Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Russian counterparts on the sovereignty of the Baltic States.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The sovereignty of the Baltic States is beyond dispute. The renewed deterrence and defence posture, agreed at the Warsaw NATO Summit, sends a clear, unambiguous message of the continued commitment of all NATO members to the principles of collective defence and security and Article 5.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department's purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.
Answered by David Lidington
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's purchasing policies support the Government’s commitment to do all it can to ensure UK Suppliers can compete effectively for public sector contracts, in line with our current international obligations and guidance issued by the Crown Commercial Service.Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will update the travel advice regarding the Punjab on his Department's website to advise travellers to give serious consideration to not travelling until the situation in that region stabilises.
Answered by Lord Swire
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office reviews travel advice on a regular basis and we have updated the travel advice for India to reflect the situation on the ground in Punjab. Whilst the situation in Punjab has eased since October, calls for further protests continue. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and update travel advice accordingly.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure women's rights are discussed at the London Conference on Afghanistan in December 2014; and what objectives he has for that conference relating to the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Ensuring Afghan women and girls’ rights are protected and feature prominently in the London Conference is a key objective for the UK Government. These issues will be incorporated across all of the main themes and events at the conference. This includes an associated event “Ayenda” for civil society and a session in the main plenary to report back on the key messages that have emerged from the Oslo Symposium on Afghanistan Women’s Rights and Empowerment, attended by the Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 23 November.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the extent of the role of terrorist organisations in the illegal ivory and wildlife smuggling trade.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Government recognises that the multi-billion pound illegal wildlife trade not only has a devastating effect on affected species.
The Government hosted a major conference of global leaders in London in February 2014 to help eradicate the illegal wildlife trade and better protect affected species from the threat of extinction. 25 practical commitments to action were agreed in a Declaration by the participating states. One of those commitments was to undertake further assessment of the markets and dynamics of the illegal wildlife trade and progress made to combat it, including exploring links to terrorism.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office commissioned a review of the Global Impacts of the Illegal Wildlife Trade: The Costs of Crime, Insecurity and Institutional Erosion, which was published in February this year. This Review found that armed non-state actors are involved with poaching. Progress on all commitments in the London Declaration will be assessed at a follow-up Conference in Kasane, Botswana, in March 2015.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to (a) provide and (b) facilitate (i) military and (ii) other training to law enforcement agencies in Africa to tackle wildlife poaching and smuggling.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK Government is committed to playing its part in international action to tackle wildlife poaching and smuggling.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is using its network of diplomatic posts to influence international efforts to combat the illegal wildlife trade, including through supporting anti-poaching and trafficking initiatives.
In December 2013 the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for International Development announced £10 million of funding, over 4 years, to help developing countries tackle the illegal wildlife trade. The funding will support actions under three themes: developing sustainable livelihoods for communities affected by illegal wildlife trade, strengthening law enforcement and the role of the criminal justice system, and reducing demand for the products of illegal wildlife trade.
One of the projects already selected for funding aims to identify trafficking routes, individuals and networks involved in the illegal trade of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horns in Uganda, Kenya and South Africa. This project will increase cooperation between national and international authorities.
Further information about projects that successfully applied for funding under the competitive “Illegal Wildlife Challenge Fund” this summer will be available soon.
The FCO is working with a number of African countries in assisting them with options to provide anti-poaching training. For example, the British Army ran a training programme for the Kenyan Wildlife Service and the Kenyan Forestry Service, beginning in December 2013, with the aim of sharing operational tactics with Kenyan rangers following the killing of over 60 rangers on duty across the country by poachers in the past two years.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department's posts in Africa are taking to promote UK businesses linked to sustainable tourism.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is working closely with our partners in government, including DFID and UKTI, to deliver a number of UK Government objectives in Africa, particularly to support UK business and drive sustainable economic growth. For example, Her Majesty's Government’s High Level Prosperity Partnerships with Angola, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Mozambique and Tanzania involves collaborating with UK business across a variety of sectors, though not exclusive to tourism.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Norway, (b) Finland and (c) Sweden about the security situation in the Scandinavian region.
Answered by David Lidington
We have a strong and regular dialogue with Norway, Finland and Sweden on security and defence issues at both ministerial and official level, bilaterally and in the context of regional groupings such as the EU and NATO. In the past year, I have met with my counterparts, and a number of government officials, from each of Norway, Finland and Sweden, as well as the Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister and Finnish Prime Minister.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Latvia, (b) Lithuania and (c) Estonia about strengthening defence and security relationships with those countries.
Answered by David Lidington
On 24-25 March 2014, I travelled to both Latvia and Lithuania and met with the Latvian Prime Minister, Defence Minister and Foreign Minister, and the Lithuanian Foreign Minister and Vice-Minister of Defence. The focus of this visit was the situation in Ukraine. I will visit Estonia on 28-29 April and hope to meet the Estonian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, with whom I will discuss security and defence issues. Our defence relationship, led by the Ministry of Defence, with all three Baltic countries is strong and we cooperate on a wide range of areas.