Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations Ministers in his Department have made to the Saudi Arabian government on (a) freedom of the press, (b) religious freedom, (c) the rule of law and (d) cruel and inhumane treatment.

The British Government maintains a regular debate on a full range of human rights issues with the Saudi Arabian government and will continue to do so. Last year, the then Senior Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Baroness Warsi, raised the issue of freedom of religion or belief with the Saudi Arabian government. The issue of rule of law was also raised by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor and my Rt Hon Friend Chris Grayling raised the issue of rule of law with his Saudi Arabian counterpart.