Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to respond to the letter from Lord Hylton to the Prime Minister dated 11 July, calling for a UN inquiry into the conditions in which Mr Abdullah Ocalan is being held in Turkey, and in particular into threats to his life.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Prime Minister's office has no record of receiving this correspondence. If Lord Hylton would kindly like to supply a further copy, a reply will be sent.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to re-nationalise public utilities to provide water, electricity and gas in instances where there are, in effect, natural monopolies and limited choice or representation for consumers.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The government has no plans to re-nationalise the water, electricity, or gas industries. Properly regulated markets, which incentivise private capital to invest in the energy and water systems, provide the best outcome for consumers and promote market competition as the best driver of efficiency, innovation, and value.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the resolutions adopted by the European Parliament on 15 September 2022, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on 27 June relating to the treatment of Bishop Rolando Álvarez; and what discussions they have had with the government of Nicaragua concerning the re-arrest and imprisonment in that country of Bishop Rolando Álvarez and three other priests, and the holding of two others under house arrest.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 28 June, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief and Chair of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, Fiona Bruce MP, called for the immediate and unconditional release of Bishop Alvarez and all others wrongly deprived of their freedom in Nicaragua, naming Bishop Álvarez as a prisoner of conscience. The UK continues to call for the release of Bishop Álvarez and all political prisoners in Nicaragua, including in conversations with the Nicaraguan authorities in Managua. The increasing suppression of political rights and the detention and expulsion of opposition politicians, activists and members of the clergy are further evidence of the serious democratic crisis in Nicaragua.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to have discussions with NATO concerning a potential investigation into the military activities of Turkey, particularly regarding activities in (1) northern Syria, and (2) north-west Iraq; and what discussions they plan to have with the (a) Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and (b) the Council of Europe, about compliance with international norms for military action and any violation of existing agreements on water-flows in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK recognises Turkey's legitimate security interests in Syria and Iraq. We engage regularly with Turkey, a NATO ally, on regional security issues and encourage restraint from any activity that leads to further regional instability. The UK is monitoring water supply issues in north east Syria; we have raised the humanitarian issue of water availability bilaterally with all parties in the region, including Turkey. We do not have plans for formal discussions on this issue at NATO, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) or the Council of Europe (CoE).
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will place a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Cooperation between the President of the Council of the Ministers of the Italian Republic and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dated 27 April 2023, in the Library of the House.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There are no plans to place a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Cooperation between the UK and Italy in the Library of the House. The document was published on the gov.uk website on 27 April 2023.
[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/memorandum-of-understanding-between-the-uk-and-italy]
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the prospects for détente between Greece and Turkey.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Greece and Turkey are close friends and allies to the UK and we are pleased to see continued high-level contact between the two countries, including Prime Minister Mitsotakis and President Erdoğan's meeting on 12 July, and commitment to hold a bilateral High-Level Cooperation Council in Thessaloniki in the Autumn. We hope this engagement can pave the way towards a long term reduction in tensions. We encourage both countries to resolve issues through dialogue and we support de-confliction measures aimed at de-escalation and reduction of tensions, including existing deconfliction mechanisms within NATO structures. The UK will continue to work with all parties in support of this.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have provided funds amounting to £20 million for a prison in north-east Syria to contain, amongst others, 25 British families.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As said in the counter-Daesh statement to the House on 4 March 2021, as part of the Global Coalition's collective stabilisation efforts in the region, the UK has provided technical advice and funding for the improvement of detention facilities for Daesh fighters in north-east Syria.
It would not be appropriate to comment further for reasons of operational security.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how many unaccompanied children seeking asylum remain in hotels, prior to placement with Local Authorities.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The data requested cannot be provided as it comes from live operational databases that have not been quality assured.
There has been a significant increase in the numbers of young people making unnecessary and dangerous journeys to the UK. The Home Office has had no alternative but to temporarily use hotels in order to give some unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) emergency accommodation and support while permanent accommodation with a local authority is identified.
We are determined to end the use of hotels for these young people and Home Office officials work tirelessly with local authorities to move children into care placements through the National Transfer Scheme (NTS).
To help achieve this, we have provided local authorities with children’s services £15,000 for every eligible young person taken into their care from a Home Office-run hotel dedicated to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children or the Kent Reception and Safe Care Service by the end of February 2023.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) recent moves by the EU to seek to resolve tensions in northern Kosovo, and (2) the response by the Prime Minister of Kosovo to those efforts.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are working actively with partners to de-escalate tensions in northern Kosovo, and to encourage a return to the EU-facilitated Dialogue aimed at securing a conclusive and sustainable normalisation agreement between Serbia and Kosovo. The Foreign Secretary emphasised this message to Kosovo Prime Minister Kurti and to Serbia Prime Minister Brnabic last month. We welcome Kosovo's agreement with the EU on next steps for de-escalation, as announced by Prime Minister Kurti on 12 July.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the recent restoration of diplomatic relations between several Middle Eastern states.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We welcome the recent agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran if it leads to a de-escalation of tension. The onus is on Iran to honour its commitments. We also welcome the Abraham Accords as a historic milestone bringing us closer to the goal of shared prosperity and peace throughout the region. The UK is working with regional partners to ensure the Abraham Accords are an enduring success, and we continue to encourage other countries who have not yet normalised their relations with Israel to do so. We continue to support efforts to ensure normalisation also delivers benefits for the Palestinians.