Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to make representations to the US President on the UK's policy on torture.

I refer the honourable gentleman to the statement made on the issue by the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), at Prime Minister's Questions on 25 January: our position on torture is clear. We do not sanction torture and do not get involved in it, and that will continue to be our position. The UK stands firmly against the use of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. We do not participate in, solicit, encourage or condone such practices for any purpose. The UK has been - and is - at the forefront of international efforts to develop a global system of torture prevention and calls on all states to follow our example by ratifying and implementing the UN's Protocol to the Convention Against Torture.