UK MPs slam cancellation of meeting

A group of British Parliamentarians have slammed the UK High Commission in Colombo over the cancellation of a scheduled meeting with the High Commission recently.

The MPs who were part of an all-party group which was on a visit to the Maldives, had said it had sought a meeting with the UK High Commission in Colombo after visiting the Maldives.

However the three MPs, Sir David Amess (Chairman of the group), Ian Paisley and Mark Menzies, said in a report today that while they had extensive meetings in the Maldives, the only cancellation was the meeting in Colombo with the UK High Commission which covers the Maldives.

“Disappointingly the only cancelled meeting was with the office of the UK High Commission. We had planned a meeting with a representative of the High Commission but at the last minute the desk officer cancelled the meeting and the delegation of MPs did not receive any briefing or welcome from our Nation’s representative office. We saw this as a lost opportunity and frankly inexcusable,” the UK MPs said in their report.

In the report, the UK MPs also noted that it is the considered view of the delegation that the UK Government support the process of law and order in the Maldives and help build a new meaningful relationship with the Maldives rather than try to unduly influence the legal process involving former President Mohamed Nasheed.

The UK MPs who visited the Maldives have also noted in their report that the UK Government must commence, if it has not already done so, a security conference with the Maldives Government to draw up security protocols on tackling international extremist threats and to put in place a number of measures that incorporate the very best of private UK security operators to assist the Government and protect the Atols. (TELO)