Kirsty Blackman
Main Page: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)Department Debates - View all Kirsty Blackman's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(1 day, 19 hours ago)
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Mr Falconer
I thank my hon. Friend for her question. I want to see this legislation enacted as soon as possible. It is Home Office legislation, and it will need to go through the House in the usual way, but we are treating it as a matter of urgency. As the House has heard, the reason that the Jonathan Hall review is important is that it addresses itself precisely to the question of the difference between a state actor and a terrorist. I was the head of the terrorism response team in the Foreign Office and I know the difference in threat profile between an actor that is state-based and one that is not. That it is why it is important that we get this legislation right.
Kirsty Blackman (Aberdeen North) (SNP)
There is a very real human cost to the violence used by the Iranian authorities. As many as 6,000 protesters—people like me and you, Mr Speaker—have been killed and murdered and more than 10,000 have been arrested. There is a real risk of extrajudicial execution. Political prisoners, including children, are being tortured in prison. Will the Government reassure us that they are having conversations with the US authorities ahead of the US-Iran talks, and making it clear to them that the lives and safety of those protesters, particularly the ones who are currently in prison, is of immense importance in the negotiations as they go forward?
Mr Falconer
I can confirm that we are in regular contact with our US counterparts and others on all of those questions.