Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made representations to her Finnish counterpart on the case of Dr Päivi Räsänen; and what diplomatic steps she is taking to (a) promote and (b) help safeguard freedom of speech across Europe.

The specific case raised by the Hon Member is a matter for the Finnish authorities.

Separately from this, we regularly reaffirm our support for the protection of LGBT+ rights and measures to prevent discrimination against the LGBT+ community globally.

Equally we support freedom of expression as a fundamental right and we have a long history of promoting freedom of expression globally, underpinned by our commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We will continue to highlight the importance of freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief and regularly work with other diplomatic partners in this regard.