"Stop Banning the BBC" says Keetch

3.49.02pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 25th Jun 2009

On Tuesday, Paul Keetch, MP for Hereford, asked the Prime Minister if, following his meeting with Morgan Tsvangirai the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, there was an agreement to allow journalists from all European countries, including the BBC, to report from Zimbabwe.

Commenting Mr Keetch said, "We must have open access to Zimbabwe to ensure that there is no intimidation of opposition members or other human rights abuses. This is especially important now that the UK has agreed to provide an extra £5million in aid to Zimbabwe. In order to ascertain whether or not this aid is being used correctly we must have open access to be able to evaluate the current situation in Zimbabwe.

"I am pleased that the Prime Minister mentioned this to Mr Tsvangirai during his meeting and that the PM agrees that the BBC should have free access to Zimbabwe.

"If Zimbabwe is serious about becoming democratic then allowing foreign journalists into the country is one of the main steps they can take to prove it to the world."