Asked by: Blair McDougall (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of extending the settlement qualifying period from five to ten years on the community integration of British National (Overseas) visa holders.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route was launched on 31 January 2021 in response to China’s passing of the National Security Law. The route reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status at the point of Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997.
The Government is committed to supporting members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK and those who may come here in future.
Further details of all measures announced in the Immigration White Paper will be set out in the normal way in due course, and where necessary, will be subject to consultation.
Asked by: Blair McDougall (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to clause 6(a) of the UK-USA Economic and Prosperity Deal, published on 8 May 2025, whether she plans to direct Border Force to search direct cargo flights from Xinjiang to the UK to ensure they are not carrying goods made with forced labour.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Border Force does not routinely assess whether goods on freight entering the UK may have been made using forced labour, but we work closely with law enforcement partners to share intelligence to ensure all goods abide by customs and excise rules.
The Government encourages businesses to monitor their global supply chains with rigour, uncover and remedy any instances of modern slavery they may find. Under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, commercial businesses who operate in the UK and have a turnover of £36 million or more must report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains by publishing an annual modern slavery statement.
The Home Office has recently published updated Transparency in Supply Chains statutory guidance. This new guidance is more comprehensive, practical and ambitious – calling on businesses to go further and faster. This will support businesses to produce high quality statements, which are underpinned by effective measures to prevent and effectively respond to modern slavery.
The Government will continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of new policy tools that are emerging to ensure we can best tackle environmental harms and human rights abuses, including forced labour, in supply chains. The Government regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders and its international partner governments on these issues. The Government will consult thoroughly with interested stakeholders as it considers any further action.
Asked by: Blair McDougall (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to clause 6(a) of the UK-USA Economic and Prosperity Deal, published on 8 May 2025, if he will make it his policy to bar Chinese companies with links to forced labour in Xinjiang from Government procurement contracts.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK Government is committed to tackling human rights abuses including modern slavery and human trafficking in public supply chains.
On 24 February 2025 the Procurement Act came into force, providing contracting authorities with stronger powers to exclude suppliers from public procurements where there is compelling evidence of modern slavery within their supply chains. The Act’s new debarment powers will also enable us to take stronger and broader action in relation to supplier misconduct which we will use, where appropriate, to effectively hold organisations to account.
The Cabinet Office has, in addition, published extensive risk-based policy and guidance for commercial teams to tackle labour rights abuses in UK and global supply chains.
Asked by: Blair McDougall (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect Jewish communities from terrorist attacks.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
In her speech to the annual dinner of the Community Security Trust on 26 March, the Home Secretary made clear the Government’s commitment to protect Jewish communities against antisemitic attacks and other security threats. The full speech is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/home-secretary-speech-at-the-community-security-trust
The Jewish Community Protective Security (JCPS) Grant provides protective security measures (such as security personnel services, CCTV and alarm systems) at synagogues, Jewish educational establishments and community sites. It is managed on behalf of the Home Office by the Community Security Trust.
From 2024/25 to 2027/28, the Community Security Trust has been allocated £18 million annually through the JCPS Grant to continue this important work. We continue to work closely with the CST to ensure the safety and security of Jewish communities across the UK.
Asked by: Blair McDougall (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of legislation covering hate crimes at providing police with sufficient powers to pursue incidents that occur on social media platforms.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have robust legislation in place to deal with threatening, abusive, or harassing behaviour and incitement to hatred, including laws to tackle perpetrators who stir up racial and religious hatred and hatred based on sexual orientation. Importantly, the law also ensures that people are protected against criminal activity, including threatening and abusive behaviour both online and offline.
Hate crime is listed as a “priority offence” in the Online Safety Act 2023. These priority offences reflect the most serious and prevalent illegal content in relation to which companies must take proactive steps to ensure their services are not used to facilitate or commit these types of crime. Under their new Online Safety Act legal duties, online platforms need to put in place systems and processes to proactively prevent, identify, and remove priority illegal content and activity online. This includes safety by design measures to mitigate the likelihood of the most serious illegal content from appearing on platforms in the first place. They also need to have systems and processes to take down other illegal content.
The Government funds the National Online Hate Crime Hub which supports individual local police forces in dealing specifically with online hate crime. The Hub provides expert advice to police forces to support them in investigating these abhorrent offences.
Asked by: Blair McDougall (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will consider extending statutory regulations so that all social media platforms are covered by legislation on hate crime.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have robust legislation in place to deal with threatening, abusive, or harassing behaviour and incitement to hatred, including laws to tackle perpetrators who stir up racial and religious hatred and hatred based on sexual orientation. Importantly, the law also ensures that people are protected against criminal activity, including threatening and abusive behaviour both online and offline.
Hate crime is listed as a “priority offence” in the Online Safety Act 2023. These priority offences reflect the most serious and prevalent illegal content in relation to which companies must take proactive steps to ensure their services are not used to facilitate or commit these types of crime. Under their new Online Safety Act legal duties, online platforms need to put in place systems and processes to proactively prevent, identify, and remove priority illegal content and activity online. This includes safety by design measures to mitigate the likelihood of the most serious illegal content from appearing on platforms in the first place. They also need to have systems and processes to take down other illegal content.
The Government funds the National Online Hate Crime Hub which supports individual local police forces in dealing specifically with online hate crime. The Hub provides expert advice to police forces to support them in investigating these abhorrent offences.
Asked by: Blair McDougall (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on the release of Dr Wang Bingzhang.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government stands firm on human rights in China. We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor and Energy Secretary all raised human rights recently with their counterparts (President Xi, Foreign Minister Wang, Vice Premier He and Vice Premier Ding respectively).
We continue to coordinate efforts with our international partners to hold China to account for human rights violations and will continue to call on China to uphold its commitments under international law.
Asked by: Blair McDougall (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that Scotland benefits from nuclear energy developments in the UK.
Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland
Nuclear energy creates well-paid jobs and develops vital transferable skills. Investment in new nuclear power stations brings billions of pounds into local communities. It is good for the environment and good for national energy security.
So, what do the SNP say to all that? No thank you! But of course, they are happy to accept Scotland’s energy baseload coming from English nuclear power.
Their outdated, ideological opposition is holding Scotland back.
Asked by: Blair McDougall (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what long term support the Government plans to provide the International Commission on Missing Persons to support their work in identifying those still missing from (a) the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina and (b) the Genocide at Srebrenica.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK supports post-conflict reconciliation in the Western Balkans, through diplomatic and programmatic efforts. This has included funding for the International Commission on Missing Persons for work in the Western Balkans, including for Regional Co-operation through the Missing Persons Group. The UK allocated £150,000 to the International Commission on Missing Persons for the period 1 July 2024 to 1 July 2025. The UK does not currently have plans for funding beyond this period.
Asked by: Blair McDougall (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what funding the Government plans to provide to Regional Co-operation in Accounting for Missing Persons in the Western Balkans (The Missing Person Group) of the International Commission on Missing Persons in the (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27 financial years.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK supports post-conflict reconciliation in the Western Balkans, through diplomatic and programmatic efforts. This has included funding for the International Commission on Missing Persons for work in the Western Balkans, including for Regional Co-operation through the Missing Persons Group. The UK allocated £150,000 to the International Commission on Missing Persons for the period 1 July 2024 to 1 July 2025. The UK does not currently have plans for funding beyond this period.