Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on the use of international taxation measures to support global climate adaptation programmes.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chancellor has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on a range of topics
The Government is committed to helping deliver global climate finance, including responding to the wider call on all actors to increase climate finance to developing countries to USD 1.3trn per year and the New Collective Quantified Goal agreed at COP29 of at least $300bn per year to developing countries by 2035
As part of that effort, we are pressing for faster and more ambitious reforms to the global financial system to deliver much more and higher quality climate and development finance. Alongside this, we are supportive of exploring revenue raising mechanisms for climate action.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department (a) has provided and (b) plans to provide (i) financial and (ii) technical support for missile interceptor technology projects in Ukraine.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Since the start of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the UK has provided financial and technical support to missile interceptor technology projects to protect Ukraine's people, its Critical National Infrastructure and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This includes the supply of air defence munitions and air interceptor drones, including from UK industry.
In addition, the UK and Ukraine have established a new tech sharing agreement and under Project OCTOPUS, we have agreed arrangements for the development of an advanced air defence interceptor drone.
The UK plans to continue to provide this support, recognising the ongoing threat from Russian missiles.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to support the protection of freedom of religion or belief in countries identified as priority areas as part of her Department’s freedom of religion or belief strategy.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK champions Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all, both in sub-Saharan Africa and across the world. On 8 July, the UK's Special Envoy for Religious Freedom, David Smith MP, set out the Government's new strategy on FoRB, providing a framework for engagement with other countries, and describing the links between the protection of FoRB and other goals including the prevention of conflict. As part of this strategy, the UK continues to support FoRB on the international stage, through our position in the United Nations, G7 and Article 18 Alliance.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
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 strength of the link between freedom of religion or belief and conflict prevention in the context of UK foreign policy.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK champions Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all, both in sub-Saharan Africa and across the world. On 8 July, the UK's Special Envoy for Religious Freedom, David Smith MP, set out the Government's new strategy on FoRB, providing a framework for engagement with other countries, and describing the links between the protection of FoRB and other goals including the prevention of conflict. As part of this strategy, the UK continues to support FoRB on the international stage, through our position in the United Nations, G7 and Article 18 Alliance.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with international partners on strengthening protections for freedom of religion or belief in sub-Saharan Africa.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK champions Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all, both in sub-Saharan Africa and across the world. On 8 July, the UK's Special Envoy for Religious Freedom, David Smith MP, set out the Government's new strategy on FoRB, providing a framework for engagement with other countries, and describing the links between the protection of FoRB and other goals including the prevention of conflict. As part of this strategy, the UK continues to support FoRB on the international stage, through our position in the United Nations, G7 and Article 18 Alliance.