Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
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 representatives from civil society organisations on the updated (a) Integrated Review and (b) Arctic Policy Framework.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The UK Government will make a decision on whether to proceed with updating the Integrated Review in due course. If we proceed, we will engage with external experts and wider stakeholders with an interest in our nation's security and prosperity as part of the process of updating the Integrated Review.
FCDO officials have engaged with relevant experts and representatives from the Non-Government Organisation community as part of the development of a refreshed UK Arctic Policy Framework.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Ministry of Defence paper entitled The UK's Defence Contribution in the High North published on 29 March 2022, when he plans to publish the UK's updated Arctic Policy Framework.
Answered by Leo Docherty
We are looking to publish an updated UK Arctic Policy Framework later this year.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to implement individual sanctions against officials from (a) Hong Kong and (b) China who are complicit with violations of (i) human rights violations and (ii) civil and democratic rights.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The UK is clear that China remains in an ongoing state of non-compliance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Whilst we keep potential sanctions designations under close and regular review, it is not appropriate to speculate who may be designated in the future. To do so could reduce their impact.
Under the UK's Global Human Rights sanctions regime, the UK has imposed asset freezes and travel bans against four Chinese Government officials as well as an asset freeze against one entity responsible for enforcing the repressive security policies across many areas of Xinjiang. We will continue to act with our likeminded partners to ensure that those responsible for gross human rights violations, both in China and across the globe, are held to account.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
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 letter of 8th of September 2022 from the hon. Member for Stirling on the location of the UK Embassy in Israel.
Answered by Leo Docherty
We are grateful to the Honourable member for bringing this matter to our attention. We apologise for the delay. A response will be issued in due course.