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Britain’s Govt, Opposition politicians convey their condolences
Leading British politicians from the Government and Opposition conveyed their condolences, when they visited the Sri Lanka High Commission in London, to express their sympathies over the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks that killed several Britons, hundreds of Sri Lankans and other foreigners.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Mark Field MP, Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific, were met by High Commissioner Manisha Gunasekera and Deputy High Commissioner Sugeeshwara Gunaratna, when they arrived to sign the Condolence Book and convey their sympathies on behalf of the British Government.
High Commissioner Gunasekera expressed her deep appreciation of the strong support of the UK and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who visited the Sri Lanka Mission to convey his condolence, began his message with the Sinhala words “Mama bohoma kanagatuyi“. Opposition leader and leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn visited the Mission accompanied by Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry. Mr Corbyn, who recalled fondly, the days he spent in Sri Lanka in the 1980s, welcomed the support to Sri Lanka extended by the British Government. Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Patricia Scotland, offering her condolences, urged Sri Lanka to have stronger ties with the Commonwealth, to combat what she called Violent Extremism and terrorist attacks of the magnitude that Sri Lanka faced. Also extending their sympathies were the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and former President of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Sri Lanka, Lord Naseby, and MPs among others.