Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Canadian counterpart on steps to secure the release of foreign hostages held by Muslim extremists in the Philippines.

This question was answered on 17th June 2016
We maintain a close dialogue with our international partners on terrorism and kidnapping, both on a bilateral basis and through international fora. G7 leaders have recently reaffirmed their commitment not to pay ransoms to terrorists, to protect the lives of our nationals, including by reducing terrorist groups access to funding. We do not comment on individual cases.