Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 8 April (HL14929), whether they have discussed the changes to Brunei’s laws with the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth; and whether, while such laws remain in place, they will call for Brunei’s suspension from the Commonwealth due to those laws' incompatibility with Commonwealth values.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon spoke to the Secretary General of the Commonwealth about the situation in Brunei on 4 April. The Secretary General is in contact with the Government of Brunei and is working through Commonwealth channels.

​The UK encourages all Commonwealth partners to protect and promote the values in the Commonwealth Charter, including its opposition to all forms of discrimination. We have made clear that nobody should face persecution or discrimination because of who they are or whom they love.

Brunei is one of several Commonwealth countries that imposes corporal and capital punishments. It has now introduced new potential penalties under the Sharia Penal Code.

We have raised our concerns with the Government of Brunei. We will continue to encourage Brunei to remove corporal and capital punishment from its statutes, to pass laws that decriminalise same-sex relations and protect LGBT people from all forms of discrimination.