Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the UN Watch report From Watchdogs to Ideologues on 26 May, whether they support the calls of UN Watch to create a coalition of democratic states to regularly assess, publicly rate, and hold UN experts accountable; to impose a ban on UN experts receiving earmarked funding from governments or other external entities; to establish an independent external mechanism to review, audit, and discipline mandate-holders; and to establish an independent system of external vetting of candidates by democracies.

The UK continues to welcome the crucial role played by the United Nations' network of special rapporteurs and experts in several countries and regions around the world, as well as on specific issues of concern. However, in order to maintain the confidence of the international community in those roles, it is important that each rapporteur or expert upholds the highest standards of independence and objectivity, and we will always make clear when we believe any individual has fallen short of those standards.