Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
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 help reduce famine in Sudan.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The conflict in Sudan has created a manmade humanitarian disaster with 8.5 million people facing emergency or famine conditions, more than Gaza, South Sudan, Mali, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan combined. This financial year, UK bilateral ODA to Sudan will increase to £92 million. UK support is being delivered through the UN and other trusted partners, and is providing nutrition, safe drinking water, medical care and shelter. The UK continues to pursue all diplomatic avenues to press the warring parties into a permanent ceasefire, allow unrestricted humanitarian access, protect civilians and commit to a sustained and meaningful peace process.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that companies that (a) manage and (b) insure the shipping of liquefied natural gas are compliant with the UK's sanctions against Russia.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has taken extensive action to limit Russian energy revenues, including prohibiting the import of Russian liquid natural gas (LNG) and an export ban on energy-related goods to target Russia's longer-term LNG production. The new Government is committed to rigorously enforcing our sanctions, cracking down on those who seek to circumvent them, and to working with partners to constrain Russian revenue which is supporting Putin's illegal war in Ukraine.
We took robust action against Russia's "shadow fleet", alongside allies, at the European Political Community, and will continue to explore further options to strengthen our sanctions regime and enforcement, including in the energy sector.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much UK Development Aid has been transported by road and air into Gaza in 2024.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is providing £60 million in humanitarian assistance to support partners including the British Red Cross, UNICEF, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and Egyptian Red Crescent Society to respond to critical food, fuel, water, health, shelter and security needs in Gaza. Much of this support is in the form of contributions to large scale appeals, which prevents us from directly attributing UK funding to specific items. It includes support to the United Nations World Food Programme to deliver a humanitarian land corridor from Jordan into Gaza. A delivery of 315 tonnes of life-saving food aid was made via this route in January. We also delivered 87 tonnes of aid - inclusive of five tonnes of Cypriot aid - on board RFA Lyme Bay in early January and in late January the UK and Qatar delivered a joint consignment of 17 tonnes of family sized tents. In February the UK and Jordan delivered 4 tonnes of aid by air to Tal Al-Hawa Hospital in northern Gaza.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he has had discussions with the Commonwealth secretariat on the potential merits of observing the upcoming general election in Pakistan.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The Commonwealth Secretariat's observation missions are important for supporting resilient democratic institutions across the Commonwealth, in line with the values of the Commonwealth Charter. We work with Commonwealth partners and our network of overseas posts to ensure missions have the support they need to carry out their work successfully.
The Secretariat has supported Pakistan in recent years to improve its election management, including increasing women's participation. We would support a decision of the Secretariat to deploy a Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) ahead of the election in Pakistan.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the impact on UK strategic interests in the Caribbean of the presence of Chinese military personnel in Cuba.
Answered by David Rutley
The Foreign Secretary's Mansion House speech earlier this year set out the UK's global approach to China. The Foreign Secretary underlined that the UK would be firm in pushing back wherever we judged Chinese actions were against British interests while engaging directly with China, bilaterally and multilaterally, to preserve and create open, constructive, and stable relations reflecting China's global importance. We continue to monitor the situation in Cuba and any potential impact on UK strategic interests.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
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 impact of allegations that Cuban nationals are undertaking military training in Belarus with the consent of the Cuban government on the UK's bilateral relations with Cuba.
Answered by David Rutley
We continue to monitor reports of the discussion of potential military co-operation between Belarus and Cuba, following comments made by the Belarus Deputy Defence Minister. The UK has a long standing policy of engagement with Cuba. Our relationship allows us to collaborate positively in areas of mutual interest and to talk frankly on matters where our views and interests differ.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies on the level of Official Development Assistance provided to Cuba and of Cuban nationals undertaking military training in Russia to fight with the Russian military in Ukraine.
Answered by David Rutley
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office does not currently provide any bilateral ODA funding to Cuba. We will continue to monitor reports that Cuban nationals living in Russia may have joined the Russian army in exchange for Russian citizenship and be fighting in Ukraine. Russia's assault on Ukraine is an unprovoked, premeditated and barbaric attack against a sovereign democratic state. The UK and countries all around the world remain united in condemning Russia's egregious violation of international law and the UN Charter.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will hold discussions with his Cuban counterpart on the implications for his policies of Cuban citizens joining the Russian army to fight in the war in Ukraine.
Answered by David Rutley
We have and will continue to raise Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine with the Cuban government and will continue to monitor reports that Cuban nationals living in Russia may have joined the Russian army in exchange for Russian citizenship and be fighting in Ukraine. Russia's assault on Ukraine is a premeditated and barbaric attack against a sovereign democratic state. The UK and countries all around the world remain united in condemning Russia's egregious violation of international law and the UN Charter.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will hold discussions with his counterparts at the United Nations on ending the advantages given to China as a consequence of its developing nation status.
Answered by David Rutley
The way different parts of the UN system categorise a country as 'developing' varies, as do the benefits of such a status. The UK is clear, including in discussions in the UN and elsewhere, that in light of China being one of largest global economies, we expect it to contribute responsibly to global challenges such as on climate and international development.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to introduce sanctions on people in Russia who have been sanctioned by the US and Canadian governments for their role in the prosecution of the British national Vladimir Kara-Murza.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The UK Government does not speculate on future designations as to do so could reduce their impact. To date, we have sanctioned over 1500 individuals and entities through the Russia Sanctions Regime, and over 90 individuals and entities under the UK's Global Human Rights Regime. This includes individuals involved in Mr Kara-Murza's case, such as jailer Dmitry Komnov and Judge Podoprigorov.
The UK continues to raise Mr Kara-Murza's case with the Russian authorities and call for his release. Officials have attended his court hearings, and will attend a hearing on Tuesday 28 March. We remain vigilant to attempts by the Russian government to exclude diplomats from future hearings.