Lord Naseby raises issue in House of Lords

British Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron has said that Sri Lankan authorities would have to follow-up with the Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO’s) South Asia Department in London and the British High Commission in Colombo to see if Lord Naseby’s request for the UK’s support towards Sri Lanka actually bears fruit.

Former Prime Minister, David Cameron, who was elevated with a peerage back into the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary by Rishi Sunak, late last year, said so on Tuesday (05) at the tail end of a seven hour debate in the House of Lords on Britain’s Foreign Affairs.

UK based sources said that 63 peers from various political parties raised questions on Britain’s role in the current volatile international landscape.

Lord Naseby has pointed out serious inaccuracies in Britain’s Travel Advisory on Sri Lanka. Lord Naseby has requested that the Travel Advisory be changed. As tourism plays a major role in the Sri Lankan economy, Lord Naseby has said that more British tourists would visit the island if the FCDO, which is now led by Lord Cameron, provided accurate Travel Advisory information on Sri Lanka.

Lord Naseby has urged FCDO officials to be more positive in portraying the opportunities for tourists to visit Sri Lanka as travellers no longer have to face protests or fuel shortages as occurred in 2022 and that the last terrorist attacks on the island happened nearly five years ago, in 2019. Lord Naseby asserted that more British tourists would readily flock to Sri Lanka if a correct portrayal of the ground realities was presented by UK authorities.

Sources said that the crux of the matter is whether Sri Lanka raised the issue at hand with the British HC in Colombo.

Hansard transcript: It is the FCDO comments on that country that currently cause me concern because they refer to the fact that protests are going on when they are not. They say that there is a fuel shortage, but there is not and has not been for 18 months. They also say that there are other difficulties of a terrorist nature, which we have not had for five years. So can my noble friend look at that guidance? It helps that particular age group because, at least from surveys that have been done, 80% of it looks at that guidance. Perhaps I could bring a couple of people from the newly set-up Experience Travel Group, which is in the private sector, to perhaps talk to a junior Minister about amending that.”

In the summing up of responses to the several questions raised by Peers, Lord Cameron said that he ‘very much agreed’ with the points raised by Lord Naseby.

Lord Naseby has relentlessly supported successive Sri Lankan governments and followed the progress that the country has made in addressing human rights issues and the legacy of the conflict years. The Conservative peer, who founded the British Parliament’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sri Lanka nearly 50 years ago, commended Sri Lanka for progressing now towards a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. “There is the talk—and, more than talk, work being done—on a truth and reconciliation commission. In my judgment, that is to be greatly welcomed. I reflect on the late Sir Desmond de Silva, a great lawyer, as evidence that the quality of lawyers in Sri Lanka is second to none. As it is set up, it will of course be across the ethnic groups—it has to be. There are people there who are thoroughly objective.”