To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to include within the Bill of
Rights Bill provision for women across the UK to have access to safe abortion.
<p>The position on abortion is settled in UK law and it is rightfully decided by Parliament.
It is an issue of conscience, and the Government has no current plans to introduce
this issue into the Bill of Rights. We should be mindful of finding ourselves in the
US position, where the issue is litigated through the courts, rather than settled
as it is here by Parliament. Health Services across the UK are responsible for providing
access to safe and legal abortion within the framework of the law.</p>
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the decision by EE to impose roaming charges
on new UK mobile phone users when using their phones in Europe, what plans they have
to negotiate a deal with the EU to eliminate roaming charges for UK customers.
<p>Since the end of the Transition Period the UK is no longer part of Roam Like at
Home so surcharge-free roaming for UK consumers in the EU is no longer guaranteed.</p><p><strong>
</strong></p><p>During negotiations for the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the
EU, the UK proposed continuation of reciprocal agreements between the UK and EU for
surcharge free roaming, or a review clause to consider the need for these should roaming
surcharges return for consumers. The EU did not agree to either of these proposals.
Therefore, mobile operators are now able to impose a surcharge on UK consumers travelling
abroad to the EU for their mobile phone usage. We advise that consumers check with
their operators before travelling.</p><p> </p>
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Sugg on 6 February
(HL Deb, col 1885), how many claims for asylum have been made by (1) women and girls
at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM), and (2) anti-FGM campaigners, in each
of the last 10 years; and how many such claims (a) have been accepted, (b) have been
rejected, and (c) are awaiting a decision.
<p>The Home Office does not record the basis of claims in a way that can be easily
aggregated so cannot provide figures on how many asylum claims have been made by (1)
women and girls at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM), and (2) anti-FGM campaigners,
in each of the last 10 years; and how many such claims (a) have been accepted, (b)
have been rejected, and (c) are awaiting a decision.</p><p>However, the Home Office
does publish data on the number of cases concluded by gender. This data can be found
at Asy_05/06/06q/07, of the published Transparency data: August 2019: <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-august-2019"
target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-august-2019</a></p>