Category: Speeches

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-10-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the human rights situation in Kenya.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    ​The UK recognises Kenya’s commitment to human rights as set out in Kenya’s 2010 Constitution and Bill of Rights, and demonstrated through its implementation of recommendations from its United Nations Universal Periodic Review in 2015.

    We welcome recent reforms such as the announcement by President Kenyatta on 24 October that all death sentences have been commuted to life terms. We encourage the government to take steps formally to end the death penalty in Kenya.

  • Clive Efford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Clive Efford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefit to sport of the introduction of a Sport Betting Right; and if he will make a statement.

    Tracey Crouch

    The government has no plans to introduce a sport betting right.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.242 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what estimate he has made of the amount that the two per cent precept for adult social care would raise for each local authority if used fully.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Spending Review set out that, if fully used, the additional council tax flexibility could raise nearly £2 billion a year by 2019-20. We will set out further details alongside the provisional local government finance settlement later this month, including an equality impact assesment in the New Year.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has commenced a programme of testing shipborne rolling vertical landing of the F35B Lightning II.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Shipborne rolling vertical landing (SRVL) testing will begin during the UK’s F-35B first of class flying trials, which are scheduled to take place aboard HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH from 2018. SRVL testing is scheduled for completion in 2020. A programme of SRVL simulation testing will continue until first of class flying trials begin.

  • Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how the Government’s funding for community projects to tackle female genital mutilation has been spent.

    Karen Bradley

    Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. We will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls.

    In 2014/15, the Government provided over £380,000 to community organisations through the Home Office’s FGM Community Engagement Initiative and the Department for Communities and Local Government’s FGM and forced marriage prevention projects.

    The 29 projects all included prevention work with a focus on building the confidence of women and communities to speak out against these practices and raising awareness of the serious consequences they can have.

    Evaluations show that over 25,000 people were reached and feedback from participants demonstrates increased awareness of the context, manifestation and harm caused by FGM and forced marriage.

  • Graham Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Graham Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the greatest possible engagement by children and young people in the commemoration of the First World War.

    David Evennett

    Children and Young People are at the centre of our First World War Centenary Commemorations. We want to see young people across the country learning about the war.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 31488, how many British officials who have provided advice to Saudi Arabia’s internal investigation into the breaking of international humanitarian law in Yemen have visited Yemen as part of this investigation; and where each of those officials was based.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We will provide advice to the independent committee that will assess Saudi Arabian military activity in Yemen, drawing on a range of information as required. Our Embassy operations in Yemen are suspended and since March 2011 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Travel Advice has consistently advised against all travel to Yemen.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to facilitate the start of negotiations on the proposed Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty in the last 12 months.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK continues to push for the early start of negotiations, without preconditions, on a Fissile Material Cut off Treaty (FMCT) in the Conference on Disarmament (CD). In order to help unblock the current impasse, earlier this year we submitted a draft proposal to establish a formal working group and an associated programme of work for the duration of the CD’s 2016 session, which includes provision for FMCT issues to be included.

    We also supported the resolution at last year’s UN General Assembly First Committee on issues surrounding an FMCT and we continue to work with partners in the CD to press Pakistan to start negotiations.

  • Lord Donoughue – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Donoughue – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Donoughue on 2016-06-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of world atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions China and India contributed in the latest period for which records are available.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    There are no official emissions estimates available for recent years for many developing countries, including India and China. One widely used 3rd party estimate is however available from the World Resources Institute CAIT dataset.

    This data suggests that in 2012, the latest available year, China’s domestic greenhouse gas emissions (including land use, land use change and forestry, but excluding international aviation and shipping ) accounted for around 22% of the global total (25% for CO2 only).

    India’s domestic greenhouse gas emissions (including land use, land use change and forestry, but excluding international aviation and shipping) accounted for around 6% of the global total (5% for CO2 only).

  • Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what locations they considered for their new offices in the USA focused on international trade.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The USA is the UK’s single largest trade and investment partner, and the decision to open three new Government Offices in 2016 reflects our ambition to expand this economic partnership even further.

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office considered a number of factors when deciding where to open these offices. The cities of Raleigh, North Carolina; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and San Diego, California were judged to have the best combination of policy, research and trade and investment potential.