Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what changes will be made to FCDO due diligence processes for high-profile consular cases following the review announced by the Foreign Secretary.

In 2024-25, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) answered over 400,000 requests for consular support from British nationals overseas, and provided more detailed consular assistance to over 22,200 British nationals overseas, including support to families of more than 6,000 British nationals who had died overseas, and 3,500 who had been hospitalised.

The Hon Member's suggestion that the FCDO should withhold consular support in all these cases until checks have been conducted on each individual's social media history is not only completely impractical, and deeply inappropriate in the cases of families facing bereavement and individuals requiring emergency medical care, but would also violate the basic principle that consular assistance is provided primarily on the basis of someone's citizenship status and the circumstances they face.

Changes arising from the review of information processes initiated by the Foreign Secretary on 29 December will be announced in the normal way in due course.