Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when his Department plans to appoint a Special Envoy with responsibility for (a) advocating for and (b) securing the release from detention of British nationals arbitrarily held abroad.

This Government condemns the practice of detaining British Nationals for political leverage. We take all allegations of human rights violations, and opinions of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, seriously. The Government is committed to strengthening consular services, including introducing a right to consular assistance in cases of human rights violations, and through the appointment of an Envoy for complex detention cases. Further details will be announced in due course.