Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the sanctions announced on 9 March 2022 jointly by her Department and the Department of Transport will apply to all aviation companies identified as Russian owned, together with their subsidiaries, whether or not those companies are based within Russia; whether a consolidated list of such companies and their subsidiaries has been (a) compiled and (b) circulated to relevant departments with responsibility for applying such sanctions; whether all merchant vessels (i) owned by and (ii) leased to Russians, or (iii) flagged to other countries but carrying Russian cargo will be banned from UK ports or seized if already under UK jurisdiction; and whether Russia has been excluded from the London insurance market such that existing cover for Russian items has been cancelled as of 14 March 2022.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
All Russian aircraft have been banned from British airspace and Russian shipping has been blocked from entering UK ports. It is a criminal offence for Russian aircraft to operate in UK airspace, including the export of aviation and space-related goods and technology to Russia and the provision of insurance to the Russian aviation and space industries. UK Government ministers have signed legislation banning all ships that are Russian owned, operated, controlled, chartered, registered or flagged from entering British ports since 15:00 on 1 March 2022.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to take steps with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to increase the resources available to the BBC Monitoring Service in respect of (a) Russia, (b) Ukraine and (c) other European countries connected to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
As set out in the BBC Monitoring Agreement, the BBC is responsible for the funding, staffing and administration of BBC Monitoring. The Government, as a Key Customer of the service, is liaising closely with BBC Monitoring on prioritisation and surge resourcing requirements.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what advice her Department has given to representatives of (a) Linacre College and (b) Oxford University on the (i) proposed acceptance of £155 million from a billionaire (A) based in Vietnam and (B) close to the Vietnamese Communist Government and (ii) planned renaming of Linacre College after the chairwoman of the company offering the donation; and what consideration was given, in formulating that advice, to the adverse findings by Human Rights Watch regarding restrictions on freedom of speech, opinion, association, religion and the press.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Universities are autonomous and will have their own fundraising and gift acceptance policies in place. University due diligence processes should consider reputational, ethical and security risks when deciding whether to accept any donation.
FCDO Officials have given background information to Linacre College and the University of Oxford, at the request of these institutions, in line with the advice we offer UK organisations and businesses looking to work with Vietnamese entities.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will publish the obligations of the countries participating in the AUKUS agreement towards one another; whether those obligations (a) have been or (b) will be included in a formal treaty document; and whether those obligations include an obligation to consider an attack upon one as an attack against all participating states.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (AUKUS) is a concrete articulation of the UK's ambition, made in the Integrated Review, to deepen defence, security and foreign policy ties with like-minded allies across the globe.
The first step is an 18-month programme of work to identify the optimum way to deliver a nuclear-powered (not armed) submarine capability to the Royal Australian Navy. The exact nature of any future agreement on submarines will be worked out as part of this feasibility study.
In addition, our three countries have committed to enhance the development of joint capabilities and technology sharing. And we will foster deeper integration of security and defence-related science, technology, industrial bases and supply chains.
AUKUS is an enhanced security partnership, reflecting the unique level of trust and cooperation between the UK, US and Australia. It does not include an obligation to consider an attack upon one as an attack against all participating states.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with allies on the future security of Taiwan.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Her Majesty's Government considers the Taiwan issue one to be settled peacefully by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait through constructive dialogue. We are concerned by any activity which raises tensions and risks destabilising the status quo, and underscored the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait alongside partners in the recent G7 Foreign and Development Ministers' and Leaders' communiques.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps she has taken with the Home Secretary to facilitate the rescue of scholars from Afghanistan who have been (a) validated by the Council for At-Risk Academics and (b) awarded funded research posts at UK Universities.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Government is working through the details of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS). The Scheme will provide protection for people at risk and identified as in need. The ACRS will prioritise those people who have assisted the UK efforts in Afghanistan who face a particular risk from the Taliban, for example because of their stand for democracy and human rights, or because of their gender, sexuality, or religion. The Government has committed to welcome around 5,000 people in the first year and up to 20,000 over the coming years. The scheme in not yet open. Further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take (a) in response to the recent letter sent to him by the CEO of Adam Smith International on the risk to Afghan civilians, employed to administer UK-funded programmes between 2002 and 2018, who were (i) staff members of contractors and (ii) not directly employed by the UK Government and (b) to honour all offers previously made to Afghan students of Chevening Scholarships for the academic year 2021-22.
Answered by Nigel Adams
In addition to schemes offering resettlement for Afghan staff who have assisted the UK government, and their families, we are also setting up the Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme (ACRS). This scheme will provide protection for Afghan citizens identified as most at risk. The Government has committed to take around 5,000 refugees in the first year and 20,000 over the coming years.
All offers made to Afghan Chevening scholars for 2021-22 are valid. We successfully evacuated the majority of Afghan Chevening scholars in this year's cohort and will continue to do all we can to support the small number who remain in Afghanistan. We are clear that the Taliban must ensure safe passage for these people out of Afghanistan and any engagement with them will emphasise this first and foremost.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to ensure the safety in Afghanistan of the staff of (a) BBC World Service, (b) other free media and (c) charities with links with the UK, including the Nowzad animal rescue organisation; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Between 15 and 29 August, the UK evacuated over 15,000 people from Afghanistan. That includes: over 8,000 British Nationals, close to 5,000 Afghans who loyally served the UK, along with their dependents, and around 500 special cases of particularly vulnerable Afghans, including Chevening scholars, journalists, human rights defenders, campaigners for women's rights, judges and many others. All these figures include dependants.
We are now looking at all possible avenues to ensure that any British nationals and local staff remaining in Afghanistan, as well as at-risk individuals who have already been offered a visa to the UK, are able to leave safely if they wish to. We have been clear that the Taliban must allow safe passage for those who want to leave
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to donate surplus covid-19 vaccines originally ordered for use in the UK to countries in need overseas; what estimate he has made of (a) the quantity of surplus doses which will become available and (b) the timeframe for when they will be available; what estimate he has made of the total monetary value of those surplus doses; and whether that monetary value will be included in calculations of the total of overseas aid given by the UK to poorer countries.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK remains committed to equitable access to safe and effective vaccines and the Prime Minister has called on G7 leaders to vaccinate the world by the end of next year. As the multilateral mechanism set up to support international co-operation on vaccines, COVAX remains best-placed to allocate vaccines fairly and to where they will be most effective. We will continue to discuss this issue with our G7 partners and will issue details of the quantities and timeframe for UK sharing of vaccine doses soon.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the announcement of 1 May 2021, whether any of the additional £8 million being made available by his Department to the BBC World Service will be allocated to the work of the BBC Monitoring Service; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The FCDO will provide £94.4m to the BBC World Service for 2021-22, including an £8m uplift for 2021-22 to fund disinformation work and digital enhancements. The FCDO has allocated £3m of the £8m uplift to support disinformation work including a boost to investigative journalism and the remaining £5m for digital enhancements to help the BBC develop its digital platforms in order to support audience growth. It is for the BBC to decide how this funding is spent.