Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the return of Ukrainian children unlawfully deported by the Russian authorities.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
We call upon Russia to cease these deportations immediately and return all Ukrainian children. In June 2022, we sanctioned the Russian Children's Rights Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, and in June 2023, we announced new sanctions against 10 Russian officials and one entity involved. We have provided funding to the International Criminal Court and support to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. The UK is also now a member of the 'International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children'. We are determined to hold to account those responsible for forcibly deporting and attempting to indoctrinate Ukrainian children.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with the Director of Operations at UNRWA on (a) the precision of air strikes in Gaza and (b) whether Hamas tunnels ran near or under UNRWA schools.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK takes allegations of neutrality violations extremely seriously, including in relation to UN installations such as schools. The FCDO also monitors this closely through our annual assessment of UNRWA. When violations have been identified, UNRWA has taken action, including raising the issue with relevant parties.
We are aware that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services and Catherine Colonna have now provided their interim reports to the UN Secretary-General. Their independent investigations include assessment of the policies and systems UNRWA has in place to ensure neutrality.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with UNRWA on alleged threats made to their senior operations staff by Hamas.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are not currently aware of any threats made to senior UNRWA operations staff by Hamas.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help secure the release of Israeli hostages.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Foreign Secretary met the Sharabi and Popplewell families on 16 January to hear about their relatives' horrendous ordeals at the hands of Hamas. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary also met with hostage families on 21 January.
We will continue to do all we can to secure the release of all hostages. We need a humanitarian pause now to allow for the release of hostages. We will continue to do all we can.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what information his Department holds on the alleged use of child soldiers by Hamas.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We condemn the recruiting and use of children in armed conflict and want to see an end to this abhorrent practice.
The UK is an active member of the UN Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC), which leads the international response to violations committed against children in conflict. The Working Group issues calls and concrete requests to those governments and armed groups listed in the Secretary-General's annual report, including in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
We continue to call for International Humanitarian Law to be respected and civilians to be protected.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what information his Department holds on the alleged construction of cross-border tunnels into Israel by Hezbollah.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK has repeatedly condemned Hizballah's destabilising activity in the region, including the construction of tunnels and the stockpiling of weapons, in breach of UN Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1701. Such activity presents a threat to the security of both Israel and Lebanon and risks an escalation that is in nobody's interests.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the polling by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, published on 27 November 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the finding that 16% of British Jews think that the police treat anti-Semitic hate crime like other forms of hate crime.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
We have a robust legislative framework to respond to hate crimes which target race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and transgender identity.
Whilst the police are operationally independent and work in line with the College of Policing’s operational guidance to respond to hate crime, we expect the police to fully investigate these abhorrent offences and work with the CPS to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice. We are supporting the police by providing them with the resources they need, including having recruited 20,000 additional police officers by March 2023.
The Government regularly engages with Jewish community stakeholders to ensure that we are doing everything we can to tackle antisemitism in the UK and protect the safety and security of the Jewish community. The Government’s Jewish Community Protective Security (JCPS) Grant provides protective security measures at Jewish community sites including education facilities and many synagogues. In response to increased incidents of antisemitism in the UK as a result of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, the Prime Minister announced additional funding of £3 million to provide additional security at Jewish schools, synagogues and other Jewish community sites. This brings total protective security funding for the Jewish Community to £18 million in 2023/24. This level will be maintained at £18 million for 2024/25.
The Government is also providing £7 million over the next three years to ensure that more support is in place for schools and universities to understand, recognise and tackle antisemitism.
Since 7 October, forces across the country have increased neighbourhood patrols to provide reassurance to local communities. Police have also conducted thousands of visits to Jewish sites, including synagogues and faith schools. Forces have made a number of arrests linked to antisemitic and other forms of hate crime in the UK – including the Metropolitan Police Service which has made 134 arrests linked to hate crimes as of 1 December. The MPS also have a specific Hanukkah policing plan to provide assurance to the Jewish community.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support Israel to tackle Iranian-backed terror groups in the Middle East.
Answered by James Heappey
The UK Government has long condemned Iran's destabilising activity throughout the Middle East, including its military, financial, and political support to several militant and proscribed groups. These groups represent a danger to global security such as through attacks on international shipping. The UK works closely with several nations in the Middle East, including Israel, to defend our strategic interests in the region from these malign actors. We have also deployed additional military assets to the Eastern Mediterranean and East of Suez to deter attacks on international shipping, reinforce regional stability and prevent escalation.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in Europe on the shared security threat posed by Hamas and other proscribed terrorist organisations.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Government values our longstanding and effective cooperation with European allies on shared counter terrorism objectives, including tackling the threat posed by Hamas and from other terrorist organisations.
HMG continues to work closely with our international partners on issues of national security including through engagement by ministers and senior officials with their international counterparts to strengthen our collective response to the threats we face.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 23 February 2023 to Question 147435 on HIV Infection: Screening, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of opt-out blood-borne virus testing in ambulance and emergency departments in areas with a high prevalence of HIV in London.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has committed £20 million between 2022 and 2025 to fund the expansion of HIV opt-out testing in accident and emergency (A&E) departments in areas with extremely high HIV prevalence. To further maximise the opportunity afforded by the funding for HIV opt-out testing, NHS England decided to implement a combined blood borne viruses (BBV) approach to include Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C testing alongside HIV. The NHS England London region took a decision to include all A&E departments in London the project, some of which were high HIV prevalence areas.
Data from NHS England indicates that this BBV opt-out testing initiative has helped find more than 900 people unaware they are living with HIV, or not accessing HIV care and over 2500 people living with, or not accessing care for Hepatitis B and over 1000 people living with or not accessing care for Hepatitis C during the first 18 months of the programme.
On 9 November 2023, the UK Health Security Agency published an evaluation of the first year of the BBV opt-out testing in A&E departments in local areas with extremely high HIV prevalence. Findings show that the programme has made a significant contribution to BBV testing in England with more than half the number of tests done in the programme compared to BBV tests in other settings.
After careful consideration of the available evidence, the Government has now also committed £20 million to fund new research, commissioned through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), that will involve an expansion and evaluation of BBV opt out testing in a further 47 emergency departments, in high prevalence HIV areas across England (2 or more HIV cases per 1,000 residents). Funding will support 12 months of testing for each emergency department, to begin during the next financial year.