right ' The UK vote came after five hours of debate in the House . Former Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind , of the Conservative Party , told MPs that during his time in office in the 1990s , the United Kingdom committed `` for the first time to a two-state solution with a Palestinian state . '' `` I have never wavered in that view and I believe that the earlier that state comes about the better , both for the Palestinians and for the Middle East as a whole , '' he said . Shadow foreign minister Ian Lucas , of the opposition Labour Party , said the motion would be supported by his party but that the timing and manner of deciding whether to recognize Palestinian statehood was a matter for the current coalition government . `` It will be decided by Labour in government if the decision has not been made by this government before Labour comes to power , '' he said . The next general election will be held in May next year . `` We fully support two states living side by side in peace , recognized by all their neighbors . We are clear that Palestinian statehood is not a gift to be given , but a right to be recognized , '' he said . U.N. vote . The UK government 's official goal `` is a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict , resulting in a secure and universally recognised Israel living alongside a sovereign and viable Palestinian state , based on the borders of 1967 , with Jerusalem the future capital of both states , and a just , fair and agreed solution for refugees . '' In 2012 , the United Nations General Assembly voted to grant the status of `` non-member observer state , '' similar to the Vatican , giving Palestinians a certain implicit degree of statehood recognition . However , a Palestinian bid in 2011 for recognition as a full member of the United Nations failed . It became apparent that the bid was not going to receive the requisite nine of 15 Security Council votes , and the United States promised to veto it if it came to a vote . CNN 's Lindsay Isaac contributed to this report .
UK would vote to recognize Palestine as a state after a vote in Parliament . The measure is mainly symbolic and is not binding on the government . Sweden says this would be ` ` as a contribution to securing a negotiated two state solution '' It came 10 days after the new Swedish government announced it would recognize Palestine .