Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: Forced Confession Debate
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Hannah Bardell
Main Page: Hannah Bardell (Scottish National Party - Livingston)Department Debates - View all Hannah Bardell's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: Forced Confession
Hannah Bardell Excerpts(2 years, 6 months ago)
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Amanda Milling
It was always in Iran’s gift to release Nazanin and Anoosheh. The UK will never accept our nationals being used for diplomatic leverage. The Prime Minister has previously apologised for the comments made about the case in 2017.
Hannah Bardell (Livingston) (SNP)
I am delighted to see Nazanin home, and I pay tribute to the work and dedication of her husband Richard. As the chair of the all-party group on deaths abroad, consular services and assistance, I have met him a number of times. Nobody is disputing the great work that the staff in the foreign service do, but the reality is that the cuts that this Government are bringing to bear, along with the words and behaviour of the Prime Minister, as the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter) said, created a huge amount of pressure and did a huge amount of damage to Nazanin’s situation. We need to understand the details of the forced confession, but we also need to understand what the Government will do to ensure that British citizens abroad who are incarcerated or who die in suspicious circumstances get the help and support that they deserve.
Amanda Milling
I am grateful to the hon. Lady for making the point that our officials and diplomats work tirelessly on consular cases to ensure that those who are unfairly detained are released. They are working across the globe to ensure that we support our British nationals.