Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) sanction, and (2) ban, the use of Russian nuclear fuel products, including mined uranium, uranium conversion, uranium enrichment, and nuclear fuel.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In the June 2022 Group of Seven Leaders’ Communique, the Government joined with G7 partners to state our collective intent to reduce reliance on civil nuclear and related goods from Russia, including working to assist countries seeking to diversify their nuclear fuel supply chains.
To this end, the Government has led discussions within the ‘Sapporo 5’ group of nuclear energy leaders Canada, France, Japan, and the United States to identify potential areas of collaboration on nuclear fuels, with the goal of reduced global dependence on Russian supply chains. UK regularly raises the topic of dependency on Russia for civil nuclear goods and materials with likeminded international partners and supports efforts to diversify.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the yearly revenue earned by Russian state-owned entities from the sale of nuclear fuel products to (1) EU countries, (2) NATO countries, (3) Japan, and (4) the Republic of Korea.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In the June 2022 Group of Seven Leaders’ Communique, the Government joined with G7 partners to state our collective intent to reduce reliance on civil nuclear and related goods from Russia, including working to assist countries seeking to diversify their nuclear fuel supply chains.
To this end, the Government has led discussions within the ‘Sapporo 5’ group of nuclear energy leaders Canada, France, Japan, and the United States to identify potential areas of collaboration on nuclear fuels, with the goal of reduced global dependence on Russian supply chains. UK regularly raises the topic of dependency on Russia for civil nuclear goods and materials with likeminded international partners and supports efforts to diversify.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) the EU, (2) NATO, (3) Japan, and (4) the Republic of Korea, about terminating contracts with Russian state-owned entities for provision of nuclear products.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In the June 2022 Group of Seven Leaders’ Communique, the Government joined with G7 partners to state our collective intent to reduce reliance on civil nuclear and related goods from Russia, including working to assist countries seeking to diversify their nuclear fuel supply chains.
To this end, the Government has led discussions within the ‘Sapporo 5’ group of nuclear energy leaders Canada, France, Japan, and the United States to identify potential areas of collaboration on nuclear fuels, with the goal of reduced global dependence on Russian supply chains. UK regularly raises the topic of dependency on Russia for civil nuclear goods and materials with likeminded international partners and supports efforts to diversify.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the response of the Ethiopian Government to the joint statement by the UK, US, Australia, Japan and New Zealand of 11 August 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Our statement called for the immediate de-escalation of violence and for the protection of civilians; we continue to monitor the situation. The Minister for Africa subsequently raised the issue in his meeting with Ethiopian National Security Adviser and the Ambassador raises the issue in all his meetings in Addis Ababa. We urge the Government of Ethiopia to find a political solution to end the violence in the country. We continue to monitor the situation, in concert with others, while maintaining life-saving humanitarian assistance, and the provision of basic services to the people in Amhara affected by conflict.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's publication entitled DSIT ministerial travel, April to June 2023, published on 21 November 2023, how much of the £7,117 spent on the visit of the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Tech and the Digital Economy to Japan from 26 April to 1 May was spent on air travel.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department’s publication has now been corrected due to a previous error. The correct cost of this visit is £6,475. The amount spent on air travel was £5,565.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's publication entitled DSIT ministerial travel, April to June 2023, published on 21 November 2023, how much of the (a) £5,162.10 spent on the visit of the Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation to Japan from 10 to 16 June and (b) £7,101.35 spent on his visit to the United States and Canada from 5 to 10 June, was spent on air travel.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department’s ministerial travel, April to June 2023 publication has been republished to amend previous errors.
The visit by the Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation to Japan was from 10 to 16 May. Of the £6,705.09 spent on the visit to Japan from 10 to 16 May, £4,814.01 was spent on air travel. Of the £11,979.35 spent on the visit to the United States and Canada from 5 to 10 June, £7,267.31 was spent on air travel.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department holds information on the countries that will implement the OECD Pillar 2 minimum corporation tax measures from 31 December 2023; and what discussions he has had with (a) the OECD and (b) his counterparts in other countries on the implementation of that measure.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Countries that have committed to apply Pillar 2 from 31 December 2023 or 1 January 2024 include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Vietnam. Japan are implementing for 1 April 2024.
Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Hong-Kong and Singapore have committed to implement for 1 January 2025.
There are many other jurisdictions that have taken steps towards Pillar 2 implementation.
There are regular multilateral discussions at Ministerial level, including at the level of the G20, on how to ensure swift and coordinated implementation of Pillar 2, as well as the support that can be provided to developing countries in that regard.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to encourage the government of Ethiopia to (1) pursue talks with Amhara’s armed militia in order to end the current violence in the region, and (2) set up a dialogue with the various regional factions in Ethiopia to address their disputes in order to avoid a new conflict.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK regularly raises the need for dialogue and political solution to all Ethiopia's conflicts. On 11 August, the British Embassy Addis Ababa coordinated a statement with US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, condemning the violence in Amhara. Since the outbreak of conflict His Majesty's Ambassador to Ethiopia has reiterated this message to the Regional President of Amhara and senior government representatives and offered UK support for talks. The UK supports political and regional dialogue initiatives across Ethiopia, with a particular focus on the participation of women and women's organisations and the objective of contributing to a more inclusive National Dialogue process.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, which (a) Ministers and (b) trade envoys will attend COP28.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
My Rt hon Friends the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State will attend COP28, as well as Ministers from the following departments: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, HM Treasury, Department for Transport, and Department for Health and Social Care.
The Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys to Bangladesh and Japan are attending COP28 as part of the UK’s wider delegation of Climate Parliamentarians.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects the Global Combat Air Programme to make an announcement of new future generation combat aircraft.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
On 9 December 2022, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom announced that we have reached an agreement to launch the Global Combat Air Programme. This will merge our national programmes with the ambition to jointly develop a new next-generation fighter aircraft, due to enter service from 2035.
The Global Combat Air Programme’s trilateral partners are currently working to establish the core platform concept and set up the structures needed to deliver this massive defence project, ready to launch the development phase in 2025. Future announcements will be made as the programme progresses and as agreed by our trilateral partners.