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Written Question
Cannabis
Thursday 24th October 2024

Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people received custodial sentences for personal possession of cannabis excluding people imprisoned for intent to supply, production, or importation in each of the last ten years.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of offenders who received custodial sentences for possession of cannabis in the Outcomes by Offence tool: December 2023.

This can be accessed by navigating to the ‘Sentence Outcomes’ tab and using the ‘Sentence Outcome’ filter to select immediate custody and the ‘HO Offence Code’ filter to select the following HO offence codes:

09261 - Having possession of a controlled drug - class B (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives)

09266 - Having possession of a controlled drug - class C (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives) – historic

Offence groups and offence types are continually revised to reflect offences accurately. However, it is important to note that data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, offences that have been repealed may still be used by court administration and appear in the data.


Written Question
China: Foreign Relations
Thursday 24th October 2024

Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of statements on the UK's role in the century of humiliation made by Chinese officials at celebrations at the Chinese Embassy of the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the People's Republic of China.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

This Government will take a consistent, long term and strategic approach to managing the UK's relations with China, rooted in UK and global interests.

We will carry out an audit of the UK's relationship with China as a bilateral and global actor, to improve our ability to understand and respond to the challenges and opportunities China poses.


Written Question
Tsai Ing-wen
Thursday 24th October 2024

Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department advised postponement of the visit to London of former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK's longstanding position on Taiwan has not changed. The UK does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan but a strong unofficial relationship based on deep and growing ties in a wide range of areas and underpinned by shared democratic values.

There is a long history of visits between the UK and Taiwan, including many conducted independently of HMG.


Written Question
Reoffenders: Cannabis
Thursday 24th October 2024

Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people who were convicted for simple cannabis possession were also convicted for another offence by the category of that other offence in each of the last five years.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the total number of convictions for possession of cannabis on all-offence basis in the All-offence prosecutions and convictions data tool.

A breakdown on how many offenders convicted for possession of cannabis were also convicted for another offence, and where an offender has been convicted of multiple counts of possession of cannabis at the same time, will count each individual conviction. Therefore, the information requested, on a defendant basis has been provided in Table 1 and Table 2.


Written Question
Hong Kong: British Nationality
Wednesday 23rd October 2024

Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 October 2024 to Question 5527 on China and Hong Kong: Diplomatic Service, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Hongkongers who (a) arrived in the UK under the BN(O) scheme and (b) will be naturalised as British citizens are recognised as British nationals by the (i) Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and (ii) Chinese government.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

FCDO's Travel Advice for China explains that China does not recognise dual nationality and anyone born in China to a Chinese national parent would be considered by the Chinese authorities to be of Chinese nationality and treated as a Chinese citizen. This advice applies to all British citizens travelling to China including those naturalised under the BN(O) scheme.


Written Question
Gubad Ibadoghlu
Tuesday 22nd October 2024

Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made recent representations to his Azerbaijani counterpart on the detention of Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu; and if he will take steps to secure his immediate release on humanitarian grounds.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Since Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu's arrest in July 2023, the UK has consistently advocated for the right to a fair legal process and appropriate medical access, including permission for temporary leave from Azerbaijan to receive specialist medical care abroad, if required. The UK has consistently called on the Azerbaijani Government to protect the human rights and freedoms of all its citizens, and we will continue to work to ensure Dr Ibadoghlu's rights are upheld.


Written Question
Volkswagen: Audit
Friday 18th October 2024

Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the report entitled Classification of the audit at SAIC-Volkswagen (Xinjiang) Automotive Ltd, published by Volkswagen in September 2024.

Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

No company should have forced labour in its supply chains. This Government is committed to working with international partners and businesses to ensure global supply chains are free from human and labour rights abuses. The Government is reviewing how we can best tackle forced labour in supply chains.


Written Question
Jimmy Lai
Monday 14th October 2024

Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will have discussions with his Chinese counterparts on the release of Jimmy Lai during his visit to China in October 2024.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Jimmy Lai is the founder of Apple Daily, a former leading pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong. Lai is a British citizen and has been detained since December 2020. He has been convicted of fraud and faces more serious charges of foreign collusion under Hong Kong's national security law. Lai's national security trial, which began on 18 December 2023, will resume on 20 November 2024, when Lai will take to the stand in his own defence. I met with Sebastien Lai and Jimmy Lai's international legal team on Tuesday 8 October.

Consular officials submitted our latest request for consular access to Mr. Lai to the Hong Kong Prison Service on 2 October, also seeking assurances of appropriate medical treatment. Requests for consular access continue to be refused on the basis that China does not accept dual nationality.


Written Question
Ryan Cornelius
Monday 14th October 2024

Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 3938 on Ryan Cornelius, what discussions he had with his UAE counterpart on Ryan Cornelius during his visit to UAE on 5 September 2024.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign Secretary raised the importance of consular issues, although not this specific case, during his visit to the UAE on 5 September and first meeting with Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed. The Foreign Secretary and I fully appreciate the importance and urgency of Mr Cornelius' case, on which I have been briefed in detail by my officials. I look forward to meeting Mr Cornelius' family to discuss the detail of his case and HMG support going forward.


Written Question
Whipps Cross Hospital: Repairs and Maintenance
Monday 14th October 2024

Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September to Question 4582 on Whipps Cross Hospital, whether his Department has considered a request for the remaining funding for Whipps Cross Hospital.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

£1.2 million has recently been released to Barts Health NHS Trust to support them in continuing the development of their Outline Business Case for the new Whipps Cross Hospital during the review into the New Hospital Programme (NHP). While the review is taking place, we are continuing to support all schemes within the NHP. Requests for funding during this time are being considered on an individual basis. The review will feed into the Spending Review process, where decisions on the outcome will be taken in the round and the Government will confirm the outcome of the review as part of that process.