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Written Question
Zimbabwe: Commonwealth
Thursday 1st February 2024

Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to any proposals for Zimbabwe to be readmitted as a member of the Commonwealth.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The decision on whether Zimbabwe re-joins the Commonwealth is for all Commonwealth members. The UK will review all final election observation reports, as well as the Secretary-General's report on membership readiness, before making any further assessment of Zimbabwe's readiness for readmission to the Commonwealth.


Written Question
Zimbabwe: Development Aid
Wednesday 4th October 2023

Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of their financial support for Zimbabwe in the light of concerns that its Presidential election was not free and fair.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As set out in the Minister for Development and Africa's statement on 31 August, the UK shares the view of the Election Observation Missions' preliminary statements that the pre-election environment and election day fell short of regional and international standards. Specific issues included a lack of transparency in the tallying of results, as well as the arrests of domestic observers. The UK remains committed to supporting Zimbabwe and its people on a path to long-term, inclusive, and resilient development, democracy, and prosperity. No UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) is channelled directly through Government of Zimbabwe systems. Instead, we work primarily through multilateral organisations, notably United Nations agencies, as well as international NGOs and the private sector ensuring maximum impact and targeted support reaches the most vulnerable Zimbabweans.


Written Question
Zimbabwe: Elections
Monday 7th August 2023

Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what representations have been made to the Commonwealth Secretariat to ensure that the Commonwealth will have election monitors in place in Zimbabwe before the elections on 23 August.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As the Minister for Development and Africa said to President Mnangagwa during their meeting on 5 May, it is important that the people of Zimbabwe can choose their government through peaceful and credible elections. Independent observation by international and domestic missions will play an important role in assessing electoral conduct against regional and international standards. The UK welcomes Zimbabwe's announcement that invitations have been sent to observer missions. The UK is supportive of the Commonwealth sending an electoral observation mission to Zimbabwe and FCDO is engaging closely with the Commonwealth Secretariat and Commonwealth partners to that end, including on possible UK support.


Written Question
BBC Media Action: Finance
Monday 7th August 2023

Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they have provided to BBC Media Action in each of the past ten years, and for what purpose; and how they assess BBC Media Action’s value, effectiveness, and operational range.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Between 2013 and 2022 FCDO and its predecessor departments provided BBC Media Action with £137 million (see table). This funding has supported work in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. As media freedom is under threat globally, FCDO funding has enabled BBC Media Action to support independent media and public platforms for discussion, and to tackle misinformation and disinformation. Their work has improved people's access to health information, and helped them cope with effects of climate change, conflict and disasters. In Ukraine, FCDO funding to BBC Media Action has provided independent media with training, equipment and other types of support to enable them to keep reporting throughout the conflict.

Year

Total funding (FCO, DFID, FCDO)

2013

£27.7m

2014

£25.7m

2015

£14.8m

2016

£20.5m

2017

£10.1m

2018

£7.6m

2019

£7.8m

2020

£8.6m

2021

£8.3m

2022

£6.1m

TOTAL

£137.2m


Written Question
Windsor Framework
Tuesday 1st August 2023

Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many members sit on each of the sub-groups established under the Joint Consultative Working Group of the Windsor Framework; and who they are.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The structured sub-groups of the Joint Consultative Working Group are co-chaired by a designated official from the lead UK Government department and European Commission Directorate-General respectively. Where appropriate and by decision of the co-chairs, experts or other persons who are not members of delegations may be invited to attend meetings of the working group in order to provide information on a particular subject. As with the meetings themselves, the delegations for each structured sub-group are confidential unless otherwise decided by the co-chairs.


Written Question
UK Internal Trade: Northern Ireland
Monday 24th July 2023

Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take when goods being transported to Northern Ireland which have been declared for the Green Lane are checked and are found not to qualify.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Trusted traders will face no routine physical checks on their goods moving in the green lane. These will be based purely on risk and intelligence. Where the systems in place to identify illicit movements find that goods are moved illegitimately, there will be a range of possible responses depending on the risks posed. This can include withdrawing access for the trader to the relevant scheme in cases where the scheme is being abused, and could include seizing or returning the goods (in the same way as would have been the case for goods posing particular risks before Brexit).


Written Question
Freight: Northern Ireland
Monday 24th July 2023

Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether freight companies are liable for carrying wrongly declared goods into and out of Northern Ireland; in particular, when a trader has declared goods as originating from Great Britain when they are actually of a third country origin.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The traders who are members of the relevant scheme will be responsible for ensuring that they comply with its requirements. It is a commercial choice for the parties involved whether they make further contractual arrangements to manage liability.


Written Question
Zimbabwe: Politics and Government
Friday 21st July 2023

Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Zimbabwean government concerning the banning of opposition party rallies.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As the Minister for Development and Africa said to President Mnangagwa on 5 May, it is important that Zimbabwe's upcoming elections are peaceful and credible. The UK regularly calls on the Government of Zimbabwe to ensure that political opposition and civil society are able to operate freely. On 3 May, the UK's Ambassador to Zimbabwe publicly underlined that the fundamental rights of assembly and expression are enshrined in Zimbabwe's constitution.


Written Question
Zimbabwe: Elections
Friday 21st July 2023

Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the election in Zimbabwe in August will be free and fair.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As the Minister for Development and Africa said to President Mnangagwa during their meeting on 5 May, it is important that the people of Zimbabwe can choose their government through peaceful and credible elections. Independent observation by international and domestic missions, including Southern African Development Community (SADC), the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU), will play an important role in assessing electoral conduct against regional and international standards. The UK welcomes Zimbabwe's announcement that invitations have been sent to observer missions.


Written Question
Obey Shava
Friday 21st July 2023

Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Zimbabwean government concerning the physical attack on Obey Shava at his Shava Law Chambers on 5 July.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is aware of an attack on human rights lawyer, Obey Shava, on 5 July. We note the ongoing police investigation into the attack. As the Minister for Development and Africa said to President Mnangagwa on 5 May, the UK would like to see the Government of Zimbabwe meet its international and domestic obligations by safeguarding human rights and allowing space for political opposition and civil society organisations to operate, particularly in the run up to elections on 23 August.