Imran Khan: Imprisonment

Lord Hannan of Kingsclere Excerpts

Wednesday 25th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I am not able to answer that question today. That, obviously, would be a question that the Home Office would want to consider according to our immigration policy. But I just remind noble Lords, in case anybody gets the idea that Pakistan is the only country in respect of which we have concerns about the rule of law and democracy, and that we do close business with, that there are many places, sadly, where former leaders find themselves imprisoned. We do not condone it, but we have a relationship with Peru, for example, for many important reasons to do with security and the environment. We are not in a situation where we conduct international relations only with countries that adhere completely to our values and that are run in the way we would like to see ours run.

[Lord Hannan of Kingsclere (Con)]

My Lords, the Minister is, of course, quite right that Imran Khan is not a British subject, despite his long and deep connections to this country. None the less, I do not think that any British Government can be indifferent to the fate of Pakistan, a Commonwealth ally to which we are intimately linked—there are nearly 1.5 million Brits of Pakistani origin. The reason why Imran Khan is in prison is that he would win a free election, and Pakistan cannot begin to have stability and the investment that would flow from that until there is a restoration of democracy. Will the Minister set out some kind of timetable whereby we encourage the authorities in Pakistan to allow a free and inclusive election, maybe not tomorrow but within a reasonable timeframe, which will allow the return of democratic stability and the economic revival of that country?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

We have concerns, which I know the noble Lord shares, about the election in 2024 and we raise these with the Government of Pakistan. But one of the reasons why it is important to keep our trade and development relationships with Pakistan thriving is so we can work specifically on these issues of democratic engagement, inclusive politics and the rule of law. These things matter a great deal to us, and we are able to work through civil society organisations and directly with regional governments to try to improve the situation, for the very reasons the noble Lord articulated so effectively.