Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of the Republic of Ireland about the defence of the Western Atlantic.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK and Ireland face a range of common threats to our security. We are committed to a close partnership and discuss a wide range of defence and security issues, including maritime security, underpinned by our Defence Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding, signed in 2015. The Foreign Secretary hosted Micheál Martin, Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence and for Foreign Affairs, in London in December.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether UK-based brokers are facilitating the insurance of vessels carrying Russian oil worldwide; and if so, whether they are planning to extend sanction regulations to prevent the Putin regime from funding its aggression in Ukraine assisted by UK based or controlled entities.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The oil price cap, implemented by a Coalition encompassing the UK alongside the G7 and Australia, operates globally by prohibiting UK and Coalition firms from providing services such as shipping, insurance and finance to facilitate the maritime transport of Russian oil and oil products, unless the oil was purchased at or below the price cap level. The UK has implemented a strong enforcement approach focused on prohibition, with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) responsible for civil enforcement, and HMRC and the National Crime Agency jointly considering cases which may be appropriate for criminal prosecution. The Coalition has recently acted jointly to tighten price cap compliance rules and reserves the right to take further action to ensure its effectiveness if needed.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether diesel oil products imported into the UK are refined from Russian crude oil; and what assessment they have made of the impact of sanctions on such imports.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
UK sanctions targeting Russian oil revenues are designed in line with existing World Trade Organisation (WTO) non-preferential rules of origin. More specifically, if a good such as diesel is produced in two or more countries, it is subject to substantial processing requirements as stated in Section 17(3) of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018. In line with these rules, where Russian oil and oil products have been refined in a third country, they will only be considered Russian if the products have not been substantially processed. All importers of oil and oil products into the UK must provide proof of origin to relevant enforcement authorities, to demonstrate that goods are not of Russian origin. Our approach is in line with that taken by our partners, including the US and the EU.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 5 January (HL1333), whether they will now answer the question put; namely, what specific changes to the Windsor Framework they have negotiated with the European Union; and when they will be applicable.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the noble Lord to the reply of 5 January 2024 which said that the UK Government has held extensive talks with the Democratic Unionist Party on the Windsor Framework over the past eight months. As confirmed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 19 December, the Government now stands ready to introduce a package of measures should the DUP reach a decision to proceed. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-12-19/hl1333.
We have nothing further to add.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific changes to the Windsor Framework they have negotiated with the European Union; and when they will be applicable.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government has held extensive talks with the Democratic Unionist Party on the Windsor Framework over the past eight months. As confirmed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 19 December, the Government now stands ready to introduce a package of measures should the DUP reach a decision to proceed.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the work in the UK of the British Committee for Iran Freedom.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of the British Committee for Iran Freedom's work as well as its political affiliations. The FCDO believe that it is for all Iranians to ultimately determine the future of Iran.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the sources of funding for the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy for their activities in the UK.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office does not routinely make funding assessments on the UK not-for profit sector and has, therefore, not made any such assessment regarding the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what, if any, discussions they are holding with the EU regarding amending the terms of the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Windsor Framework fundamentally amends the old Northern Ireland Protocol and is the best possible deal for Northern Ireland. The UK Government is now working with businesses and stakeholders, focussed on the successful implementation of the Framework.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications for security in Europe of the use by the Russian Federation of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The nuclear rhetoric and signalling we continue to see from Russia and President Putin is designed to distract and deter us from supporting Ukraine. Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine continues to be a very serious situation but it is not, and should not become, a nuclear crisis. No other country is talking about nuclear use.
As the G7 has repeatedly made clear, any use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons in this conflict would be met with severe consequences. We continue to call on Russia to de-escalate, starting by ceasing its illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what legislative proposals they intend to introduce to ensure that businesses in Northern Ireland have free access to the market in Great Britain.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is unequivocal in its commitment for unfettered access for Northern Ireland goods to the whole UK market. That means a permanent guarantee of being able to place goods on the UK market in all scenarios - meaning no new forms, checks, controls, tariffs, or any barriers to the market whatsoever, whatever the future form of regulations in Northern Ireland. Those are protections that are enshrined in law in the UK Internal Market Act 2020 and which we will build on further following the Windsor Framework.