Hong Kong National Security Legislation

Martyn Day Excerpts

Wednesday 1st July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

I thank my hon. Friend for the points he has made. It is right that the public support this, and the scale of that public support, given the issue, is I think remarkable. It is a tribute to the open-heartedness of the British people and to their sense of history and responsibility. He raised a range of other issues that are clearly trying to tempt me to give him a foresight of what may be in the Magnitsky legislation, which is coming. He will have to wait a little longer, but it will come before the summer recess.

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP) [V]]

We have already seen dozens of individuals arrested since the passing of the law—many, if not all, solely for their political opinions. Are the Government aware of any BNO passport holders having been arrested, and if so, how many? Have the Government made specific representations to the Chinese authorities on behalf of those people, given that many of them could face life in prison simply for expressing their opinions?

[Dominic Raab]

I thank the hon. Gentleman. I do not have a detailed breakdown of how many BNO passport holders or BNO status holders have been arrested at this point in time. Of course, the legislation has only been in place for a day. We have made representations more generally on the national security legislation, and of course, one of the features, even before the changes that we will make for BNO passport holders, is that we can exercise consular protection on their behalf in third countries. I think that the most important thing at this stage is to proceed with the changes that we have made and to be very clear that the United Kingdom will be able to offer sanctuary by means of a route to citizenship in this country.