Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment, if any, they have made of the adequacy of the investigation carried out by the British Council when it decided to continue to sponsor the Recognition Reparation Reconciliation conference, held on 5 December at Stellenbosch University, after Israeli and Palestinian academic contributors were caused to withdraw.

We have not made any assessment of these issues. We understand the British Council, an executive non-departmental public body that is independent from the British Government, was not a sponsor of the conference and its support was to enable UK-based academics to attend the conference and share their experience of the Northern Irish Peace Process and its impact. The British Government’s position on boycotts is clear. While we do not hesitate to express disagreement with Israel whenever we feel it necessary, we are firmly opposed to boycotts. We believe that imposing sanctions on Israel or supporting anti-Israeli boycotts would not support our efforts to progress the peace process and achieve a negotiated solution.