Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many EU Civil Protection Mechanism flights the Government has signed up to participate in as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

The UK has activated the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism (CPM) on several occasions, as part of our international response to coronavirus, which has helped repatriate British Nationals and EU citizens. As of 16 April, the EU estimates that 1,837 British Nationals have been repatriated under the CPM.

Stranded British travellers and their families are our priority. One of the conditions of activating the CPM is to allow EU nationals on board as well. In regions where there have been a large number of British people who wish to return to the UK that has not always been possible. The CPM would, therefore, not be relevant as we haven't been able to offer seats to EU nationals.