If, as planned, the United Nations General Assembly votes in September on whether to recognise Palestine as a state, the cabinet could be split over how Britain should vote.

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One analyst, Dr Hamid Ghany, said the president's refusal to swear in the full cabinet could destabilise the country, already deeply split along racial lines.

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The cabinet, it is true, is split on the virtues of reform, with Robin Cook, the foreign secretary, in favour, and John Prescott, the deputy prime minister, against.

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But the prime minister, speaking at the start of a European summit in Portugal, slapped down talk of a cabinet split.

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His own cabinet is split with, for example, Robin Cook, the foreign secretary, in favour of some form of proportional representation and John Prescott, the deputy prime minister, against.

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However, the review has confirmed that Conservative cabinet minister Ken Clarke's Rushcliffe seat in Nottinghamshire would effectively be split four ways and absorbed into other constituencies.

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