Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the Government has not proscribed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; and what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on that issue.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
While the UK Government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under review, we do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not being considered for proscription.
The UK Government has long been clear about our concerns over the malign activity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The UK maintains sanctions on over 400 Iranian individuals and entities covering human rights abuses and nuclear proliferation. The Government has also imposed sanctions on the IRGC in its entirety and on several senior security and political figures in Iran, including senior commanders within the IRGC and its Basij force.
The UK Government, working with the US, has engaged closely with European partners on Iranian transnational threats and we will continue to hold Iran and the IRGC to account. On 24 January 2024, we took coordinated action with the US and imposed sanctions on several members of the IRGC for their involvement in plots to assassinate individuals on UK soil.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department plans to take to tackle hostile activities by the Iranian regime in the UK, in the context of recent reports of (a) threats to British journalists and human rights defenders by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and (b) the use UK-based banks to procure funds in breach of UK sanctions.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
We do not routinely comment on operational matters or specific threats. However, we take the protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms and safety in the UK very seriously. We continually assess potential threats in the UK and use all tools at our disposal to protect the UK and our interests from any Iran-linked threats.
UK businesses – including banks – are expected to perform due diligence checks on all of their customers and clients to ensure compliance with all UK sanctions regulations.
The UK is committed to ensuring that our sanctions are robustly enforced, potential breaches are assessed, and appropriate action is taken where a breach is identified. Non-compliance with UK sanctions is a serious offence and punishable through disclosures, financial penalties, or criminal prosecution. Departments from across HMG – including FCDO, HMT, OFSI, HMRC, HO, and the NCA – are working together, and with UK companies, to ensure that sanctions are enforced.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if his Department will review declarations by UK companies on (a) slave and (b) forced labour in their supply chains.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Home Office Ministers have not met with businesses which operate in China to discuss the Modern Slavey Act 2015.
Under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act, commercial businesses who operate in the UK and have a turnover of £36m or more are required to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. The aim of the requirement is to provide transparency, allowing consumers, investors, and civil society to scrutinise business action.
In 2021 the Government launched the modern slavery statement registry to bring together modern slavery statements on a single platform and make the data readily available for investors, civil society and consumers. Since launching the online modern slavery statement registry in March 2021, over 12,500 modern slavery statements covering over 43,000 organisations have been submitted to the registry on a voluntary basis.
The Government does not routinely review the quality of individual modern slavery statements.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had recent discussions with businesses which operate in China on their legal obligations under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Home Office Ministers have not met with businesses which operate in China to discuss the Modern Slavey Act 2015.
Under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act, commercial businesses who operate in the UK and have a turnover of £36m or more are required to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. The aim of the requirement is to provide transparency, allowing consumers, investors, and civil society to scrutinise business action.
In 2021 the Government launched the modern slavery statement registry to bring together modern slavery statements on a single platform and make the data readily available for investors, civil society and consumers. Since launching the online modern slavery statement registry in March 2021, over 12,500 modern slavery statements covering over 43,000 organisations have been submitted to the registry on a voluntary basis.
The Government does not routinely review the quality of individual modern slavery statements.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of reports that a Russian intelligence agent has entered the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme; and if her Department will review the security vetting process for people coming to the UK through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
These reports are misleading and inaccurate.
Since February 2022, Russian nationals applying for any UK visa route have been subject to robust additional security checks. The UK Government is proud of the support we have given to Ukrainians fleeing Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, with over 200,000 Ukrainian nationals and their families either arriving, or extending their existing leave, in the UK to secure sanctuary on our Ukraine Schemes.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the findings in the 2022 report, Dangerous Liaisons: UK partnerships with Chinese policing institutions linked to crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, published by Freedom from Torture, on the extent to which required processes for oversight of human rights risk were undertaken by four police forces and the Joint International Police Hub before engaging with London Policing College’s China policing projects.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The London Policing College (LPC) is an independent organisation which includes retired officers from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and is independent to the Home Office and UK Government. The Home Office has no formal relationship with the LPC.
The Home Office International Police Assistance Service (IPAS) replaced the JIPH in January 2022 and continues to act as the central coordination point for overseas, non-operational policing deployments.
IPAS do not hold information on the International Police Assistance Brief (IPAB) platform with regards to London Policing College’s China policing projects. IPAS advise that Overseas Security and Justice assistance (OSJA) assessments are carried out where appropriate.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the London Policing College's partnerships in China were subject to (a) authorisation by her Department, (b) an international police assistance brief approval process and (c) the consideration of overseas security and justice assistance assessments.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The London Policing College (LPC) is an independent organisation with no formal relationship to the Home Office. The Home Office has no commercial relationship with the LPC.
As the LPC is an independent organisation, their work with China was not in scope for authorisation from the Home Office. Authorisation is only provided to serving officers and police staff who provide non-operational policing assistance and support to international partners in line with the OSJA assessment process.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the guidance by her Department entitled Overseas Business Risk: China, published on 11 March 2022, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the London Policing College's partnership with Hunan Police Academy on unintentionally facilitating or being otherwise complicit in human rights violations in Xinjiang.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
In 2019, the British Council awarded funding to the London Policing College (LPC) as part of a regional programme to improve international teaching standards in police education in target countries. This included efforts to reduce human rights violations. The London Policing College is an external, private company.
The British Council have confirmed that they have never funded any activities involving Xinjiang security bodies and LPC have confirmed that no Xinjiang security bodies were involved in the programme. LPC have never engaged with institutions of any nature from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and they have now ceased all programme partnerships with China.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the working relationship between the London Police College (LPC) and the Metropolitan Police Service, in the context of historic LPC programmes in China with potential links to organisations that have been accused of human rights violations.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The London Policing College (LPC) is an independent organisation which includes retired officers from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and is independent to the Home Office and UK Government. The Home Office has no formal relationship with the LPC.
In 2019, the British Council awarded funding to LPC as part of a regional programme to improve international teaching standards in police education in the target countries. This included efforts to reduce human rights violations.
The British Council have confirmed that they have never funded any activities involving Xinjiang security bodies. LPC have also confirmed that no Xinjiang security bodies were involved in the programme and that they have now ceased all programme partnerships with China.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he will respond to Question 4451 tabled on 18 May 2022 by the Rt hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green on Sanctions: Russia.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The response for UIN 4451 was given on 30 May 2022.