Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2024 to Question 24833 on Edinburgh Airport, what progress he has made on concluding a formal (a) treaty and (b) agreement between the UK and USA.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
A treaty covering a formal agreement to allow the US to operate pre-clearance on UK soil would be required before it could be operated at a UK airport. However, pre-clearance also requires a commercial agreement between the UK airport operator and the US authorities for this to be advanced beyond the discussions that have already taken place.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2024 to Question 24833 on Edinburgh Airport, whether a (a) treaty and (b) formal agreement between the UK and USA is required before any commercial deal.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
A treaty covering a formal agreement to allow the US to operate pre-clearance on UK soil would be required before it could be operated at a UK airport. However, pre-clearance also requires a commercial agreement between the UK airport operator and the US authorities for this to be advanced beyond the discussions that have already taken place.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 10 May 2024 to Question 24573 on Energy: Debts, whether any additional sums were previously included in the Energy Price Guarantee to cover (a) bad debt, (b) debt administration and (c) working capital.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Energy Price Guarantee provided a unit rate discount on the price of energy for all households with a domestic gas and/or electricity contract, so within this support structure there was no scope for including additional funding for energy debt.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using (a) the (i) detritus and (ii) cut offs from timber products and (b) the waste from Whisky distilling in the manufacture of sustainable aviation fuel.
Answered by Anthony Browne
Through the SAF Mandate the government will reward eligible SAF with certificates to incentivise its supply. Only SAF from waste and residue will be eligible. Wastes and residues from many industries have the potential to produce SAF. SAF developers can submit new materials to be assessed by the Department to decide if eligible. Many have already been assessed, including forestry wastes and residues from the whisky production process, from which some specific materials have already been deemed eligible.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether his Department was involved in arranging the meeting between Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and HM the King on 3 May 2024.
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO was not involved in arranging the meeting referenced between HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and His Majesty The King.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what prosecutions referred by HMRC are (a) ongoing, (b) pending and (c) complete into the illegal importation of Russian oil branded as (i) refined and (ii) from other countries.
Answered by Robert Courts
It would not be possible to determine the number of cases involving the illegal importation of Russian oil referred by HM Revenue & Customs to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) without an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make representations to his Bahraini counterpart on the release of (a) Sheikh Ali Salman, (b) Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, (c) Hassan Mushaima and (d) other members of the political opposition in that country.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The FCDO continues to follow matters that relate to human rights within Bahrain closely, including some individual cases. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, discussed human rights with Bahrain Foreign Minister Al Zayani on 22 April. The UK remains committed to supporting reforms in Bahrain and to encouraging the government to meet its human rights commitments.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many planes operated by the Royal Air Force have landed in (a) Lebanon, (b) Egypt, (c) Jordan and (d) Syria since 7 October 2023.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The RAF undertakes regular flights to the Middle East region as part of our routine engagement and to conduct humanitarian aid airdrops as part of the Jordanian led mission. For operational security considerations we will not comment further.