Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Gareth Thomas and Mark Field

Tuesday 30th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)]

If President Sirisena will not back down on the apparent return of Mahinda Rajapaksa—a man with a terrible human rights record in Sri Lanka—what further steps will the Foreign Secretary take with our European allies to demonstrate the seriousness of Britain’s concern about this matter?

[Mark Field]

We very much hope that President Sirisena will back down and will adhere to the constitution, which of course means bringing back Parliament at the earliest opportunity. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, when he alludes at least to this, that we are actively co-ordinating our response within the international community. We believe that a concerted international response will have the most effect.