2022 March

On Tuesday 22 March 2022 I was delighted to visit the ‘World of Stonehenge’ exhibition at the British Museum. The exhibition has been beautifully curated by Dr Neil Wilkin – it is a must see exhibition. Dr Johnathan Williams, Deputy Director at the British Museum with responsibility for Collections and Public Engagement met the delegation of MPs and Peers and introduced the exhibition to us. Dr Wilkin then took us through and showed us around the exhibition. The Exhibition has over 70% of exhibits from other countries. Dr Wilkin and the team should be congratulated for the exhibition, and I would encourage everyone to see it. More information can be found on the Museum’s website: The world of Stonehenge | British Museum, and Twitter account: British Museum (@britishmuseum) / Twitter. 

I voted on an Opposition Day motion on P&O Ferries and Employment Rights which was debated on On Monday 23 March 2022. The motion was:

On Wednesday 16 March 2022 I met with the family of Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe in Parliament. Nazanin’s husband Richard, daughter Gabriella and brother Mohammad were on their way to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire to meet her off the plane. They were overjoyed at the prospect of seeing Nazanin. 

It has been wonderful to see Nazanin and her family enjoying time together now that justice has at long last been secured for her and Anooseh Ashoori. Nazanin has said that “”the meaning of freedom is never going to be complete” until other dual nationals such as Morad Tahbaz are free. Anoosheh has said “I will not be quiet until he and the other dual nationals are released”. 

On Wednesday 16 March 2022 we received the fantastic news that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori will be returning home to the UK, after years of baseless detention by Iran. I first raised Nazanin’s imprisonment by Iran at Business Questions on 8 December 2016. I asked the Leader of the House “Given that it is soon Human Rights Day, will the Leader of the House follow up on the Prime Minister’s response to the request from my hon. Friend the Member for Hampstead and Kilburn (Tulip Siddiq) to secure the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British national imprisoned in Iran? If the Foreign Secretary is too busy trying to learn who his counterparts are, perhaps we can ask the United States, which signed that agreement with Iran. We need the Human Rights Act to protect basic freedoms—every day, everywhere.”

On Wednesday 16 March 2022 I met the Ambassadors to the UK from Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam and Uzbekistan at a roundtable event hosted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union British Group. The Ambassadors made presentations, which were followed by a question and answer session. His Excellency Hayashi Hajime has been the Japanese Ambassador since December 2020. He has previously held government posts in national security and the cabinet office in Japan, as well as diplomatic roles in India, Belgium and the USA. Before becoming Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Dr Desra Percaya served as Director General for Asia Pacific and Africa at the Indonesian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, responsible for relations with over 100 countries, including the ASEAN network. He also knows Walsall, having studied at the University of Birmingham.