Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

760093

registered interest
date	13/09/2017
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Somalia: Piracy
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce levels of maritime piracy off the Somali coast.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	10317
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2017 answer text <p>​The UK plays a leading role in the fight against piracy in the Western Indian Ocean. We contribute to the Commander and Operational Headquarters of the EU's counter piracy mission, EU Navel Force (NAVFOR) Operation Atalanta. We also contribute to the Deputy Commander for the Combined Maritime Force, whose Task Force 151 has a specific focus on counter piracy. We are also a supporter of bilateral and multilateral maritime security capacity building programmes in the region. Between 2010 and 2016, the UK contributed over £17.2m to these programmes, which have helped to support counter-piracy efforts, increase regional maritime awareness and improve legal frameworks.</p><p>In May 2017, the UK hosted and co-chaired the London Somalia Conference, at which the international community reaffirmed its commitment to deterring and combatting piracy, and the Federal Government and the Federal Member States of Somalia reiterated their commitment to improving maritime security and building a capable coastguard.</p><p>According to EU NAVFOR Operation Atalanta, there have been six piracy attacks on commercial vessels in the region in 2017. Of those, only one – an attack against a Comoros flagged oil tanker, the <em>Aris 13,</em> on 13 March 2017 – was successful. By contrast, in 2011, there were 176 reported piracy attacks.</p> answering member constituency Rutland and Melton answering member printed Sir Alan Duncan question first answered 11/10/2017 16:42:06 answering member 343 label Biography information for Sir Alan Duncan
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

760094

registered interest
date	13/09/2017
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Egypt: Non-governmental Organisations
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the ability of non-governmental organisations to operate freely in Egypt and the restrictions they face; and when and at what levels that issue was last raised by UK officials with their Egyptian counterparts.
tabling member constituency	Reigate
tabling member printed	Crispin Blunt
uin	10375
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2017 answer text <p>The UK is deeply concerned over the ability of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to operate freely in Egypt. Ministers and senior officials regularly raise human rights concerns with Egyptian authorities; this includes restrictions on civil society. I raised these issues with Egyptian counterparts during my visit to Cairo in August 2017. The UK also raised concerns about restrictions on civil society and media freedoms in Egypt at the UN Human Rights Council in September 2017.</p><p>The UK believes that respect for individual and civil rights in Egypt is fundamental to Egyptian stability and prosperity and we will continue to urge Egypt to reduce restrictions on NGOs operating in the country, both in bilateral and multilateral fora.</p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt question first answered 12/10/2017 15:30:19 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
tabling member	104 label Biography information for Crispin Blunt

760095

registered interest
date	13/09/2017
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Far East: Military Exercises
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on tensions in the region of military exercises in which the UK has (a) participated and (b) not participated as a result of nuclear tests by North Korea.
tabling member constituency	Reigate
tabling member printed	Crispin Blunt
uin	10376
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2017 answer text <p>We support South Korea and its allies' right to defend themselves in the face of escalating aggression from North Korea. We do not accept that there is any equivalence between the regular, defensive and legal military exercises held by South Korea and the United States, and the aggressive and illegal ballistic missile tests and nuclear testing being conducted by North Korea, which are the cause of the raised tensions on the Korean peninsula.</p><p>The UK is a sending state to the UN Command in Seoul. Alongside other nations, we routinely send military and civilian personnel to participate in two large scale military exercises conducted each year in South Korea.</p> answering member constituency Cities of London and Westminster answering member printed Mark Field question first answered 13/10/2017 12:27:16 answering member 1405 label Biography information for Mark Field
tabling member	104 label Biography information for Crispin Blunt

760096

registered interest
date	13/09/2017
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Egypt: Demonstrations
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of is of progress towards identifying who was accountable for the violent dispersal of protestors in Cairo's Rab'a al-Adawiya Square on 13 August 2013; and when and at what levels that issue was last raised by UK officials with their Egyptian counterparts.
tabling member constituency	Reigate
tabling member printed	Crispin Blunt
uin	10369
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2017 answer text <p>Our Ambassador to Cairo raised the dispersal of protestors in Raba'a Square with the Chair of the Egyptian Parliamentary Human Rights Committee in January. The British Government is not aware of any Egyptian accountability processes relating to the dispersal, though it is an issue to which we continue to attach importance.</p><p>Egypt is a Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Human Rights Priority Country. FCO Ministers have asked the Egyptian authorities to take action to release journalists and political detainees who remain imprisoned, review mass judicial decisions and remove restrictions on civil society. I raised these concerns during my visit to Cairo in August. We are also deeply concerned about reports of torture and mistreatment in detention in Egypt and continue to raise these issues with the Egyptian authorities. We have raised these concerns in public, through the UN Human Rights Council and through the FCO's Human Rights Priority Country reports, and in private in meetings with Egyptian government representatives in London and in Cairo.</p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt question first answered 12/10/2017 15:18:17 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
tabling member	104 label Biography information for Crispin Blunt

