Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2018 to Question 185531 on Germany: Thalidomide, what progress he has made on making it easier for UK Thalidomide victims to apply for compensation from the Contergan Foundation.

On 6 November 2018 I spoke with the German Ambassador to seek his assistance to make it easier for UK Thalidomide Survivors to apply for funding from the Contergan Foundation. He explained that only those who took the drug supplied by Grunenthal directly would be eligible for funding. The German Government do not consider that they have any liability for those who took the drug distributed under licence in the UK. Therefore, very few, if any, UK survivors would be eligible for this compensation.

I and UK officials have done all we can to address this issue with the German Government. We will continue to encourage constructive dialogue between the Thalidomide Trust and the German Government to explore what other support may be available.