Jagtar Singh Johal
Debate between Rehman Chishti and Sarah Champion(2 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Rehman Chishti
This case is a priority for the United Kingdom Government, and it will be a priority for the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister. The Prime Minister raised the issue directly with her counterpart in India when she was Foreign Secretary, so yes, it is a priority for the United Kingdom Government.
Sarah Champion (Rotherham) (Lab)
I need to push the Minister on a specific point. The outgoing Prime Minister accepted that Jagtar Singh Johal has been arbitrarily detained. The Minister says that the Foreign Office does not have a blanket approach, but that is not correct. It has always been Foreign Office policy to call for the release of arbitrarily detained British nationals, yet the Government have not done so in this case. Will the Minister explain why the Government have not acted in line with their own policy, and will he commit to seeking Jagtar’s urgent release and return to the UK?
Rehman Chishti
The hon. Lady is correct to say that the former Prime Minister made a determination on arbitrary detention, and the United Nations working group on arbitrary detention has issued its opinion about Mr Johal. That is the point—the new Foreign Secretary and new Prime Minister will have to make a determination for themselves on this matter. The hon. Lady asked about the former Prime Minister, and that was his opinion. The new Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary will need to come to their own opinion on this matter.