Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultations took place with the government of Tunisia in advance of the most recent Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice for Tunisia being issued; and when those consultations took place.

Ministers and officials have remained in regular contact with the Tunisian authorities since the attack in Sousse on 26 June. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), spoke to Foreign Minister Baccouche on 27 June and Prime Minister Essid on 5 July. The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), met Interior Minister Gharsalli on 29 June alongside the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), who had previously spoken to Mr Gharsalli on 26 June.

Our Ambassador to Tunisia spoke to Foreign Minister Baccouche on 27 June. He remained in regular contact with representatives of the Tunisian authorities including ministers between 5 and 9 July.

The Foreign Secretary spoke again to the Tunisian Prime Minister on 9 July as the Travel Advice change was being made.