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 supporting a permanent seat for Japan on the United Nations Security Council.

Our position is well known. The United Kingdom has long called for the expansion of the Security Council in both the permanent and non-permanent categories. We support the creation of new permanent seats for India, Germany, Japan and Brazil, as well as permanent African representation on the Council. We also support an expansion of the non-permanent category of membership, taking the Security Council's total membership to somewhere in the mid-twenties. With these changes, the Council would be more representative of the world today. And, coupled with a renewed commitment to the UN Charter, it would be better able to respond decisively to threats to international peace and security.