Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
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 the Devolved Administrations on conducting periodic impact assessments of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) is a comprehensive free trade deal which maintains zero tariffs and zero quotas on trade in goods between the UK and the EU. It also secures market access across a broad range of key service sectors and establishes close cooperation in areas like transport, digital, and fighting crime.
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office has not prepared an economic Impact Assessment on the TCA. The Government is taking action to support businesses across the UK to trade effectively with Europe, including through the free-to-use Export Support Service. The Government is committed to working with the Welsh Government where it has an interest in TCA implementation.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has conducted an impact assessment of the impact of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement on the Welsh labour market.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) is a comprehensive free trade deal which maintains zero tariffs and zero quotas on trade in goods between the UK and the EU. It also secures market access across a broad range of key service sectors and establishes close cooperation in areas like transport, digital, and fighting crime.
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office has not prepared an economic Impact Assessment on the TCA. The Government is taking action to support businesses across the UK to trade effectively with Europe, including through the free-to-use Export Support Service. The Government is committed to working with the Welsh Government where it has an interest in TCA implementation.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has conducted an impact assessment of the impact of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement on (a) Holyhead, (b) Fishguard and (c) Pembroke Dock.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) is a comprehensive free trade deal which maintains zero tariffs and zero quotas on trade in goods between the UK and the EU. It also secures market access across a broad range of key service sectors and establishes close cooperation in areas like transport, digital, and fighting crime.
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office has not prepared an economic Impact Assessment on the TCA. The Government is taking action to support businesses across the UK to trade effectively with Europe, including through the free-to-use Export Support Service. The Government is committed to working with the Welsh Government where it has an interest in TCA implementation.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has conducted an impact assessment of the cost of increased UK-EU trade barriers to the Welsh economy.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) is a comprehensive free trade deal which maintains zero tariffs and zero quotas on trade in goods between the UK and the EU. It also secures market access across a broad range of key service sectors and establishes close cooperation in areas like transport, digital, and fighting crime.
Given the tight Parliamentary timetable the Government faced in December 2020, we were unable to produce and publish an impact assessment of the TCA before passing the EU (Future Relationship) Act 2020.
The Government is taking action to support businesses across the UK to trade effectively with Europe, including through the free-to-use Export Support Service. We are also making use of the freedoms we now enjoy as a result of leaving the EU, including amending our subsidy control regime to help all public authorities, including the Welsh Government, attract investment into the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to provide UK citizens with expert volunteer humanitarian assistance in (a) Ukraine, (b) Poland, (c) Slovakia, (d) Romania and (e) Hungary.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
As of 8 March, 2 million people are known to have fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries, according to UNHCR [link: https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine]. These numbers will continue to rise. The UK government has so far pledged £395 million of aid, which includes £220 million of humanitarian assistance, some of which will go to countries neighbouring Ukraine. Our humanitarian support will help partners stand up their responses to the deteriorating humanitarian situation, creating a lifeline for Ukrainians with access to immediate assistance. HMG will also match-fund the public's first £25m of donations to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, our largest ever aid-match contribution.
In addition to the humanitarian assistance already mentioned, the UK has deployed humanitarian experts to Poland, Moldova and Romania to provide logistics, advice and analysis of the refugee situation, and a medical assessment team to Romania and Moldova to assess options for rapidly deploying UK Emergency Medical Team (UKEMT) capabilities.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with the UK permanent representative to the UN on the feasibility of initiating global governance arrangements limiting the use of anti-satellite weaponry including (a) direct ascent anti-satellite missiles, (b) co-orbital anti-satellite weaponry and (c) ground or space-based directed energy weapons.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The United Kingdom is playing a leading role on both space security and space sustainability. We work through UK Missions in New York, Geneva and Vienna. The United Kingdom is leading discussions on responsible space behaviours, particularly at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) but also at the Conference on Disarmament and UN Disarmament Commission, that aim to reduce the risks of miscalculation and escalation leading to conflict. In 2020 at UNGA the UK ran a resolution calling for a report by the UN Secretary-General on "Reducing Space threats through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviour" and submitted our views to https://www.un.org/disarmament/topics/outerspace-sg-report-outer-space-2021/ in April 2021, including on counterspace weapons. In December 2021 UNGA adopted the UK-led follow-on resolution to set up an Open Ended Working Group.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Qatari counterpart on the evacuation of eligible personnel from Afghanistan in light of recent evacuation steps taken by the US.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We remain grateful to our Qatari Government partners for their generous support in providing a safe route for British Nationals and their eligible Afghan dependants to leave Afghanistan. We are working closely with the Government of Qatar on the possible resumption of flights, currently blocked by the Taliban. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Minister responsible for South Asia and I [Minister Cleverly] have both had productive recent discussions with the Qataris to that end.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether UK diplomatic staff posted in countries on the UK red travel list are exempted from quarantine requirements on return to the UK.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Crown Servants posted in countries on the UK red list are required to quarantine in a government approved hotel on return to the UK unless the relevant department of the UK government has certified that they are: (i) travelling to the UK for essential government work or returning from such work outside the UK; (ii) returning from conducting essential state business outside of the UK; or (iii) returning to the UK where this is necessary to facilitate the functioning of a diplomatic mission or consular post of Her Majesty or of a military/other official posting on behalf of Her Majesty. Each case is considered individually and a clear justification must be provided with reference to the exemption criteria.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
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 her Polish counterpart on legislation which will enable the Polish Government to limit access to the border zone for journalists and NGOs; and if she will make representations to the Polish Government on the importance of ensuring that aid agencies are able to reach people in need.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Foreign Secretary spoke with Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau on 16 November to express the UK's solidarity with Poland regarding the use of desperate migrants by the Lukashenko regime as pawns to undermine regional security. As President, the UK led a G7 statement on 18 November condemning the Belarusian regime for its orchestration of irregular migration and called for immediate and unhindered access for international organisations to provide humanitarian assistance. We have made clear to the Belarusian authorities bilaterally, including through their Ambassador to the UK, that this harmful, aggressive and exploitative behaviour must stop. The UK will continue supporting humanitarian partners through political advocacy and contributions to the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Israeli counterpart on the proposed construction of a settlement on the site of Qalandia airport.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Settlements are illegal under international law and undermine the physical viability of the two-state solution. We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation. We understand the Israeli authorities shelved their latest proposals for development at Qalandia airport on 25 November.