Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his oral contribution of 3 February 2022 on Kazakhstan: Anti-corruption Sanctions, Official Report, column 574, whether he plans to impose sanctions on Bergey Ryskaliyev.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Illicit finance and corruption undermine our interests and values. The UK is fully committed to working with the Government of Kazakhstan to take actions needed to tackle corruption. We provided training last year to build the capacity and resilience of Kazakh financial institutions and we receive continued cooperation from the government on this issue.
The UK Government does not comment on possible future sanction designations. To do so could reduce the impact of the designations.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 28 July 2023, reference AK59834, from the hon. Member for Manchester Gorton.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
I [Leo Docherty], as Minister for Europe, responded to the correspondence case AK59834 of 28 July 2023 on 2 October.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2023 to Question 185329 on China: Solar Power, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Solar Energy UK’s Solar Stewardship Initiative in reducing the use of Chinese-made solar panels sourced from companies using unethical supply chains.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As per our previous response dated 22 May 2023, the Foreign Secretary and his officials are in regular contact with relevant Ministers and departments on matters of national security and foreign policy. We support the UK's solar industry's main trade association, Solar Energy UK, in leading the response from business, including through their partnership with Solar Power Europe in developing and piloting the Solar Stewardship Initiative to drive a responsible, transparent, and sustainable solar value chain. Furthermore, the Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and his officials meet regularly with Solar Energy UK to discuss a range of issues relating to the solar sector, including supply chains.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2023 to Question 185329 on China: Solar Power, whether he has had discussions with Solar Energy UK on reducing the use of Chinese-made solar panels sourced from companies using unethical supply chains.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As per our previous response dated 22 May 2023, the Foreign Secretary and his officials are in regular contact with relevant Ministers and departments on matters of national security and foreign policy. We support the UK's solar industry's main trade association, Solar Energy UK, in leading the response from business, including through their partnership with Solar Power Europe in developing and piloting the Solar Stewardship Initiative to drive a responsible, transparent, and sustainable solar value chain. Furthermore, the Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and his officials meet regularly with Solar Energy UK to discuss a range of issues relating to the solar sector, including supply chains.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to use the UK's membership of the Blue Dot Network to promote sustainable development projects in (a) Pakistan and (b) other countries taking part in China's Belt and Road Initiative.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Blue Dot Network will translate existing internationally agreed quality infrastructure investment standards into a clear and evidence-based certification framework, and in doing so will attract the financial capital needed to tackle the vast infrastructure investment gap in developing countries such as Pakistan. No other certification process focuses on infrastructure in Low- or Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). All countries, including those involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, will be able to apply for a blue dot.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his Azerbaijani counterpart on the anniversary of the Khojaly massacre; and whether he plans to make a statement to mark that anniversary.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The events of February 1992 were a tragic episode in Azerbaijan's history, and were strongly condemned by the UK Government at the time. Such hostilities should never take place again. The UK Ambassador to Azerbaijan laid a wreath at the memorial in Baku on 24 February. In recent engagements with the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister on 22 February and Armenian Foreign Minister on 18 January, I [Minister Docherty] reinforced the need for constructive negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan to secure stability and peace in the region.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether children educated in monasteries receiving British aid via the Myanmar Education Consortium are taught using the Burmese military controlled school curriculum.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Monastic education is an important educational provision in Myanmar, often reaching children in poor and conflict-affected communities with no alternative schooling. These schools are run independently by monks and follow the Myanmar national curriculum developed before the coup.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the Government of Morocco on the imprisonment of Omar Radi.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of and continue to monitor the case of Omar Radi and senior UK officials raised his case with the Moroccan Government on 1 December. Support for human rights is a priority around the world and we regularly raise human rights issues with the Moroccan authorities, including individual cases.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of trends in the level of funding for BBC Persian Radio on access to impartial news and information for people in Iran.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO strongly values the BBC World Service's role in bringing high-quality and impartial broadcasting to audiences in need. Under recent BBC proposals, whilst radio broadcasts for BBC Persian will cease, TV broadcasting will continue and investment in digital services will increase, reflecting audience viewing trends. In Iran, only 1% of the BBC's total weekly audience of 13.8 million access BBC news solely via radio - the other 99% use BBC Persian on TV and online.
The UK is a fierce champion of media freedom and proud member of the Media Freedom Coalition. We regularly raise the issue of the Iranian peoples' right to access independent media, including BBC Persian, and unrestricted internet with the Iranian government, as well as in multilateral fora.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to reply to correspondence from the hon. member for Manchester, Gorton, dated 5 October 2022, reference AK55505.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We apologise for the delay in replying to the Hon. Member. A reply will be sent as soon as possible.