Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of UK citizens in each country who are in prison and facing the death penalty.

We are currently aware of 13 British nationals in detention abroad who have been sentenced to death. There are a further 54 cases of British nationals who are under trial, appeal or at a pre-trial stage that could lead to a death sentence. Cases with a potential death penalty sentence in Pakistan make up the biggest number (31).

We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances. If a British national has been sentenced to death or faces a charge that carries the death penalty, we will raise the case at whatever stage and level we judge to be appropriate.