Ian Lavery

Ian Lavery

Labour — Blyth and Ashington

Speaking in the House of Commons on 10 September 2026

Debate

Business of the House

Contribution

Dr Anirban Bhattacharyya is a resident in my constituency. He has lived there for 60 years. He travelled to Kolkata only a couple of weeks ago, and it appears that he has been caught up in the horrendous flooding in Nepal. There have been numerous attempts to contact him, but they have been unsuccessful. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been less than helpful, basically pointing the family to the Indian consulate, which, again, has been less than helpful. He has lived in this country for 60 years. He is missing. Can we have a debate in Government time about how the FCDO can be more helpful to people who have lived in this country all their lives and are affected by such national tragedies? Because he does not have a British passport, we cannot help him.

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