Asked by: Jack Lopresti (Conservative - Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much land (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies owns in (i) England and (ii) the South West; and how much of that land has been identified as being surplus to requirements.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The current landholdings of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) are shown in the table below. The information is correct at time of publication.
Land in hectares | England | South West |
[Department] | 36 hectares | Nil |
[Agencies] | Nil | Nil |
[Non-departmental public bodies] | Nil | Nil |
Total | 36 hectares | Nil |
Of the total land the FCO holds in England, no land is currently declared as surplus. There is no land held in the South West. The other FCO sites are leasehold, as are all sites of the FCO’s agencies and non-departmental public bodies (as listed in the table above).
Asked by: Jack Lopresti (Conservative - Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the strength of the diplomatic relationship between Lebanon and (a) the US, (b) Canada, (c) the Netherlands, (d) the Arab League and (e) the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Answered by Alistair Burt
We have not made any such recent assessments.
Asked by: Jack Lopresti (Conservative - Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2018 to Question HL4713, on Gaza: Politics and Government, and the Answer of 11 January 2018 to Question 120721, on Israel: Gaza, what methods his Department has used to call upon that administration to refrain from violence.
Answered by Alistair Burt
We have not had any contact with the administration in Gaza: the UK retains a policy of no contact with Hamas in its entirety.
Asked by: Jack Lopresti (Conservative - Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on Iran's use of Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missiles in Syria.
Answered by Alistair Burt
We are aware of reports from June 2017 of Iran's use of Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missiles in Syria. The British Government has stated its concerns about Iran's destabilising regional activity. We are clear that Iran should cease its disruptive involvement in regional conflicts, and should instead look to play a constructive role.
Asked by: Jack Lopresti (Conservative - Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will place in the Library copies of letters to Kurdistan Regional President Barzani which were endorsed by UK representatives in August and September 2017 on the alternatives to the Kurdistani independence referendum; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
I am unable to place their confidential diplomatic correspondence in the House of Commons Library. The UK’s role in negotiations ahead of the Referendum was covered during my evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 9 January. Our Ambassador to Iraq, together with the US Ambassador and UN Special Representative, made strenuous efforts in the weeks before the Referendum on 25 September to persuade the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to postpone the Referendum in return for talks on all areas of dispute between the KRG and the Government of Iraq, supported by the international community and with no pre-conditions.
Asked by: Jack Lopresti (Conservative - Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will place in the Library copies of letters to Kurdistan Regional President Barzani which were endorsed by UK representatives in August and September 2017 on the alternatives to the Kurdistani independence referendum; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
I am unable to place their confidential diplomatic correspondence in the House of Commons Library. The UK’s role in negotiations ahead of the Referendum was covered during my evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 9 January. Our Ambassador to Iraq, together with the US Ambassador and UN Special Representative, made strenuous efforts in the weeks before the Referendum on 25 September to persuade the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to postpone the Referendum in return for talks on all areas of dispute between the KRG and the Government of Iraq, supported by the international community and with no pre-conditions.
Asked by: Jack Lopresti (Conservative - Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the reasons are for changing the name of the British Consulate General in the Kurdistan region to the British Consulate General Erbil on his Department's Facebook page; and what his policy is on UK relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The British Consulate General in Erbil has not changed its name. Its Facebook page was recently changed from a monolingual (English) to a bilingual (English and Kurdish) version. Subsequently, the Kurdish name on the site was shortened as the previous title exceeded the maximum allowed characters in Kurdish. The British Consulate General in Erbil has informed local media and officials of the change. The British Government continues to support the security, stability and prosperity of the Kurdistan Region within a unified Iraq.