Asked by: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, who, other than Ministers of the Crown and members of the Diplomatic Service, has been sent from the UK to represent the Government at inaugurations of foreign Heads of State and government since May 2010; and what the cost was of that representation in each such case.
Answered by David Lidington
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 16 January 2015 (PQ 219962) given by The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire).
Asked by: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to assist the Nigerian and Cameroon governments in combating Boko Haram.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK is working with international partners, including the US and France, to support Nigeria and its neighbours, including Cameroon, in their fight against Boko Haram. The UK is providing a substantial package of UK military, intelligence and development support and expertise to Nigeria, including tactical training and capacity building support to the Nigerian armed forces. We are also working with the United Nations, European Union and International Committee of the Red Cross to support the large number of people displaced by the conflict.
Ministerial meetings in Paris, London and Abuja last year brought together international and regional partners to help Nigeria and its neighbours implement measures to tackle Boko Haram. The Right Hon Stephen O’Brien MP (Special Rep for the Sahel) attended the follow-up meeting on security in Nigeria on 20 January in Niamey, Niger where further discussion took place on improving regional cooperation to tackle the Boko Haram threat.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which people, excluding Ministers and Diplomats, have represented the Government at inaugurations abroad since May 2010; and what the cost was of that representation in each such case.
Answered by Lord Swire
Invitations to attend the inaugurations of new foreign and Commonwealth Heads of State are considered on a case by case basis. The FCO does not hold a central list of those who have attended inaugurations either as an official UK representative or in a private capacity.
The requested information is not, therefore, available without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many times he or Ministers in his Department have raised concerns about anti-Semitism with their counterparts in (a) France, (b) Germany, (c) Holland, (d) Belgium, (e) Poland, (f) Australia, (g) the US and (h) Ireland since 2010.
Answered by David Lidington
We are concerned about all instances of anti-Semitism, and regularly raise this issue with a number of countries, including those referred to in the Honorable Member's question, though we do not hold a central record of every time we have done so. Our Embassies and High Commissions monitor cases of anti-Semitism and raise them with their host governments. We support the efforts of EU partners to tackle racism in all its forms. For instance, a number of Ministers, including the Home Secretary, strongly condemned the murders at the Jewish Museum in Brussels in May.
Anti-Semitism (and particularly Holocaust denial and denigration) are regularly discussed during meetings of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in a dedicated Committee, and as a formal agenda item during the plenary meetings held twice a year. The UK Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues, Sir Andrew Burns, leads an active UK delegation in these discussions. All the states to which your question refers are members of IHRA, with the exception of Australia.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office also works very closely with the UK Member of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), who provides expert advice on tackling anti-Semitism to the British Government and internationally.
The British Government will be represented at a senior level at the tenth anniversary of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Conference and Declaration on Anti-Semitism, being held in Berlin on 13 November 2014.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether any files on child abuse have been passed to his Department by (a) other parts of the Government or (b) hon. Members; and in what year such files were so passed.
Answered by David Lidington
The FCO’s human resource, personnel security and records management departments are not aware of any files on child abuse which have been passed to the FCO from other parts of government or from Honorable Members.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his Department's policy is on responding to parliamentary questions where the subject file or letter is within the scope of the Official Secrets Act 1989.
Answered by David Lidington
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office follows Cabinet Office guidance on drafting answers to Parliamentary Questions which is publicly available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/drafting-answers-to-parliamentary-questions-guidance.