To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the correspondence between officials from his Department and the Malaysian authorities concerning the Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal. (204651)

We have no plans to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2008, Official Report, column 371W, on Malaysia Military Decorations, on (a) how many occasions and (b) what dates officials from his Department and the Malaysian High Commission met to discuss the Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal. (204652)

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office holds regular bilateral meetings with officials from the Malaysian high commission, as it does with all other embassies and high commissions. The Pingat Jasa Malaysia medal was discussed on a number of occasions, during meetings, by email and on the telephone during the course of 2005. The honours secretary from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office met with officials from the Malaysian high commission to brief them on the outcome of the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals’ discussions on 20 December 2005, prior to the decision being made public.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reasons there was no correspondence between the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals and the Malaysian authorities prior to the decision by the Committee that British veterans may accept, but not wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal. (204653)

It is not usual for the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (HD Committee) to enter into correspondence with a country offering a medal to British citizens. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is responsible for relations with overseas governments and relays relevant views and factors (such as bilateral relations) to the committee. The HD Committee considers these alongside other issues such as the importance of upholding the rules, which govern the British honours system.