Asked by: James Sunderland (Conservative - Bracknell)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for what reason his Department has not approved the draft Tax Information Exchange Agreement negotiated between the British Virgin Islands and Taiwan.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK Government is discussing, with the Government of the British Virgin Islands, the development of a draft Tax Information Exchange Arrangement between the British Virgin Islands and Taiwan. It would not be appropriate to comment on this publicly before these discussions have concluded. The UK Government welcomes the ongoing cooperation of the British Virgins Islands in this matter.
Asked by: James Sunderland (Conservative - Bracknell)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to World Malaria Day 2023, what steps his Department is taking to support the delivery of (a) malaria vaccines and (b) next-generation insecticide-treated nets to malaria endemic communities.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is supporting the delivery of vaccines for malaria through our £1.65 billion of core funding to Gavi, with UK funding contributing to Gavi's $156 million malaria vaccine programme which launched in January 2022. Our support to the Liverpool-based Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) has helped develop technologies that have averted up to 27 million cases of malaria, including the novel dual-action bed nets that kill mosquitoes resistant to traditional insecticides. The UK's pledge of £1 billion to the Global Fund's seventh replenishment will support the transition to and distribution of next-generation insecticide-treated nets to malaria endemic communities.
Asked by: James Sunderland (Conservative - Bracknell)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications on his policies of confirmation by the International Atomic Energy Agency in April 2021 that Iran is enriching uranium to 60 per cent fissile purity.
Answered by James Cleverly
The announcement by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 17 April that Iran had started uranium enrichment up to 60% using advanced centrifuges is a serious and deeply worrying development. This is the latest step in Iran's continued and systematic non-compliance with its nuclear commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). The production of highly enriched uranium is an important step in the production of a nuclear weapon. Iran has no credible civilian need for enrichment at this level.
The UK has made multiple official level representations to the Iranians on this issue, both bilaterally and as the E3 alongside the governments of France and Germany. As the E3 said in a statement on 14 April, this step is contrary to the constructive spirit and good faith of discussions in Vienna that have the objective of finding a rapid diplomatic solution to revitalise and restore the JCPoA.
We continue to work with the parties to the JCPoA and the US Administration to seize the diplomatic opportunity for a full return to the JCPoA. We call upon Iran to avoid any escalatory measures which make a return to mutual compliance harder to achieve.