760097

registered interest
date	13/09/2017
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Egypt: Counter-terrorism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the level of assessment he has made of disappearances, mass arbitrary arrests, torture, deaths in custody and extra-judicial killings committed by the Egyptian forces in the context of their counter-terrorism operation in Sinai; and when and at what levels that issue was last raised by UK officials with their Egyptian counterparts.
tabling member constituency	Reigate
tabling member printed	Crispin Blunt
uin	10370
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2017 answer text <p>UK officials regularly raise human rights concerns with their Egyptian counterparts. Egypt is a Foreign Office Human Rights Priority Country. Our Annual Human Rights report for 2016, which reviewed developments pertaining to human rights abuses in Egypt is available on gov.uk.</p><p>The UK raised concerns about torture, enforced disappearance and extra-judicial killings in our national statement at the UN Human Rights Council in September 2017 and Foreign Office Ministers have also publicly expressed the UK’s deep concern about the human rights situation in Egypt. We look to the Egyptian government to respect the rights guaranteed in Egypt’s constitution and investigate all reports of abuses, whether they occur in the Sinai.</p><p>We will continue to monitor the human rights situation in Egypt, and to urge the Egyptian government to implement the human rights provisions contained in its constitution.</p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt question first answered 12/10/2017 15:22:08 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
tabling member	104 label Biography information for Crispin Blunt

760098

registered interest
date	13/09/2017
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Giulio Regeni
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of progress towards identifying who was accountable for the abduction, torture and murder of Giulio Regeni, including the arrest and continuing detention of the legal adviser to the Regeni family, Ibrahim Metwally Hagazy; and when and at what levels that issue was last raised by UK officials with their Egyptian counterparts.
tabling member constituency	Reigate
tabling member printed	Crispin Blunt
uin	10371
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2017 answer text <p>Officials have followed the case of Giulio Regeni closely since his disappearance in Cairo on 25 January 2016. We were appalled by Mr Regeni's murder, and the brutal manner of his killing. As Mr Regeni was an Italian citizen, the Italian Government is taking the lead role on his case. We have raised the need for a transparent and impartial investigation into the circumstances of Mr Regeni's murder with the Egyptian authorities at Ministerial and official levels. We are deeply concerned by the arrest of human rights lawyer Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy. The Embassy in Cairo is following up this case with the Egyptian authorities. The UK has made clear its concerns about enforced disappearances, as well as the wider human rights situation in Egypt, through its national statement at the recent session of the UN Human Rights Council.</p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt question first answered 12/10/2017 15:26:37 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
tabling member	104 label Biography information for Crispin Blunt

760099

registered interest
date	13/09/2017
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Procurement
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many civil servants in his Department are part of the Government Commercial Function; and how many of those civil servants have been seconded (a) outside the Government and (b) in from outside the Government in each year since 2012.
tabling member constituency	Hemsworth
tabling member printed	Jon Trickett
uin	10450
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2017 answer text <p>We currently have fewer than five officers working at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that are part of the Government Commercial Function. We are therefore unable to confirm the precise numbers as this might enable individual identities to be revealed.</p> answering member constituency Rutland and Melton answering member printed Sir Alan Duncan question first answered 11/10/2017 16:49:13 answering member 343 label Biography information for Sir Alan Duncan
tabling member	410 label Biography information for Jon Trickett

760100

registered interest
date	13/09/2017
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Middle East: Peace Negotiations
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to facilitate negotiations between the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority on peace in the Middle East.
tabling member constituency	St Helens South and Whiston
tabling member printed	Ms Marie Rimmer
uin	10483
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2017 answer text <p>​We continue to believe the two-state solution is the only viable long-term solution to the Arab Israeli conflict. We are concerned that ongoing settlement construction, incitement and terrorist attacks are undermining prospects for peace. Ultimately we believe that peace will only come through negotiations between the parties, but international action could play a role in supporting progress. We are in close consultation with international partners including the US about what kind of renewed process might have a better chance of success, including one with a greater role for regional partners.</p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt question first answered 12/10/2017 14:25:50 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
tabling member	4457 label Biography information for Ms Marie Rimmer

760101

registered interest
date	13/09/2017
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Iran: Nuclear Power
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for the Iran nuclear deal of (a) ballistic missile tests carried out by Iran since July 2015 and (b) reports that Iran has provided support for the advancement of North Korea's development of nuclear weapons.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	10465
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2017 answer text <p>We are committed to the full implementation of the Iran nuclear deal – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – by all parties. Iran is in compliance with its nuclear-related commitments, as confirmed by the 31 August report of the International Atomic Energy Agency. UN Security Council Resolution 2231 calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Since July 2015, Iran has carried out a number of ballistic missile tests and has launched a space launch vehicle using such technology. This activity is not a breach of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. But it is inconsistent with UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and we have written to the UN Secretary General with France, Germany and the US to express our concern. We call upon Iran to refrain from such activity.</p><p>We condemn North Korea's illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. We are monitoring its programme developments, as the Foreign Secretary alluded to during his remarks to Parliament on 5 September. The assessment of any links between Iran and North Korea is sensitive information. It is the long-standing policy of the Government not to comment on matters relating to intelligence or national security.</p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt question first answered 12/10/2017 15:32:51 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

760241

registered interest
date	13/09/2017
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Sajaad Mohamed Abu Abdallah
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Saudi Arabian counterpart on the fatal shooting of Sajaad Mohammed Abdalla in Awamiya on 12 June 2017.
tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
tabling member printed	Tom Brake
uin	105012
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2017 answer text <p>Our Ambassador to Saudi Arabia raised the operation in Awamiyah with the Government of Saudi Arabia on 26 July, including measures to guard against civilian casualties. The Saudi authorities underlined the seriousness it placed on fulfilling its responsibilities to all its citizens, including the Shia. We continue to monitor the situation in Awamiyah closely and we will continue to raise legitimate concerns at every appropriate opportunity. The British Government strongly supports the right to freedom of religion or belief, which is restricted in Saudi Arabia; and thus it remains a Foreign &amp; Commonwealth Office human rights priority country.</p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt question first answered 12/10/2017 15:37:31 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake