Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to open an Embassy in Palestine.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is the longstanding position of the UK Government that Jerusalem should be a shared capital of two states, with its final status determined as part of a negotiated, peaceful settlement between Israelis and Palestinians, respecting the access and religious rights of all peoples. The future status of the British Consulate General in Jerusalem will be decided in light of progress towards this historic goal.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the 12-month period during which holders of non-designated foreign driving licences are permitted to drive in the UK.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This department reviews GB driver licensing arrangements from time to time. Any changes to the current 12-month period during which the holders of non-UK driving licences are permitted to drive in the UK would be subject to appropriate consultation and revised legislative provisions.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government has conducted any assessment of risks posed by foreign-state or foreign-network mobilisation of postal-voting blocks among overseas nationals eligible to vote in UK local elections.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to upholding and strengthening UK democracy by protecting against foreign interference, improving political transparency, adding tougher checks for donations and closing loopholes by reinforcing electoral legislation against foreign interference.
Our election reforms will deliver a robust and proportionate response to known risks, protecting the integrity of our system and reinforcing public trust in democracy. This is set out in our Elections Strategy, published in July.
The Joint Election Security and Preparedness unit coordinates work to protect UK elections and referendums, from threats including foreign interference.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
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 adequacy of the financial contributions made by a) Australia, b) New Zealand, c) Canada and d) India to the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is the largest donor to Commonwealth institutions and their programmes. We support reform of the Commonwealth Secretariat to help place the organisation on a more sustainable financial footing and encourage member states to contribute as appropriate to support Commonwealth activity.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with His Majesty’s Treasury about the potential of increased financial support for the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is the largest donor to Commonwealth institutions and their programmes. We support reform of the Commonwealth Secretariat to help place the organisation on a more sustainable financial footing and encourage member states to contribute as appropriate to support Commonwealth activity.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will discuss the adequacy of financial contributions made by member states to the Commonwealth Secretariat with her South African counterpart.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is the largest donor to Commonwealth institutions and their programmes. We support reform of the Commonwealth Secretariat to help place the organisation on a more sustainable financial footing and encourage member states to contribute as appropriate to support Commonwealth activity.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will take legislative steps to prevent non-UK citizens from (a) voting and (b) standing in all UK elections.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has no current plans to change the voting or candidacy rights of foreign nationals.
British, Irish, and Commonwealth citizens are able to participate in UK Parliamentary elections subject to residency and other eligibility requirements. In the case of local elections in England and Northern Ireland, voting and candidacy rights also extend to EU citizens with retained rights and to citizens of countries with whom we have bilateral agreements. Responsibility for local elections in Scotland and Wales is devolved.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what is the contact email and postal address for representations to the Rycroft review into foreign financial interference in UK politics.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The contact email for representations to the Rycroft review into foreign financial interference in UK politics is reviewteam@rycroftreview.independent.gov.uk.
More information can be found here.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the principal barriers have been to the deportation of foreign nationals convicted of sexual offences since 2024; and what steps her Department is taking to help tackle those barriers.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office deals with significant and complex challenges when seeking to return those who have no right to be in the UK to their country of origin. Sometimes the UK’s current obligations under international law prohibit us from returning certain individuals despite their criminality. Legal or re-documentation barriers can frustrate immediate deportation. Despite these barriers, we are fully committed to making our communities safer by deporting those who break our laws.
To address these challenges, this government is committed to reforming the appeals process by creating a new appeals body with professionally trained adjudicators. We will also strengthen the certification regime to deny appeal rights for clearly unmeritorious claims. Furthermore, the number of countries that foreign national offenders can be deported to before they can lodge an appeal from abroad has also been increased.
We are also working to reform Human Rights and Modern Slavery claims. In these areas we will rebalance the public interest test for Article 8 claims and work with our international partners to reform the application of the ECHR’s prohibition on inhuman or degrading treatment. With the Modern Slavery reforms legislation will be brought forward to clarify our responsibilities under international law, the removal of reconsideration for negative decisions, enhanced screening for individuals detained for removal, and a stronger link between timely disclosure and credibility of a claim.
Finally, under new measures introduced by the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, sexual offences which give rise to the notification requirement in Schedule 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 will be assumed to be ‘particularly serious’ for the purpose of applying Article 33(2) of the Refugee Convention, thereby allowing the UK to exclude those individuals from being granted asylum protections in the UK.
Where removal is still not possible due to our ECHR obligations, the provision will ensure that such individuals are not afforded the generous benefits of protection status in the UK.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to help Ukraine win the war against the Russian Federation.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the oral statement made by the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry on 18 December 2025, and to the UK support to Ukraine factsheet available on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-support-to-ukraine-factsheet/uk-support-to-ukraine-factsheet.