FAMILIES whose loved ones have died abroad have condemned the Foreign Office in a new report.
Dozens of people gave testimony to an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) in Westminster about their experiences after losing a relative overseas.
Hannah Bardell, SNP MP for Livingston has been at the forefront of the group since its inception, and has joined in the family's criticisms of the authorities.
She was prompted to establish group after two of her Livingston constituents – Julie Pearson and Kirsty Maxwell – died in suspicious circumstances abroad.
One of the key recommendations is the creation of the ‘Pearson Maxwell Protocol’, a joined-up process that holds the hands of a bereaved family from the point of notification of death, through travelling to the country of death and repatriation.
It is to be trialled between Scotland and Spain.
Bardell said: “This report highlights the urgent need to put compassion and common sense back at the heart of our consular services, where the current UK government’s failure to act has let bereaved families down.
“Listening to harrowing evidence through this report, it is clear that changes must be made at the earliest opportunity. Experts have told us that these families are at risk of re-traumatisation and secondary victimization as a result of their experiences with the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
“Very little has changed for families since the 2014 Foreign Affairs Select Committee review, and many families still feel let down and abandoned by their experience with UK consular services. That is simply not acceptable - it is now time for this Tory government to right these inexcusable wrongs and implement the recommendations from this vital report.”
Her SNP colleague, MSP Clare Haughey, Scotland's mental health minster, has spoken out for the first time about the lack of support she and her husband Paul received since her son Charlie, 20, died while on holiday in the Netherlands this summer.
Haughey resorted to challenging the FCO after they told the media they were supporting her family when they were not.
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Deaths Abroad, Consular Services and Assistance (APPG) report noted: “Their response was along the lines of “sorry you feel that way”, a rather short and dismissive answer to a mother who had just found out about the death of her son.”
The couple said the lack of assistance was in sharp contrast to the Amsterdam Police who provided them with compassionate, regular support.
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