Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he plans to take to support civil society groups (a) in Brunei and (b) throughout the Commonwealth who are protesting against the new laws on LGBT+ people.

A state of emergency has existed in Brunei since the revolt in 1962. This has meant that freedoms of expression and assembly have been curtailed, and there are strict controls on civil society organisations. As such, there are few civil society pressure groups in Brunei.

Despite this, the British Government works closely with a range of civil society organisations, such as The Commonwealth Equality Network, which works tirelessly to end discrimination and violence on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. At last year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the Prime Minister made clear that nobody should face persecution or discrimination for who they are or whom they love. We have since allocated £5.6 million to enable the Equality and Justice Alliance – a consortium of civil society organisations – to support those countries who wish to reform legislation which discriminates on the grounds of gender identity or sexual orientation.

We will continue to encourage and work with the Government of Brunei, as with many other countries, to remove corporal and capital punishment from its statutes. We will also urge Brunei to take steps to decriminalise, and pass laws to protect LGBT people from all forms of discrimination.