Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage the German government to make a financial contribution to the UK survivors of thalidomide at their meeting with the Thalidomide Trust on 7 July.
None. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has provided assistance to the Thalidomide Trust in arranging meetings with the appropriate German officials so that the Trust can make their own representations directly. In 2012, the Department of Health made a grant of £80 million payable over ten years to help meet the health needs of thalidomide survivors.