Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking with her European counterparts to impose sanctions on Russian oil and gas.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK is to phase out the import of Russian oil during the course of the year in response to the illegal invasion of Ukraine. The Government is establishing a new joint taskforce with industry to work together on an orderly transition. The move will increase the growing pressure on Russia's economy by choking off a valuable source of income - the import of Russian oil makes up 44 percent of Russian exports and 17 percent of federal government revenue through taxation.
The UK is also working closely with the US, the EU and other partners to end our dependence on Russian hydrocarbons in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, recognising the different circumstances and transition timelines.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government has taken in offering assistance and aid to Turkey in respect of the wildfires in that country.
Answered by Wendy Morton
At the outset of the wildfires we offered our sympathy and support to the Turkish Government. The Foreign Secretary and I were in direct contact with our Turkish counterparts and our Embassy in Turkey held urgent discussions with Turkish disaster relief authorities. Although Turkey had sought fire-fighting aircraft, which regrettably we could not supply with sufficient water capacity, we were able to offer other technical support and capacity building expertise. The Turkish Government appreciated our support but confirmed they no longer needed such assistance. Our offer still stands.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What progress has been made through international co-operation on tackling climate change.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
As the first G7 country to legislate for net zero by 2050, the UK is leading the world’s response to tackling the effects of climate change. That is why we are leading the resilience and adaption strand with Egypt at the upcoming Climate Change summit in New York. That is why we hope to host COP26 in Glasgow next year in partnership with Italy.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
Whether he has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the processes for enabling member states to leave the EU.
Answered by Alan Duncan
We remain committed to following the Article 50 process enabling Member States to leave the EU. We are continuing to work closely with the Commission in Brussels to achieve this. We have made real progress in on-going negotiations. We believe it is in the interests of both sides to strike a deal.