Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she or her Ministers most recently spoke to Abdalla Hamdok, Prime Minister of Sudan.

We strongly condemn the actions of the Sudanese military on 25 October, including to detain Prime Minister Hamdok and members of the civilian government, declare a State of Emergency and restrict internet access across the country. Over the past two years, the UK has taken a leading role to support Sudan on their delicate path from oppressive autocratic rule to freedom and democracy; the acts of the military represents a betrayal of the Sudanese people and that journey. With our Sudan Quad partners (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and US) we issued a statement on 3 November calling for the release of all those unlawfully detained and restoration of the civilian-led transitional government. The Foreign Secretary also made a statement on 5 November setting out UK concerns and calling for the Sudanese military to reverse their actions.

I spoke to Prime Minister Hamdok following the attempted coup of 21 September and then met him during my visit to Sudan in October. Since the coup of 25 Oct he remains under house arrest and the Sudanese military have restricted access to him. Despite this, and as a signal of support for the full restoration of the civilian-led government, our Ambassador and other members of the diplomatic community in Khartoum met Hamdok on 27 October and 1 November. We continue to work with international partners to maintain public pressure on the military to return to the democratic transition in order to deliver the freedom, peace and justice called for by the Sudanese people.