The UK joins around 75% of United Nations member states in recognising Palestine. The UK Government has made extensive demands on the Palestinian Authority and on what a future Palestinian state should look like. It must be demilitarised, which Falconer said on Monday must mean it has no military whatsoever , a position apparently backed by Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas. Elsewhere, the Palestinian Authority has agreed to implement sweeping reforms. Nominally, the Palestinian Authority is the recognised government of the Palestinian state defined by the Oslo Accords.