Through the EU and United Nations, and directly with the regime, the UK has regularly called for the elections proposed to be held in Burma to be free and fair. We have made clear our views that unless all political prisoners are released, and democratic opposition and ethnic groups can participate freely in the 2010 elections, they will have no validity or international credibility.
Most recently, my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Bill Rammell), the then Minister of State, spoke directly with the Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister at the EU-Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Phnom Penh on 27-28 May 2009. He called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, and for the start of a genuinely inclusive political process.