Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the World Press Freedom Index 2017, which noted a decline in press freedom in 62.2 per cent of the 180 countries in the Index.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is deeply concerned about the decline in media freedom across the world, which is well illustrated in the 2017 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders. That is why the FCO has committed to spending £1 million over the next financial year on projects aimed at supporting media freedom and the protection of journalists.