Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her international partners on taking steps to help support the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the statement on the Middle East made in the House by the Prime Minister on 14th October.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
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 Chinese counterparts on the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme since 5 July 2024; and what discussions (a) ministers and (b) officials have had with Chinese counterparts on their embassy planning application since 5 July 2025.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials speak regularly with the Chinese Government about a range of issues.
Decisions on which foreign powers will be placed on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme are taken on a country-by-country basis, based on robust security and intelligence analysis.
The planning application has been called in by the former Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the current Secretary of State will make this decision independent from the rest of Government corresponding to his quasi-judicial role.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the US Government will be charged for use of the military base on Diego Garcia under the terms of the draft UK-Mauritius Treaty.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK does not charge the US Government for the use of the military base on Diego Garcia and does not intend to do so. The US pays for the significant operating and maintenance costs of the base and the UK benefits considerably from this arrangement.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders on an asylum processing hub in Kosovo.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 9th June to question 56153.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make it her policy to ratify the 2019 amendment to Article 8 of the Rome Statute on the use of starvation in non-international conflicts.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government's position on these issues was set out most recently by Lord Collins of Highbury in response to a House of Lords debate on the use of starvation as a weapon of war held on 16 October 2025. [https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2025-10-16/debates/7404DF67-1A74-4DCD-8421-84BB55189F25/StarvationAsAWeaponOfWar].
In his response, Lord Collins referred to the publication in May of the Government's legal handbook on conflict, hunger and international law, further details of which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/conflict-hunger-and-international-humanitarian-law-handbook-launch-lord-collins-speech.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
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 levels of prevalence of starvation being used as a tool of war in (a) international and (b) non-international conflicts.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government's position on these issues was set out most recently by Lord Collins of Highbury in response to a House of Lords debate on the use of starvation as a weapon of war held on 16 October 2025. [https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2025-10-16/debates/7404DF67-1A74-4DCD-8421-84BB55189F25/StarvationAsAWeaponOfWar].
In his response, Lord Collins referred to the publication in May of the Government's legal handbook on conflict, hunger and international law, further details of which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/conflict-hunger-and-international-humanitarian-law-handbook-launch-lord-collins-speech.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she has taken to promote sustainable (a) agricultural, (b) food processing and (c) food distribution systems internationally.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government's position on these issues was set out most recently by Lord Collins of Highbury in response to a House of Lords debate on the use of starvation as a weapon of war held on 16 October 2025. [https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2025-10-16/debates/7404DF67-1A74-4DCD-8421-84BB55189F25/StarvationAsAWeaponOfWar].
In his response, Lord Collins referred to the publication in May of the Government's legal handbook on conflict, hunger and international law, further details of which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/conflict-hunger-and-international-humanitarian-law-handbook-launch-lord-collins-speech.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to increase awareness that passports must have been issued fewer than 10 years from the date of arrival in the EU for non-EU countries, including Britain.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given on 23 June to question 60560.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to encourage the USA and Russia to enter discussions on a new nuclear weapon treaty to replace the NEW START Treaty.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The New START Treaty is a bilateral agreement between the United States and Russian Federation; any replacement treaty is a matter for the US and Russia. The UK regularly raises issues related to strategic risk reduction, including arms control with the USA and Russia through the expert-level P5 process. Genuine and verifiable strategic arms control among the largest Nuclear Weapons States can be a positive step for global security. However, following Russia's decision to suspend participation in New START verification measures in 2023, future approaches need to be based on concrete, and verifiable actions.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress has she made on renewing the New START Treaty before its expiration in February 2026.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The New START Treaty is a bilateral agreement between the United States and Russian Federation; any replacement treaty is a matter for the US and Russia. The UK regularly raises issues related to strategic risk reduction, including arms control with the USA and Russia through the expert-level P5 process. Genuine and verifiable strategic arms control among the largest Nuclear Weapons States can be a positive step for global security. However, following Russia's decision to suspend participation in New START verification measures in 2023, future approaches need to be based on concrete, and verifiable actions.