Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made an assessment of the risks that private prosecutions in the United Kingdom may be used by well‑resourced organisations to (a) target and (b) intimidate individuals associated with pro‑Palestinian advocacy.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Any individual or organisation in England and Wales has the right to bring a private prosecution where a criminal offence has been committed.
The Government expects all organisations that bring private prosecutions to do so where there is sufficient evidence that the defendant has committed an offence, and where the prosecution is in the public interest.
The Ministry of Justice held a consultation on the regulation of private prosecutors – to ensure consistency, accountability, and transparency in private prosecutions – last year and the Government will set out its next steps shortly.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government has made in its target to deliver half of the food in the public sector from local and sustainable sources.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government remains committed to ensuring that at least half of public sector food is locally sourced or meets higher environmental standards within legal constraints. There is limited existing data about the origin and sustainability of food in the public sector supply chain and the data landscape is complex and fragmented. Defra has therefore begun data collection, which will provide us with detailed insights on the extent to which public sector settings are serving food from local and sustainable sources, and what more can be done.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, If he will deposit case papers in the case R. v. Nathan Gill in the Library of the House of Commons.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Law Officers will not deposit case papers in this matter.
This was a CPS prosecution and the Attorney General’s involvement was only to provide consent for one of the offences charged. This offence has been left to lie on file, following pleas from Nathan Gill to substantive offences of bribery.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether his Department holds data on communication between members of the European Parliament, UK Parliament and members of UK devolved legislatures and Oleh Voloshyn in the period between 2014-2019.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The department has conducted a search of the electronic materials currently available to it. No data on communications within the scope of this question was identified.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, What date is the earliest evidence of bribery in the case of R. v. Nathan Gill.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The dates of the bribery offences are a matter of public record, the earliest being 6 December 2018.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress he has made in appointing a special envoy for complex detention cases.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 19 March to question 37752.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when his Department plans to publish the National Cyber Strategy.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Honourable Gentleman to the response given to Question 80985, tabled on 10th October 2025.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Cabinet Office's policy paper entitled National security strategy 2025: security for the British people in a dangerous world, updated on 29 August 2025, when her Department will publish the Research Security Strategy.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Research Security Strategy, led by my Department, will for the first time present a single, coordinated Government view on research security and set out a clear narrative on how a thriving R&D sector, supported by a strong research security culture, is fundamental to secure national security, resilience and economic growth.
Work is progressing and the Strategy will be published when it is complete.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2025 to Question 59879 on Cybersecurity: Public Sector, what recent progress she has made on the development of an implementation plan to support the delivery of the Government Cyber Security Strategy.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DSIT expects to publish the Government Cyber Action Plan later this Winter. The plan sets out how we will adopt a radical shift in our approach to cyber and digital resilience risks across the public sector, strengthening accountability and investing in central capabilities to mitigate the most severe and systemic risks. It sets out the underlying milestones and a performance framework for measuring Government’s progress towards these goals.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when his Department plans to launch the steel strategy.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is developing a Steel Strategy to be published in 2025 that will set out a long-term vision for a bright and sustainable steel sector in the UK and the actions needed to get there.
The strategy will articulate what is needed to create a competitive business environment in the UK with the aim of attracting new private investment to secure and expand UK steelmaking capability and capacity which is aligned with our Net Zero goals.