Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to his visit to Saudi Arabia in March 2022, whether he had discussions with Saudi officials on (a) the case of Raif Badawi, (b) the murder Jamal Khashoggi and (c) the ongoing imprisonment of 28 journalists in Saudi Arabia.

I raised human rights concerns during my visit to the Kingdom. No aspect of our relationship with Saudi Arabia prevents us from speaking frankly about human rights.

We welcome the release of Raif Badawi on 11 March, but will continue to raise concern over the imposition of travel bans on individuals such as Mr Badawi. The UK has always been clear that Mr Khashoggi's murder was a terrible crime and that Saudi Arabia must ensure such an atrocity can never happen again. We condemn his killing in the strongest possible terms, which is why we have sanctioned twenty Saudi nationals involved in the murder under the global human rights regime. The UK remains concerned over the arrests and continued detention of a number of individuals, particularly those detained for expressing their views.