Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer to Question 11456 of 5 June 2021 on the vetting of Lord and Lady Mountbatten's private diaries prior to access being given to historians, what the source is of the statement that, prior to retiring as Chief of Defence Staff in 1965, Lord Mountbatten accepted that such vetting would apply to private diaries; for what reason those diaries were not vetted prior to being (a) purchased with money from the public purse and (b) transferred to Southampton University; what work his Department carried out to support the release of those diaries to the public in the years prior to Dr Andrew Lownie's Tribunal case in 2020; and what categories of information are capable of being deemed too sensitive for publication (i) 42 years and (ii) 62 years after the deaths of Lord and Lady Mountbatten respectively.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As the Rt. Hon. Member will be aware, there are several FOI exemptions that remain in place for historic records. As I said in my previous answer, this case is currently before the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) and it would not be appropriate to make further comment whilst this is subject to ongoing legal proceedings.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May to Question 2854 on the Mountbatten archive, what the terms were of the undertakings given by Lord Mountbatten in 1969 on the publication of the material in the archive; for what reason private diaries and letters that could have been sold on the open market are deemed to be subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000; for what reason the full archive has not been made public a decade after its publicly-funded acquisition by Southampton University; what the timeline is for the publication of that part of the archive that remains currently unpublished; and if he will list the criteria according to which any part of the archive can be deemed to be too sensitive for publication.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Before he retired as Chief of Defence Staff in 1965, the first Earl Mountbatten accepted that personal diaries could not be put into the public domain without first being vetted. Earl Mountbatten made clear that ownership of all of these papers would be handed over to the Broadlands Trustees. In 1969, the Broadlands Trustees entered into undertakings not to give general or particular access to these papers without the express permission of the Prime Minister of the day through the Cabinet Secretary. A copy of the Undertakings is available at the National Archives. In line with this agreement, the Cabinet Office is continuing to work with the University of Southampton to support the release of the Mountbatten archive whilst ensuring sensitive and official information is handled appropriately and in line with the Freedom of Information Act and Data Protection Act.
This case is currently before the Information Tribunal. It would not, therefore, be appropriate to make further comment whilst this is subject to ongoing legal proceedings.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason his Department has prevented access by the public to the full Lord and Lady Mountbatten archives at the University of Southampton; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Cabinet Office is working with the University of Southampton to support the release of the Mountbatten archive whilst ensuring sensitive information, including personal data, is handled appropriately and in line with Freedom of Information Act.
Diaries from 1918 to 1934 have already been released. Further volumes will be released in due course as necessary sensitivity work is completed. This is in line with undertakings given by Earl Mountbatten in 1969 on the publication of the archive.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the (a) amount and (b) breakdown of costs incurred by the Government to date in respect of preventing the release of the personal diaries and correspondence of the 1st Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Cabinet Office is working with the University of Southampton to support the release of the Mountbatten archive whilst ensuring sensitive information, including personal data, is handled appropriately and in line with Freedom of Information Act.
Diaries from 1918 to 1934 have already been released. Further volumes will be released in due course as necessary sensitivity work is completed. This is in line with undertakings given by Earl Mountbatten in 1969 on the publication of the archive.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason his Department has prevented release of Lord Mountbatten’s diaries.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Cabinet Office is working with the University of Southampton to support the release of the Mountbatten archive whilst ensuring sensitive information, including personal data, is handled appropriately and in line with Freedom of Information Act.
Diaries from 1918 to 1934 have already been released. Further volumes will be released in due course as necessary sensitivity work is completed. This is in line with undertakings given by Earl Mountbatten in 1969 on the publication of the archive.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 9 March (HL13388), what further steps they have taken to respond to appeals for the urgent delivery of cross-border humanitarian assistance in Burma.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
FCDO officials are in close contact with humanitarian delivery partners in Myanmar and on the Thai border to understand and respond to emerging need. Since the military coup, the UK Government has provided over £5 million additional funding for the humanitarian response. This includes £600,000 to partners to support displacement within Myanmar and support those fleeing into Thailand.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government has taken steps to freeze assets of the Government of Myanmar in the UK, including all bank accounts and properties.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We have imposed travel bans and asset freezes on nine senior military officers responsible for serious human rights violations during the coup. This is in addition to the 16 individuals previously designated for serious human rights violations in Myanmar. It is the Myanmar military that are responsible for the coup and the abhorrent human rights violations associated with it and we are determined to impose a cost on them. We will consider all tools at our disposal, including further sanctions on individuals and entities.
We have used the Burma sanctions regime and the Global Human Rights regime to target those responsible for human rights violations in Myanmar. On Thursday 26 March we imposed sanctions on military owned entity Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL), in concert with the US to incur a cost on the military for the coup.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
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 with (a) the UN and (b) other international partners to ensure that the Myanmar military and police forces do not violate medical neutrality and uphold their obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK is appalled at reports that protestors and medical professionals have been subject to attacks by the Myanmar security forces. The violent crackdown on peaceful protesters and the obstruction of medical care-givers is completely unacceptable. The UK has coordinated a strong international response including through the UN Security Council and the G7. We secured a Presidential Statement at the UN Security Council on 10 March which condemned the violent crackdown on peaceful protestors. We are clear that the military must pay the price for their actions, We have worked with partners such as the EU, US and Canada to sanction military officers who are responsible for serious human rights violations and are exploring all options to put pressure on the economic interests of the military.
We have used the Burma sanctions regime and the Global Human Rights regime to target those responsible for human rights violations in Myanmar. On Thursday 26 March we imposed sanctions on military owned entity Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL), in concert with the US to incur a cost on the military for the coup.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to respond to appeals for the urgent delivery of cross-border humanitarian assistance in Burma.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
UK aid provides life-saving humanitarian assistance to around 460,000 conflict affected and displaced people in Myanmar and on the Thai border. We are concerned about the impact of recent fighting in Northern Shan and Karen State on civilian populations, and the increased vulnerability of internally displaced people as a result of COVID. We provide support through a range of partners including Danish Church Aid, The Border Consortium, Joint Strategy Team partners and Health Poverty Action to reach highly vulnerable people. We are closely monitoring the impact of the recent military coup including supply routes to ensure this support reaches those in most need.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in response to the escalation in military offences in Karen State, Burma, which has resulted in the reported displacement of over 5,000 civilians.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK strongly condemns the repeated violations of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement by the Tatmadaw in Kayin State. We raised this at the Special Session of the Human Rights Council on 12 February. The UK is currently providing humanitarian support to the around 5,000 displaced civilians in Kayin State through our partners, The Border Consortium and Danish Church Aid. There are continuing access constraints because the Myanmar military is reportedly blocking access. UK aid supports 158,000 displaced, conflict affected people and refugees in the Southeast and Thai Border. We continue to monitor the situation closely.