Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his EU counterpart on the development of a bespoke UK-EU Veterinary Agreement.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Government is engaging in talks with the EU to address the issues of the Northern Ireland Protocol including on the movement of goods of plant and animal origin. The Foreign Secretary met Vice President Sefcovic last week and technical talks continue.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
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 negotiations with the EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol since October.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Government is engaging in constructive dialogue with the EU to find shared solutions to problems caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol. The current technical discussions between UK and EU officials are a positive step forward. However, significant gaps remain between our positions. It remains our preference to resolve this through talks - but the situation in Northern Ireland is urgent, and we have therefore brought forward the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill to address these issues.
The Foreign Secretary most recently met Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič on Thursday 15 December, and both they and officials continue to remain in touch. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has had regular contact with Northern Ireland stakeholders throughout this process.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with which Northern Ireland stakeholders he has held discussions on the Northern Ireland Protocol since his appointment.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Government is engaging in constructive dialogue with the EU to find shared solutions to problems caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol. The current technical discussions between UK and EU officials are a positive step forward. However, significant gaps remain between our positions. It remains our preference to resolve this through talks - but the situation in Northern Ireland is urgent, and we have therefore brought forward the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill to address these issues.
The Foreign Secretary most recently met Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič on Thursday 15 December, and both they and officials continue to remain in touch. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has had regular contact with Northern Ireland stakeholders throughout this process.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to help deliver COP26 climate finance commitments for adaptation for developing countries.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Under the UK's COP Presidency, almost all developed country climate finance providers made new, forward-looking climate finance commitments, with many doubling or even quadrupling support for developing countries to take climate action. The $100 billion Delivery Plan Progress Report reaffirms that the $100 billion goal will be met by developed countries by 2023 latest, with over $500 billion mobilised over the 5-year period 2021-25. We have also made significant progress on adaptation finance, with agreement that developed countries should at least double their finance for adaptation on 2019 levels by 2025. Many providers have set out ambitious adaptation finance commitments, and the Multilateral Development Banks have already exceeded their 2025 adaptation finance target four years early. The UK will continue to champion progress on adaptation finance at COP27 and beyond.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress has been made in the last 12 months on providing finance for unavoidable loss and damage suffered by developing communities; and what steps he has taken to help ensure that finance reaches local communities on the frontlines of climate change.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
At COP26, the UK strongly supported the establishment of a 'Glasgow Dialogue on Loss and Damage' to discuss the arrangements for the funding of activities to avert, minimise and address loss and damage. The Santiago Network (a platform for catalysing technical assistance on loss and damage for developing countries) was also progressed through agreement on functions and funding. The UK actively participates in the Glasgow Dialogue and Santiago Network and looks forward to engaging on Loss and Damage at COP27, to build on the progress made in Glasgow.
We are actively working with countries to ensure that local level actors are at the forefront of adaptation actions and investments. This includes support to the Least Developed Countries Initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience programme (LIFE-AR), and, through our COP26 presidency, promoting the implementation of the international Principles for Locally Led Adaptation, which are now supported by over 75 organisations.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
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 veracity of reports on the seizure of Baha’i properties by authorities in Iran; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Promoting the right to freedom of religion or belief for all is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities. Reports indicate that the Iranian government has this year redoubled its repressive efforts against the Baha'i community, with expropriation and repossession of land, destruction of homes, and increasing detention of members of the community. On 5 August 2022 the FCDO Minister responsible for Human Rights and Freedom of Religion and Belief, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon issued a statement calling on Iran to end its unlawful repression of the Baha'i community. I reiterated our commitment to holding Iran to account for its targeting of the Baha'i community at a Westminster Hall debate on 11 October.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
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 implications of the Special Court of Iran acting under Article 49 of the Iranian Constitution to authorise the expropriation of the properties and lands of members of the Baha’i community; and if will he make a statement.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Promoting the right to freedom of religion or belief for all is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities. Reports indicate that the Iranian government has this year redoubled its repressive efforts against the Baha'i community, with expropriation and repossession of land, destruction of homes, and increasing detention of members of the community. On 5 August 2022 the FCDO Minister responsible for Human Rights and Freedom of Religion and Belief, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon issued a statement calling on Iran to end its unlawful repression of the Baha'i community. I reiterated our commitment to holding Iran to account for its targeting of the Baha'i community at a Westminster Hall debate on 11 October.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which (a) people and (b) organisations from Northern Ireland she has had official discussions with on the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The former Foreign Secretary and her ministerial colleagues regularly engaged with organisations from Northern Ireland on the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, including the Northern Ireland Business Brexit Working Group, other business representatives and political leaders from all parties. This included direct engagement when she visited Belfast earlier in the year.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact of the Global Fund on global health outcomes.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Global Fund is a high performing organisation that, with partners, has reduced the mortality of AIDS, TB and malaria by 46% since 2002 and plays a key role in ending the preventable deaths of the three diseases, saving 44 million lives to date.
The UK is proud to be the organisation's third largest donor historically, investing over £4.1 billion since 2002.
The UK's significant investments in the Global Fund is our main channel to support ending the three epidemics. The organisation remains a key partner in strengthening health systems and supporting pandemic preparedness.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what Northern Ireland business organisations (a) she and (b) her officials have met with in the last 12 months; and on what dates each of those meetings took place.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Both the Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland engage with businesses regularly, as did their predecessors. The Foreign Secretary recently chaired a roundtable with key business representatives who reiterated a wide range of issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol and officials in departments across Government are in regular contact with business representatives.