Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department provides funding to the Home Office Islamic Network; and how much staff time was taken to run that network in the last 12 months.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
Faith and Belief networks in the Home Office do not receive any Home Office funding for their activities.
The chairs of all Faith and Belief networks including Christian, Islamic, Jewish Networks, Hindu Connection and Sikh Association are permitted up to 20% facility time with executive committee members receiving 10% to carry out network related activities.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the attack on Crocus City Concert Hall in Moscow on terror threat levels in the UK.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The UK condemns in the strongest terms the deadly terrorist attack at the Crocus City concert hall in Moscow and we express our deepest sympathy to the families of the many victims. We support the US assessment that Da'esh or their so-called Islamic State Khorasan Province branch is responsible. The threat level for the UK from terrorism is set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre. It is kept under regular review.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of reports of activity by Iran-backed terrorist groups in the West Bank.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Iran poses an unacceptable threat to Israel, including through its long-term support for proscribed groups such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas operating in Gaza and the West Bank. This . Iran must bear responsibility for the actions of its proxies and partners.
We introduced a new sanctions regime designed to target Iran and its proxies and partners' hostile and destabilising activity last December. We immediately used these new powers to designate individuals and an entity responsible for Iran's support to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The Foreign Secretary condemned in the strongest terms Iran's attack on Israel in a call with the Iranian Foreign Minister on 14 April, and made clear that Iran must stop these attacks and de-escalate.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 403 on Gaza: Humanitarian Aid, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of aid supplies to the Gaza strip; and what recent steps he has taken to support (a) Islamic Relief, (b) the Egyptian Red Crescent and (c) other aid agencies to deliver aid.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Palestinians are facing a devastating and growing humanitarian crisis. We trebled our aid commitment this financial year and we are doing everything we can to get more aid in as quickly as possible by land, sea and air.
We need a humanitarian pause now to allow humanitarian actors and Gazans to operate and move safely, and enable hostages to be released.
We are also calling on Israel to increase access for aid through land routes and fully open Ashdod Port, scale up the Jordan corridor to the 500 trucks a week with a streamlined screening and delivery process, open a crossing in northern Gaza (Karni, Erez or a new crossing point), and increase screening capacity at Kerem Shalom and Nitzana to seven days a week and extended hours.
In addition, we want to see an expansion of the types of aid allowed into Gaza and Israel authorise at least 200,000 litres of fuel per day, as well as the provision of electricity, water and telecommunications, to both the north and the south of Gaza.
On 13 March the Foreign Secretary announced an additional £10 million to bring UK support to more than £100million this financial year. UK funding has supported the work of partners including the British Red Cross, UNICEF and Egyptian Red Crescent Society. On 20 March the Foreign Secretary also announced that more than 2,000 tonnes of UK-funded food aid will be distributed by the World Food Programme. This will be the largest UK aid delivery so far and will support 275,000 people.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the Government has not proscribed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; and what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on that issue.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
While the UK Government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under review, we do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not being considered for proscription.
The UK Government has long been clear about our concerns over the malign activity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The UK maintains sanctions on over 400 Iranian individuals and entities covering human rights abuses and nuclear proliferation. The Government has also imposed sanctions on the IRGC in its entirety and on several senior security and political figures in Iran, including senior commanders within the IRGC and its Basij force.
The UK Government, working with the US, has engaged closely with European partners on Iranian transnational threats and we will continue to hold Iran and the IRGC to account. On 24 January 2024, we took coordinated action with the US and imposed sanctions on several members of the IRGC for their involvement in plots to assassinate individuals on UK soil.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department plans to take to tackle hostile activities by the Iranian regime in the UK, in the context of recent reports of (a) threats to British journalists and human rights defenders by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and (b) the use UK-based banks to procure funds in breach of UK sanctions.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
We do not routinely comment on operational matters or specific threats. However, we take the protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms and safety in the UK very seriously. We continually assess potential threats in the UK and use all tools at our disposal to protect the UK and our interests from any Iran-linked threats.
UK businesses – including banks – are expected to perform due diligence checks on all of their customers and clients to ensure compliance with all UK sanctions regulations.
The UK is committed to ensuring that our sanctions are robustly enforced, potential breaches are assessed, and appropriate action is taken where a breach is identified. Non-compliance with UK sanctions is a serious offence and punishable through disclosures, financial penalties, or criminal prosecution. Departments from across HMG – including FCDO, HMT, OFSI, HMRC, HO, and the NCA – are working together, and with UK companies, to ensure that sanctions are enforced.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help support persecuted Christians in Uganda.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We have no evidence of state persecution of Christians based on religious belief in Uganda. However, Uganda faces a terrorist threat, including from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), or Islamic State DRC, which does target Christians, and has carried out attacks against civilians in Uganda in recent years, notably an attack on a school in Mpondwe on 16 June 2023, killing more than 40 people. I condemned this abhorrent attack in the strongest possible terms at the time. The British High Commission remains in close contact with Ugandan security services, who continue to conduct operations against the ADF.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to counter the work of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary has been clear that the malign activity of the Iranian regime, including that of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is unacceptable. We have already sanctioned more than 400 Iranian individuals and entities, including the IRGC in its entirety - for roles in weapons proliferation, regional conflicts, human rights violations and threats to UK based individuals. In February, we utilised our new Iran sanctions regime to designate key units within the IRGC-QF and the Deputy Commander responsible for supporting or enabling the Houthi's hostile activity in the region. In January, the UK sanctioned IRGC officials responsible for targeting journalists in the UK.
We will continue to work tirelessly across government and with our international partners to deter Iran's, and the IRGC's, malign activity - including through holding Iran to account for breaches of maritime security; addressing weapons proliferation to non-state actors; and maintaining our permanent defence presence in the region.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) his counterpart in Mozambique, (b) representatives of the Southern African Development Community and (c) his counterparts in states neighbouring Mozambique on potential support in tackling security threats posed by IS-Mozambique.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
In May 2023, the Minister of State for Development and Africa visited Mozambique and met President Nyusi. They discussed UK support for the Government of Mozambique's response to the ongoing IS-Mozambique insurgency in Cabo Delgado, including through new programmes aimed at building local resilience to violent extremism, security and human rights training that has been delivered to over 200 Armed Forces personnel to date. During the same visit to the region, the Minister of State for Development and Africa met South Africa's Deputy Minister for International Relations & Cooperation to discuss a range of topics including peace and post conflict development in Mozambique. Our UK Special Representative to SADC also regularly engages with SADC missions on peace keeping in the region.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the level of activity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the UK.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
While we do not routinely comment on the detail of operational or intelligence matters, the UK will always stand up to threats from foreign nations.
The UK Government has long been clear about our concerns over the malign activity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and we will continue to hold Iran and the IRGC to account. The UK has sanctioned the IRGC in its entirety and on the 29th January 2024 the UK and US announced new sanctions to tackle the domestic threat posed by the Iranian regime. The UK sanctioned 7 individuals and 1 organisation, including senior Iranian officials and members of organised criminal gangs who collaborate with the regime, in order to expose and disrupt Iran’s activities in the UK and overseas.
We continually assess potential threats in the UK and use all tools at our disposal to protect the UK and our interests from Iran-linked threats.