Category: Speeches

  • Andrew Bingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Bingham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bingham on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish the Lead Ammunition Group’s final report; and if she will make a statement.

    Rory Stewart

    The Government is considering the Lead Ammunition Group’s report on the effects of lead ammunition to human health and wildlife and will respond as soon as possible.

    I am shortly due to meet the chairman of the Group to discuss their report on the 22nd March.

    The Lead Ammunition Group’s report is independent of Government. It will be for the Group to decide when to publish their report.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome there have been in each of the last five years.

    Ben Gummer

    We are advised by the Health and Social Care Information Centre that the data requested is not held.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has held with the government of the United Arab Emirates on the number of political prisoners held in that country; and what representations he has made on behalf of such prisoners.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We regularly discuss human rights with the UAE. If we have concerns regarding arrests, convictions or sentencing we make these clear to Emirati authorities, as part of our broader strategic engagement.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to support research and development to provide continually up-to-date defence against cybercrime.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Home Office continues to work closely with police forces to ensure that we are best placed to tackle the threat posed by cyber crime.

    Through the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP), we invested over £90 million during the last Parliament to bolster the law enforcement response.

    As the Chancellor announced in November, this Government has committed to spending £1.9 billion on cyber security over the next five years, including for tackling cyber crime.

    The Home Office is also supporting the work led by Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh, the National Policing Lead for Digital Investigation and Intelligence (DII), to build capabilities to combat the full range of digital crime types. In addition we are providing funding through the Police Transformation Fund to support police led programmes to provide a step-change in digital capability.

  • Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Burmese government relaunches the Prisoner of Conscience Affairs Committee or establishes a new Committee with a mandate to review the cases of people charged or deprived of their liberty for the exercise of their human rights.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The release of some 200 political prisoners during its first few weeks in office is a strong demonstration of the new Burmese Government’s commitment to reforming human rights and the rule of law in Burma. However, we remain concerned that arrests, detentions and sentencing of political activists could continue while the military retains control of the Home Ministry, Police and Courts.

    Tackling the causes of political prisoners will require a thorough but longer-term process of legislative and judicial reform. Having an effective Political Prisoners Committee will be an important element of that process and is something we have consistently called for and will continue to do.

    The Government has long campaigned on the issue of political prisoners in Burma. We have maintained pressure through bilateral and international actions such as the two annual UN resolutions on Burma in which we have played an instrumental part. I raised this issue directly with the then Minister for the Presidency, U Aung Min, during my visit to Burma in July 2015. We will work with the new Government to help it continue to make progress.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will estimate the number of (a) refugees, (b) internally displaced persons and (c) persons of concern resulting from conflict in Yemen.

    Rory Stewart

    Since March 2015, the United Nations (UN) estimates that:

    1. 179,654 people have arrived in Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Oman from Yemen, including Yemeni refugees and asylum-seekers;
    2. 2,205,102 people are internally displaced within Yemen; and
    3. 21.2 million people are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance.
  • Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2015 to Question 13499, when the Civil Aviation Authority began its review of certain aspects of the safety of operations at RAF Northolt; if he will publish the full remit of the review and its conclusions; when he expects to receive the conclusions of the review; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) began its review in July in order to respond to several points raised in a letter from Biggin Hill Airport dated 8 July 2015.

    The CAA has now concluded the review and I understand, will communicate the results directly to Biggin Hill Airport shortly.

  • Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Tyrie on 2015-11-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will instruct the Infrastructure and Projects Authority to reproduce Table 7.1 of the Final Report of the Airports Commission, published in July 2015, using the Commission’s (a) global growth, (b) relative decline of Europe, (c) low-cost is king and (d) global fragmentation scenarios.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is currently considering the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps.

    The Government will carefully consider all the evidence set out, including that on costs, when making a decision on additional runway capacity.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with HM Treasury on whether people resettled in the UK under the vulnerable persons programme will be able to access banking services.

    Richard Harrington

    Refugees who are resettled under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme are granted a five year humanitarian protection visa and can therefore access banking services in the UK.

  • Andy Burnham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andy Burnham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Burnham on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of people had their passports checked on exiting the UK at (a) Dover and (b) all UK airports, seaports and ferry ports in (i) 2013, (ii) 2014 and (iii) 2015.

    Mrs Theresa May

    Embarkation controls were abolished in two phases in 1994 and 1998, as the paper-based checks were deemed outdated and checks were not carried out on all modes of transport. Consequently the Home Office does not hold the data requested.

    Since April 2015 exit data has been collected by carriers from all scheduled international commercial services departing the UK from air and sea ports and from international rail stations, except those services not within the scope. Departure data is collected by carriers and port operators and transmitted to Home Office systems, where work takes place to match it to arrival data, visa conditions and other information as appropriate.