Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her diplomatic policies of broadcasters in other countries boycotting the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest on political grounds.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Any decisions made by international broadcasters regarding the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest are for them alone. The Government is committed to a free and independent media.
Determination of who takes part in the 2026 Eurovision Song Content is a matter for the European Broadcasting Union and its individual members. The BBC is fully participating in Eurovision, and has said it supports the collective decisions made by members of the EBU.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what role UK intelligence partnerships are playing in helping to identify and disrupt organised crime associated with the Venezuelan regime.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The National Crime Agency leads the UK response to SOC. NCA has a network of International Liaison Officers who work with relevant partners globally to disrupt SOC affecting the UK.
The NCA also hosts other functions on behalf of the UK including its relationships into Interpol and Europol. To protect operational security the NCA does not comment on specifics of international partnerships but can confirm it has a previous history of working with Venezuelan partners to tackle SOC. All NCA activity is conducted in accordance with UK and international law.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information her Department holds on Iran's role in supporting proxy groups that threaten UK and allied interests in the Middle East.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the statement on Iran made to the House by the Foreign Secretary on 13 January, and her responses to the questions raised in that debate, in which these and other issues were addressed at length.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she has taken with allies to co-ordinate the countering of Iran’s ballistic missile programme.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the statement on Iran made to the House by the Foreign Secretary on 13 January, and her responses to the questions raised in that debate, in which these and other issues were addressed at length.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
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 African Union partners to help secure the safe passage of people leaving Sudan.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer provided on 21 January to Questions 106571-78.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
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 effectiveness of her Department’s measures to ensure that nutrition objectives are integrated within women and girls’ programmes; and how the Child Nutrition Fund and the Resilience and Adaptation Fund are aligned with her Department's gender policy frameworks.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 18 November 2025 to Question 89032, which outlines the work the Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) and Resilience and Adaptation Fund (RAF) are doing to address malnutrition of women and girls. As laid out in the 2025 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) paper entitled 'Healthy Women, Children and Newborns: A Coordinated Approach to Ending Preventable Deaths', all of our programmes in this area are assessed for effectiveness. The CNF and RAF are both tracked by gender and nutrition-sensitive internal markers, therefore contributing to the FCDO's commitment to ensuring nutrition investments deliver for women and girls.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2025 to Question 91353, what further steps have been taken since the letter evidence of June 2025.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Rt Hon Member's question refers to an answer originally provided to her in error on 19 November, and subsequently replaced with the correct answer to Question 91353.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2025 to Question 91355, what steps she is taking to help ensure UK-funded humanitarian assistance is reaching people most in need in El Fasher, including survivors of sexual and gender-based violence; and what mechanisms her Department is using to monitor and verify the effective delivery of that support in areas affected by severe access constraints.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer provided on 8 December 2025 in response to Question 95683.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Venezuelan-origin money laundering on UK financial institutions; and what steps are being taken to help tackle it.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government keeps its assessment of money laundering risks, including those linked to high‑risk jurisdictions, under regular review. The most recent UK National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing was published in 2025.
The UK operates a robust, risk‑based anti‑money laundering regime, underpinned by the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, which applies to all illicit funds regardless of country of origin. These Regulations ensure that those sectors most at risk of being abused for money laundering have appropriate risk-based controls in place. The Financial Action Taskforce has added Venezuela to the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring which means the UK treats Venezuela‑linked activity as higher risk. UK firms are expected to factor this into the way they conduct their compliance activity in line with these obligations.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential public health risks arising from the withdrawal of waste collection services in Birmingham following the decision by agency refuse workers to take industrial action from 1 December 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Director of Public Health for Birmingham continues to monitor the situation locally, including any public health risks from uncollected waste. The UK Health Security Agency, working closely with relevant partner organisations, would contribute to any risk assessment and provide health protection advice and support as requested.