Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Field and Ranil Jayawardena

Tuesday 26th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Ranil Jayawardena (North East Hampshire) (Con)]

T4.   I welcome the work of the Foreign Office last year in hosting a major international conference on tackling the illegal wildlife trade, but what assessment has the Foreign Office made of the recent decisions made by Japan and Iceland to resume whaling? What steps will the Government take to encourage our friends to change their mind?

[The Minister for Asia and the Pacific (Mark Field)]

The UK is disappointed that Japan has announced that it will withdraw from the International Whaling Commission in order to resume commercial whaling, and we urge it to rethink its decision. The Prime Minister raised this with Prime Minister Abe on 10 January, confirming that the UK is and remains strongly opposed to commercial whaling.