Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on the civil war in Yemen of arms sold by the UK to Saudi Arabia.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK supports the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition military intervention in Yemen, which came at the request of legitimate President Hadi to deter aggression by the Houthis and forces loyal to the former president Saleh. Saudi Arabia and the Coalition have played a crucial role and the priority now is for the Yemeni parties to agree a political solution through UN-facilitated peace talks to end the conflict. The UK is not a member of the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition and UK’s arms exports to Saudi Arabia are made under pre-existing and long-standing government to government arrangements. The UK Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. The Government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK offered support to Saudi Arabia for the process of that country being elected to the UN Human Rights Council.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Saudi Arabia was the only candidate put forward by the Asian Group for this seat in the UN's Human Rights Council. So while the UK never publicises how it votes, this was not a contested election and the UK's vote was immaterial.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether it is his policy to take steps towards repeal of the death penalty in states which hold the death penalty.
Answered by David Lidington
The Government’s approach to all states which retain the death penalty is to focus first on suspension of its use as the key step towards permanent abolition. We take a pragmatic approach to achieving that goal. We welcome reforms which improve legal procedures, reduce the number of capital crimes or mitigate some of the cruelties inherent to the death penalty. We fund projects which educate the judiciary, promote reform, mount legal challenges to death penalty systems and stimulate public debate. We engage diplomatically with retentionist states to ensure they are aware of the compelling arguments against the death penalty and of the UK Government’s opposition to any execution. Our assessment is that these approaches are stimulating a long-term movement by states towards abolition.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has contacted the Saudi Arabian government on the human rights element in the case of Waleed Abu al-Khair.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We are very concerned about the case of Waleed Abu Al-Khair and we have raised this case with the Saudi Arabian authorities. Our Ambassador in Riyadh, as well as our Embassy team, continues to make representations on cases like this on a regular basis.
The UK’s position on human rights in Saudi Arabia is a matter of public record. We frequently raise our human rights concerns with the Saudi Arabian authorities using a range of Ministerial and diplomatic channels.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure a conclusion to the case of six former British soldiers held in India on weapons charges; and what support his Department offered to each person so detained.
Answered by Lord Swire
Ministers have raised this case at the highest levels over thirty times since November 2013: my Right Honourable Friend, the Member for Witney, the Prime Minister, raised it for the third time with Prime Minister Modi, during his visit to the United Kingdom in November. On 11 January, the men were sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and I raised this in my introductory meeting with the new Indian High Commissioner the following day. While we cannot interfere in the Indian legal process, we will continue to offer consular support to all the men and their families and urge that their appeal application be dealt with swiftly.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of (a) the likely numbers of British citizens resident elsewhere in the EU who would return to live in the UK in the event of a British exit from the EU and (b) the potential effect of such returnees on public services.
Answered by David Lidington
The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), is focused on success: he believes he can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and will be campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received on the age of suffrage for the referendum on membership of the EU.
Answered by David Lidington
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and I have received representations on many aspects of the Bill including the franchise. This includes correspondence from Parliamentarians and members of the public.
The franchise for the EU referendum is based on the UK Parliamentary franchise with the addition of Members of the House of Lords and Commonwealth citizens in Gibraltar. This includes those who are 18 or over on the day of the poll and who are either British citizens resident in the UK; qualifying Commonwealth and Irish citizens who are resident in the UK; and British citizens who have lived overseas for fewer than 15 years and were registered to vote before they left the UK.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he plans to reply to the letters from Michael Hadfield on receipts and payments between the UK and the rest of the EU.
Answered by David Lidington
Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials responded to Mr Hadfield's letter on Friday 29 May 2015.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received on the abuse of women in foreign embassies in the UK.
Answered by James Duddridge
We have no record of any representations having been received in recent years about the abuse of women in foreign diplomatic missions in the UK. We are aware that a small number of individual cases of alleged abuse of female domestic workers have been investigated or are under investigation by the police.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) treats any allegation of criminal offences committed by those with diplomatic immunity seriously. We work closely with diplomatic missions in the UK, the police, the Home Office and NGOs to ensure an appropriate response to all allegations. If an allegation of mistreatment or abuse requires further investigation by the police, the FCO will request from the diplomatic mission concerned, on behalf of the police, a waiver of the diplomat’s immunity. Failure to provide a waiver may result in the FCO demanding the withdrawal of the diplomat.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the capacity of the Economic Community of West African States to tackle the threat from Boko Haram.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
During the 22 January meeting of regional Foreign Ministers in Niamey, Niger, participants agreed that the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) and African Union, working with the countries of the region would develop a credible response to tackle the threat of Boko Haram. The UK was represented at that meeting by my Right Honourable Friend the Member for Eddisbury, the Prime Minister's Special Representative for the Sahel. We expect that the African Union (AU)'s political and security council will discuss next steps during the AU Summit taking place in Addis Ababa this week.