Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to meet with Sebastien Lai.
Answered by Catherine West
The Foreign Secretary met with Sebastien Lai, Jimmy Lai's son, and his international legal team, on 7 November 2024. I met with Sebastien and Doughty Street Chambers on 28 April. The government is clear that Jimmy Lai's case is a priority and I raised it with the Hong Kong Government last month.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the merits of international measures to secure the release of Jimmy Lai.
Answered by Catherine West
Jimmy Lai's case is a priority for this government. The Prime Minister raised Mr Lai's case with President Xi on 18 November 2024 at the G20 Summit in Brazil. The Foreign Secretary raised it with China's Foreign Minister in April. During my visit to Hong Kong last month, I called for Mr Lai's release during my meeting with Hong Kong's Chief Secretary.
The UK continues to call on the Hong Kong authorities to end their politically motivated prosecution and immediately release Mr Lai. Diplomats from our Consulate-General in Hong Kong have attended his court proceedings throughout, and we continue to press for consular access.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his Chinese counterpart on the detention of Jimmy Lai.
Answered by Catherine West
Jimmy Lai's case is a priority for this government. The Prime Minister raised Mr Lai's case with President Xi on 18 November 2024 at the G20 Summit in Brazil. The Foreign Secretary raised it with China's Foreign Minister in April. During my visit to Hong Kong last month, I called for Mr Lai's release during my meeting with Hong Kong's Chief Secretary.
The UK continues to call on the Hong Kong authorities to end their politically motivated prosecution and immediately release Mr Lai. Diplomats from our Consulate-General in Hong Kong have attended his court proceedings throughout, and we continue to press for consular access.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to secure the release of Jimmy Lai.
Answered by Catherine West
Jimmy Lai's case is a priority for this government. The Prime Minister raised Mr Lai's case with President Xi on 18 November 2024 at the G20 Summit in Brazil. The Foreign Secretary raised it with China's Foreign Minister in April. During my visit to Hong Kong last month, I called for Mr Lai's release during my meeting with Hong Kong's Chief Secretary.
The UK continues to call on the Hong Kong authorities to end their politically motivated prosecution and immediately release Mr Lai. Diplomats from our Consulate-General in Hong Kong have attended his court proceedings throughout, and we continue to press for consular access.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his Department's policies of trends in levels of women and girls in Iran imprisoned for participation in women's freedom protests.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to stand with Iranian women and girls in their daily fight for equal rights. The UK was instrumental in delivering the Iran human rights resolution, adopted by the UN Third Committee in November 2024, which called on Iran to release women human rights defenders imprisoned for exercising their rights, and to take appropriate, robust and practical steps to protect women human rights defenders and guarantee their full enjoyment of all their human rights. On the second anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2024, we issued a joint statement alongside international partners, emphasising our commitment to holding Iran accountable for its rights violations. We continue to support the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, which is essential for collecting and preserving evidence of serious human rights violations, including against women and girls. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office officials continue to engage with Iranian civil society actors, many of whom are in exile, to understand their lived experiences.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with exiled Iranian opposition leaders on women’s freedom in Iran.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to stand with Iranian women and girls in their daily fight for equal rights. The UK was instrumental in delivering the Iran human rights resolution, adopted by the UN Third Committee in November 2024, which called on Iran to release women human rights defenders imprisoned for exercising their rights, and to take appropriate, robust and practical steps to protect women human rights defenders and guarantee their full enjoyment of all their human rights. On the second anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2024, we issued a joint statement alongside international partners, emphasising our commitment to holding Iran accountable for its rights violations. We continue to support the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, which is essential for collecting and preserving evidence of serious human rights violations, including against women and girls. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office officials continue to engage with Iranian civil society actors, many of whom are in exile, to understand their lived experiences.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with international counterparts on improving women’s freedom in Iran.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to stand with Iranian women and girls in their daily fight for equal rights. The UK was instrumental in delivering the Iran human rights resolution, adopted by the UN Third Committee in November 2024, which called on Iran to release women human rights defenders imprisoned for exercising their rights, and to take appropriate, robust and practical steps to protect women human rights defenders and guarantee their full enjoyment of all their human rights. On the second anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2024, we issued a joint statement alongside international partners, emphasising our commitment to holding Iran accountable for its rights violations. We continue to support the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, which is essential for collecting and preserving evidence of serious human rights violations, including against women and girls. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office officials continue to engage with Iranian civil society actors, many of whom are in exile, to understand their lived experiences.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking legislative steps to help encourage Iran to improve the freedom of women and girls in that country.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have not taken legal action regarding Iran's abhorrent repression of women and girls. However, we continue to stand with Iranian women and girls in their daily fight for equal rights. The UK was instrumental in delivering the Iran human rights resolution, adopted by the UN Third Committee in November 2024, which called on Iran to release women human rights defenders imprisoned for exercising their rights, and to take appropriate, robust and practical steps to protect women human rights defenders and guarantee their full enjoyment of all their human rights. We continue to support the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, which is essential for collecting and preserving evidence of serious human rights violations, including against women and girls. On the second anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2024, we issued a joint statement alongside international partners, emphasising our commitment to holding Iran accountable for its rights violations. Our Ambassador to Iran has raised women's rights directly with the Iranian government.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on regional stability.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
We have long expressed our deep concerns about the destabilising activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps both within and outside Iran, including its illicit economic activity and its role in Iran's ballistic missile development and support to militant and proscribed groups around the region. We call on Iran urgently to cease all forms of destabilising activity. As E3 leaders said in their 12 January statement, "We must address - through diplomacy and in a meaningful way - shared concerns about Iran's destabilizing regional activities, including those linked to its missile programme. We reiterate our readiness to continue our engagement for de-escalation and stability in the region."