Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Palestinian Authority on the potential smuggling of weapons and other contraband into the West Bank.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to closely monitor the security situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The UK continues to provide the Palestinian Authority (PA) with professional support in helping develop its security institutions. The UK remains committed to a two state-solution, as Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Minister of State for the Middle East made clear on his visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories from 11-13 January. An essential part of our efforts is the provision of training and other technical assistance to the PA Ministry of Interior and PA Security Forces (PASF), to support the development of capable, responsible security forces that respect human rights and are accountable to the Palestinian people.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to proscribe the Wagner Group as a terrorist organisation.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
Whilst the Government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under review, we do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not under consideration for proscription.
The Government remains concerned about Russia's use of private military companies such as the Wagner Group. We take the provision of mercenaries and other military support to parties in conflicts such as Libya, Syria, Ukraine and elsewhere very seriously. We continue to work closely with our international partners to counter Russian malign activity and respond to actions that undermine the rules based international system.
Our package of sanctions in support of Ukraine targets those aiding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This includes the Wagner Group and on 24 March 2022 the UK designated Wagner Group under our autonomous sanctions regime.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it remains his Department's policy to support surrogacy law reform; and what steps he will take to (a) consider and (b) give parliamentary time to the recommendations of the Law Commission on surrogacy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Law Commissions of England and Wales, and Scotland currently intend to publish a full report of their review of surrogacy legislation, with a draft bill, in Spring 2023. The Government will consider the report and legislative proposals upon the publication.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals on surrogacy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Law Commissions of England and Wales, and Scotland currently intend to publish a full report of their review of surrogacy legislation, with a draft bill, in Spring 2023. The Government will consider the report and legislative proposals upon the publication.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has been made of reports that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran is coordinating with Venezuela to provide Shahed-136 drones to Russia.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK condemns Iranian support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has made this clear to Iran including when the Iranian chargé d'affaires was summoned on 3 October. Iran's supply of drones to Russia, whether direct or indirect, violates UN Security Council Resolution 2231. On 20 October, new UK sanctions targeted Iranian individuals and businesses responsible for supplying Russia with drones. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is already sanctioned. The UK is following cooperation between Iran and Venezuela closely and will continue to stand up for UK values and security interests, and those of our partners.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of providing sanction relief to Iran under a renewed Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Iran's nuclear escalation threatens international peace and security and risks undermining the global non-proliferation system. A viable deal was put on the table in March which would have returned Iran to full compliance with its Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) commitments and returned the USA to the deal.
Iran refused to seize the opportunity to conclude the deal with continued demands beyond the scope of the JCPoA. We are considering next steps with our international partners. The UK has sanctions designations in place on over 300 Iranian individuals and entities including for their roles in weapons proliferation, human rights abuses, and terrorism.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's regional strategy of President Erdogan’s meeting with President Raisi and President Putin on 19 July 2022.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The meeting of 19 July 2022 took place within the framework of the 'Astana' format, which Turkey, Russia and Iran have used since 2017 to discuss Syria and which the UK does not recognise this as the legitimate forum to discuss Syria's political future. Turkey is a NATO ally and an important partner for the UK in addressing the security and humanitarian challenges in the region, including northern Syria, where we urge all parties to maintain ceasefires and protect civilians. Ultimately, the only way to end the terrible suffering of the Syrian people, inflicted by the Syrian regime and its allies, including Russia and Iran, is through the UN-facilitated political process in Geneva.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with her Lebanese counterpart on the launching of drones by Hezbollah towards Israel’s Karish gas facility.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Our commitment to Israel's security is unwavering. Lebanon and Israel are important regional partners for the UK and we collaborate closely on issues of defence and security. This includes regular discussions at the highest levels on the destabilising threat posed by Hizballah activity across the region. We condemn Hizballah's activity which directly threatens regional stability and endangers civilians in Lebanon and Israel.
FCDO Minister of State, Lord [Tariq] Ahmad of Wimbledon most recently discussed regional security with Lebanese Foreign Minister Bou Habib on 6 July. The Former Foreign Secretary also raised this issue during a call with Israeli Foreign Minister Lapid on 22 June.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help minimise disruption to the wider supply chain during the transition from Energy Company Obligation 3 to Energy Company Obligation 4.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government introduced ECO3 Interim Delivery to help with the transition between ECO3 and ECO4 and to prevent a supply chain hiatus,. As suppliers and installers are familiar with ECO3 requirements, this has provided greater certainty prior to the regulations and final guidance.
In discussions, energy suppliers have confirmed that they have been using ECO3 Interim Delivery.
In addition, Ofgem has published the Full Project Scores and Partial Project Scores in advance of ECO4. This gives industry certainty on what ECO4 activities will be commercially worthwhile, helping to guide suppliers in planning and contracting.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether it is her Department's policy that Non-Fungible Tokens or any aspect of the mechanisms of their transfer are considered to be user-to-user regulated content under the terms set out in the Online Safety Bill.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
We introduced the Online Safety Bill to Parliament on 17 March 2022 and it passed its second reading in the House of Commons on 19 April.
The Bill will apply to a range of services that allow users to interact with each other and post content online. Companies will have duties to take action to prevent the proliferation of illegal content and to protect children from harmful content. This will include taking action against harmful content within Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), such as preventing users from encountering them where these are shared on in scope services.