This is where the British government is headed under new Prime Minister Gordon Brown: British parliamentarians soften demands on Hamas.

British parliamentarians on Monday softened their demands for negotiating with Hamas and said that while it is critical for the group to renounce violence, it does not necessarily need to recognize Israel for preliminary contact to be established with the European Union, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

In a report to be published on Tuesday, a subcommittee of the House of Lords’ European Union Committee said that the EU should avoid an “undesirably rigid” approach to dealing with Hamas that would risk undermining progress in building viable and democratic Palestinian institutions, a prerequisite, they say, for any peace settlement.