Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to assist in the maintenance of peace and stability in Lesotho.

I am deeply concerned by the current political and security situation in Lesotho. Staff at our High Commission in South Africa, who cover our relations with Lesotho, are closely monitoring events and are in close contact with the key political actors. In my statement of 2 September I welcomed the engagement by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and expressed our hope that all Lesotho’s parties will work together to ensure disputes are settled in a peaceful constitutional manner. Lesotho is amongst the issues I will discuss during my visit to South Africa next week.