Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is to lobby Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague to back the Palestinian UN bid, the Guardian has reported.

The UK currently plans to abstain in Thursday’s vote on whether the Palestinian Authority should be upgraded to non-member status. However, Mr Clegg will attempt to persuade his coalition partners to vote “yes”, a source told the Guardian newspaper.

The source said: "Nick [Clegg] feels because they are going to be definitely doing it [applying], and clearly going to win the vote, it's important for us to vote for them to have observer status and not abstain."

It is understood Mr Clegg believes that British support for the more moderate PA led by President Mahmoud Abbas is even more important following the recent Gaza conflict.

It is expected that the motion will pass with a two-thirds majority, with or without Britain’s support.