Contributions
834 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusI am not in a position to the give the hon. Lady those full details, as she will appreciate; it is certainly not right for any Minister to comment on anybody’s medical situation.…02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusMy right hon. Friend has made a fair point. We are doing an awful lot in terms of support. As I said in my statement, we have provided £45 million in aid thus far, on top of the…02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusThe right hon. Gentleman makes an important point. I am sure that, as the Foreign Secretary continues his travels in the Gulf this week, the question of how Iran’s neighbours,…02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusThe hon. Gentleman is spot on. That is exactly what we want to do, and it is why we have reached out with assistance today, alongside France and Germany. At a time of global…02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusIndeed so. This is the most challenging health issue that this country—and in fact the world—has faced for as long as I have been in this House, and the pressure on our chief…02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusI can absolutely give the hon. Lady that assurance. We are aware of the additional number of dual-national prisoners, including the constituent to whom she refers, who was an…02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusI am not sure that I picked up where the hon. Lady’s constituent is imprisoned.02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusAs the hon. Lady will appreciate, it is impossible for consular staff to gain access to the prison. We are in contact with Nazanin’s family and the families of other detainees at…02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusThose requests happen on a regular basis, I can assure the hon. Gentleman. Given the concern over the potential health of Nazanin, we have been asking for her to be released on…02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusWhen prisoners abroad fall under the jurisdictions of the countries where they are, our embassies and our consular network stand ready to give support to those who are imprisoned.…02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusThe Foreign Office has not been slow to respond to this threat. I can assure my hon. Friend that the crisis response team, which is headquartered in the Foreign and Commonwealth…02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusAs I mentioned previously, we continue to have dialogue with the Iranian authorities. We have been speaking with them today. Under any international rules system, prisoners should…02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusWith your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will respond to this urgent question on behalf of the Foreign Secretary, who is travelling in the middle east. Protecting British…02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusThe hon. Lady is right to raise this case. Things may have moved on a little bit today in terms of the testing with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. The hon. Lady will appreciate that…02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusAs I mentioned in my statement, we have reduced the number of staff in our embassy in Tehran. That was a precautionary but very much a temporary measure. Our essential staff will…02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusMy right hon. Friend makes a fair point, which I agree with. On the point about our consular staff, we reduced the number of staff at the embassy in Tehran on 1 March. Some staff…02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusThe right hon. Lady makes a very heartfelt plea, which Government Members will find it difficult to disagree with. It is important that we continue the dialogue. That is…02 Mar 2020HANSARD British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and CoronavirusMy hon. Friend the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee makes a very good point in the best of terms. He will no doubt have been encouraged by what I said in my answer to the…02 Mar 2020HANSARDTopical QuestionsI fully intend to deliver on our commitment to work with fans to move towards standing at football. In one of my first meetings following the election, I met the Premier League,…13 Feb 2020HANSARDBBC Licence FeeI agree with my hon. Friend. As we made clear in our manifesto, we recognise the value of free TV licences for over-75s. They should be funded by the BBC, and we remain…13 Feb 2020