Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of Government support for accreditation and conformity assessment on businesses’ access to international markets.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK Government continues to support British businesses through free trade and mutual recognition agreements, in line with the Trade Strategy. These agreements typically include provisions that support the accreditation and conformity assessment sectors, providing British businesses with enhanced access to foreign markets. For instance, UK conformity assessment bodies can now apply for accreditation and approval in Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) countries, allowing British businesses to test products in the UK against CPTPP country requirements.
The UK Government routinely carries out and publishes economic assessments for trade agreements and legislation, which consider how agreements can reduce non-tariff barriers for British businesses.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will hold discussions with exam boards on introducing a GCSE in Romanian.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Decisions about which languages to offer at GCSE in England are taken by four independent awarding organisations – AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel and WJEC – rather than by central government. These organisations have the freedom to create a Somali and/or Romanian GCSE based on the subject content for modern foreign languages set by the department. This decision would be informed by several factors, including the level of demand from schools and the proportion of the population in the UK speaking the language.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will hold discussions with exam boards on introducing a GCSE in Somali.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Decisions about which languages to offer at GCSE in England are taken by four independent awarding organisations – AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel and WJEC – rather than by central government. These organisations have the freedom to create a Somali and/or Romanian GCSE based on the subject content for modern foreign languages set by the department. This decision would be informed by several factors, including the level of demand from schools and the proportion of the population in the UK speaking the language.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much revenue has been received from foreign military sales of Eurofighter Typhoons.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK Ministry of Defence has supported UK industry with successful export campaigns of Eurofighter Typhoon to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2006 - c.£6 billion), Oman (2012 - c.£2.5 billion), Qatar (2017 - c.£6 billion) and Türkiye (2025 - up to £8 billion).
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the revenue to be raised by foreign military sales of Eurofighter Typhoons to Turkey.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK Government is committed to supporting the export of defence equipment, including the Eurofighter Typhoon. The sale of Typhoon jets to Türkiye is worth up to £8 billion, supporting 20,000 highly skilled UK jobs. This deal represents the leading edge of our future relationship with Türkiye, making both our nations, Europe and NATO stronger, safer and more prosperous.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2026 to Question 103848 on Defence Equipment, of the £10.4 billion industry spend in the UK how much was received by (a) subsidiaries of foreign suppliers and (b) British owned suppliers.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The £10.4 billion figure quoted for expenditure with UK industry is drawn from the Ministry of Defence’s Regional Expenditure statistics, which categorise spend by location of work rather than by company ownership.
The underlying data does not capture information on the ownership structure of suppliers, therefore, the Department is unable to provide a breakdown of the spend as the “Location of Work” codes identify where contracted activity is carried out within the UK.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to her Nigerian counterparts regarding the arbitrary detention of Mr Nnamdi Kanu and what steps she is taking to secure his release.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Rt Hon member to the answer provided for 87707 on 19 November 2025.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with its counterparts in Guinea on the rights of political prisoners.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK regularly raises concerns with the authorities in Guinea over human rights, democracy, freedom of expression, and the rule of law, including arbitrary detentions, and restrictions on political freedoms, civil society and peaceful protest.
Since the December 2025 elections, our Ambassador has pressed the Guinean authorities, including security officials, to ensure due process, and release detainees being held without charge. The UK is also continuing to support efforts to strengthen good governance and access to justice.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to help promote human rights in Guinea.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK regularly raises concerns with the authorities in Guinea over human rights, democracy, freedom of expression, and the rule of law, including arbitrary detentions, and restrictions on political freedoms, civil society and peaceful protest.
Since the December 2025 elections, our Ambassador has pressed the Guinean authorities, including security officials, to ensure due process, and release detainees being held without charge. The UK is also continuing to support efforts to strengthen good governance and access to justice.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
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 potential implications for her policies of reports of arbitrary detentions in Guinea.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK regularly raises concerns with the authorities in Guinea over human rights, democracy, freedom of expression, and the rule of law, including arbitrary detentions, and restrictions on political freedoms, civil society and peaceful protest.
Since the December 2025 elections, our Ambassador has pressed the Guinean authorities, including security officials, to ensure due process, and release detainees being held without charge. The UK is also continuing to support efforts to strengthen good governance and access to justice.