Andrew Bridgen – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2014-04-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Italian counterpart on the status of foreign lecturers in Italian universities.

Mr David Lidington

The discrimination faced by UK and foreign national lecturers in Italy is unacceptable and illegal. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) raised the ‘lettori’ with the then Italian Foreign Minister, Emma Bonino, on 25 October 2013. I met the then Italian Europe Minister, Enzo Moavero Milanesi, on 19 November 2013, and stressed the importance of progress. I also met the Chairman of the Association of Foreign Lecturers in Italy (ALLSI), David Petrie, on 28 November 2013, and assured him of the Government’s commitment to keep up the pressure on the Italian authorities. I raised the issue with Italian Deputy Foreign Minister, Marta Dassu, when I met her on 15 January. Most recently, the Minister of State for Universities and Science, my right hon. Friend the Member for Havant (Mr Willetts), has written to the new Italian Minister for Education, Research and Universities, Stefania Giannini, and underlined the importance of finding a solution.