Letter to the Chairman of the Committee
from Mr Jim Murphy MP, Minister for Europe
Following the Foreign Secretary's Written Ministerial
Statement to the House of 13 December (Official Report, column
56WS) on the British Council in Russia, I am writing to provide
you with further information on the situation.
I enclose copies of three pieces of recent correspondence
between our Ambassador in Moscow Sir Anthony Brenton and the Russian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The letter of 7 December from Mr
Titov illustrates the clear political link the Russian government
is making between its threats against the Council and the Government's
Litvinenko measures against the Russian government in July. We
reject this linkage outright, and assert strongly the legality
of the British Council's activities in Russia.
I am depositing copies of the correspondence
in the Library of the House. The Foreign Secretary will provide
a further Written Ministerial Statement to update the House on
the situation of the British Council in Russia in the New Year.
I am writing in similar terms to the Rt Hon William Hague and
Edward Davey.
Jim Murphy MP
Minister For Europe
21 December 2007
| 
