Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Howell of Guildford (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 15 July 2009.

Samantha Orobator

Question: My Lords, since by my calculations the Minister has one more Foreign and Commonwealth Question to answer tomorrow before the Summer Recess, I shall keep my arrivedercis for that occasion. In the mean time, in this difficult case, while we could not for one moment condone any kind of drug trafficking or that sort of thing, we would fully support any efforts the Minister made were there room for additional pressure for compassion. Would he accept that?

Answer: My Lords, I assure the noble Lord that we are having regular contact with the Laotian authorities to try and persuade them to proceed with the prisoner transfer. Others are looking at ways that perhaps some payment could be made. We are trying to get clarity from the authorities on whether partial payment would be sufficient. The noble Lord should be in no doubt that we are leaving no stone unturned to get this unlucky woman and her child home.

Secondary information