Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress she has made on making an assessment of the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

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

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 12 November 2025 to Question 85800.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to implement the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

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

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 12 November 2025 to Question 85800.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories on trade with Israel.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

We respect the independence of the International Court of Justice and continue to consider the Court’s Advisory Opinion carefully, with the seriousness and rigour it deserves.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she is scheduled to next meet the delegation of hon. Members and representatives from the Sikh Federation on the detention of Jagtar Singh Johal.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Ministers and officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office meet on a regular basis with Mr Johal's family and other representatives advocating on his behalf, and have also responded to correspondence from more than 150 Members of Parliament about Mr Johal's case since 2020.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many hon. Members have written to (a) her and (b) her predecessors during the detention of Jagtar Singh Johal.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Ministers and officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office meet on a regular basis with Mr Johal's family and other representatives advocating on his behalf, and have also responded to correspondence from more than 150 Members of Parliament about Mr Johal's case since 2020.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the Artificial Intelligence Security Institute completed a risk assessment of xAI’s Grok code before it was released to the public.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The AI Security Institute regularly test models across leading labs. While we do not provide a running commentary on which models we test due to commercial and security reasons, it actively works with labs to improve safeguards when vulnerabilities have been identified.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the Artificial Intelligence Security Institute assessed xAI’s Grok for harms prior to launch.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The AI Security Institute regularly test models across leading labs. While we do not provide a running commentary on which models we test due to commercial and security reasons, it actively works with labs to improve safeguards when vulnerabilities have been identified.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to make water social tariff (a) eligibility, (b) discount levels and (c) application processes (i) transparent and (ii) subject to government oversight.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra expects water companies to ensure that their customers know what support schemes are available and how to access them if they need help. Companies offer a range of support schemes for customers struggling to afford their bills, including social tariffs, WaterSure, debt support schemes, financial hardship funds, flexible payment plans and payment breaks. Defra is working with water companies to ensure social tariffs are more consistent and taken up by those most in need.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of support for water social tariff across different regions; and what steps she is taking to ensure households in similar financial circumstances are treated equally.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Evidence shows that levels of social tariff provision vary between regions because each water company sets its own eligibility criteria and level of support. The Government keeps support schemes under review and expects industry to do the same to ensure vulnerable customers across the country are supported, and customers know what support schemes are available and how to access them if they need help.

Water companies have more than doubled the number of customers that will receive help with their bills through social tariffs – from 4% to 9%.

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Funding for fire and rescue services

Rare Disease Day and Achalasia

British couple detained in Iran

Essentials Guarantee

Sinking of SS Tilawa

Government response to Israel’s West Bank annexation plan

Public inquiry into Epstein links

New US sanctions on Cuba