Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that political activists, journalists and human rights defenders, including Jimmy Lai, are protected from politically motivated prosecution or extradition from Hong Kong.

This Government will never allow a situation where Hong Kongers or any other nationality is extradited for politically motivated purposes. UK courts have extensive powers under the Extradition Act 2003 to assess whether any individual extradition would be compatible with the requested person's human rights or if it is politically motivated. If a UK judge ever determines any extradition request is politically motivated, they have the power to bar extradition.

The 1997 UK-Hong Kong Extradition Treaty remains suspended and the government is updating Hong Kong's designation under the Extradition Act 2003 to reflect the absence of international extradition arrangements with the UK. This formalises the severing of ties between the British and Hong Kong extradition systems for the purposes of the Extradition Act.