Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions has he had with his Malaysian counterpart on the ban on Israeli athletes competing in Paralympics qualifying events in that country.

We do not agree with Malaysian government's position on the banning of Israeli athletes from competing at the World Para Swimming Championships. It is fundamentally wrong. We consider it right that the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has decided to strip Malaysia of the right to host the tournament. The Championships must be open to all eligible athletes and nations to compete safely and free from discrimination.

I raised our deep concerns with the Malaysian Minister for Education, Dr Maszlee bin Malik on the 22 January, as did our High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur with Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah on the same day. We are following up on the matter with the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will continue to monitor developments in order to speak out against discrimination of any kind and to ensure the ideals of the Olympic movement are upheld.