Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will have discussions with her EU counterparts on exempting UK residents from obtaining a European Travel Information and Authorisation System travel permit before entering the Schengen area.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
While the UK supports the security aims of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) and other measures the EU is implementing to modernise its border, we have consistently engaged EU counterparts to seek to minimise disruption for our nationals crossing the UK-EU border as those changes take effect, and we will continue to do so.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June to Question 59825 on Gaza: Humanitarian Aid, what diplomatic steps his Department has taken to help ensure freedom of navigation in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 13 October to Question 77868.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when her Department plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Newton Abbot of 9 September 2025 with case reference MW10038.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member's correspondence. The Minister for International Development issued a response to the hon. Member on 16 October.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the programme of engagements was for President Isaac Herzog during his visit to the UK in September 2025.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
President Herzog came to the UK on a private visit, but his programme included meeting the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary on Wednesday 10 September.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when her Department plans to respond to the correspondence of 25 June 2025 from the hon. Member for Newton Abbot in the name of his constituent L. Clowes.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I apologise for the delay in responding to the Hon. Member's correspondence. I issued a response to the Hon. Member on 9 September.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June to Question 59824 on Gaza: Humanitarian Aid, whether his Department has had discussions with the International Maritime Organisation on the reported drone attack on the vessel Conscience.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when his Department plans to respond to the correspondence of 24 July 2025 from the hon. Member for Newton Abbot.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I issued a response to the Hon. Member on 18 August.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when his Department plans to respond to the email from the hon. Member for Newton Abbot dated 24 July 2025.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I issued a response to the Hon. Member on 18 August.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2025 to Question 30304 on Gaza: Internally Displaced People, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people displaced from Gaza City since July 2025.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It has been estimated that at least 90 per cent of Gaza's population of 1.9 million has been displaced, many of whom have been displaced several times, that 92 per cent of housing units have been destroyed and 1.4 million people are currently in desperate need of emergency shelter. Following the ground incursion on 14 August on Gaza City and North Gaza, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report significant displacement observed from north to south with 33,153 movements recorded, further straining already overcrowded areas.
As the UK said in our joint statement with overseas partners on 10 August, we condemn the Government of Israel's decision to further expand its military operations in Gaza, which risks violating international humanitarian law, endangering the lives of all civilians in Gaza, including the remaining hostages, and worsening the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, leading to further death and mass displacement of Palestinian civilians. We call on Israel to allow the UN and humanitarian partners to deliver unrestricted flows of humanitarian aid to alleviate this crisis, including shelter kits.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 stop UK (a) owned and (b) insured LNG carriers from transporting Russian products.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has taken extensive action to limit energy revenues that fund Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. This includes Russian revenues from Liquified Natural Gas (LNG). Importing Russian LNG into the UK has been prohibited since January 2023. We continue to explore all options for constraining Russian revenue further and we do not comment on future potential actions as to do so could undermine their effectiveness.