Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Lord Singh of Wimbledon Excerpts

Monday 13th November 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

My Lords, I cannot possibly answer that question as I am not the Foreign Secretary.

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB)]

My Lords, while we welcome the strong condemnation of the cruel and arbitrary detention of Mrs Ratcliffe, would it not add strength to our protest if we were consistent in our condemnation of human rights abuses wherever they occur? I give the example of the recently departed Defence Secretary, who on two occasions very recently said that we should not talk about human rights when discussing arms deals with Saudi Arabia. Earlier he said the same thing about China. Is it not important that we should be totally consistent in condemning abuses of human rights wherever they occur?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

The noble Lord is absolutely right: the human rights situation in Iran remains dire and we are determined to continue to hold the Government to account. We frequently release statements condemning the human rights situation in Iran and lead action by the international community. We regularly raise human rights issues in dialogue with Iran. However, we must be clear: there is no link, nor should there be, between consular cases and many other issues.