The British Foreign and Commonwealth office announced on Tuesday (April 9, 2019) appointing Roderick Drummond as UK Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain in succession to Simon Martin.

British MP Lord Paul Scrivenþ said in a tweet that he wrote to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to express his disappointment for their weak statement on the unlawful life sentence against political leader, Sheikh Ali Salman in Bahrain.

Opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman commented on the verdict sentencing him to life in jail saying “Allah suffices me, for He is the best disposer of affairs”. This came in a phone call with his family.

The British “The Times” newspaper said that millions of pounds of British taxpayers’ money is being spent in secret on bodies linked to serious human rights abuses in wealthy Gulf states after the government blocked the release of basic information about a shadowy fund administered by the Foreign Office.

UK MP Jim Cunningham sent a letter about the detained Bahraini dissident Hasan Mushaima, whose son, Ali, launched a hunger strike in front of the Bahraini Embassy in London, demanding providing the needed health care for his father.

UK Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa, Alistair Burt, said that the UK government raised the case of opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman at a senior level with the Government of Bahrain, on the eve of the verdict issuance against him over claims of colluding with Qatar.

Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth office Alistair Burt said that his country is closely monitoring the suspension of Al-Wasat newspaper, the only independent newspaper in Bahrain.

Addressing the situation in Bahrain, Gulf affairs expert, Bill Law, quoted “an old Bahraini friend” of his, stating that “it is bad, very bad. Everyone has lost hope. No one sees any way out.”

The British Guardian newspaper said that leading press freedom groups have sent a letter to foreign secretary Boris Johnson raising concerns about the human rights record of Bahrain’s ambassador to the UK, Fawaz bin Mohammad Al Khalifa.

The Guardian Newspaper said that "a Foreign Office-backed initiative to monitor human rights abuses in Bahrain has been accused of failing to investigate allegations that opponents of the country's government are being tortured into making confessions."

FCO says there’s still significant work to be done by Bahrain in its programme of socio-economic reform.

FCO expressed concern by decision to suspend activities of Bahraini opposition group, Al Wefaq, and freeze its assets.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that Bahrain achieved progress on human rights in Bahrain throughout 2015, although challenges remain, indicating that the Government of Bahrain continued to take steps to implement its human rights and political reform agenda.

Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) stated that the UK continues to provide a package of technical assistance, including training to the police and security services in Bahrain.