Category: Speeches

  • Fiona Mactaggart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Fiona Mactaggart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of collecting data about the specific region or town of origin of all victims of human trafficking; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    As part of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) pilot we are reviewing the information collected to ensure all relevant information is captured. As part of this we are considering the potential merits of collecting more granular data on the place of origin of victims of trafficking. Any fundamental changes to the NRM, including data collection, will be made after the NRM pilot has concluded.

  • Robin Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Robin Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robin Walker on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Prime Minister, what criteria the Government uses to decide whether to carry out targeted strikes against individuals in Syria.

    Mr David Cameron

    Following the House of Commons vote on 2 December 2015, the UK joined a global coalition taking military action to tackle the threat posed by Daesh in Syria, as well as Iraq. The action in which the UK is participating includes targeted strikes against members of Daesh in Syria and Iraq, as well as targeting Daesh’s infrastructure, deployed forces and sources of revenue. The Coalition’s ongoing action, including the role of the UK, is lawful in Syria under Article 51 of the UN Charter, and in Iraq with the consent of the Iraqi Government. Coalition action has the support of the international community as reflected in UN Security Council resolution 2249(2015), and the support of the House of Commons.

    My comments to the then right hon. Member for Neath (Mr Hain) on 26 September 2014, Official Report, column 1265, and the Oral Statement I gave on 7 September 2015, Official Report, column 26, about taking lawful action in response to an identified, direct and imminent threat to the UK would still apply, of course, to individuals in Syria and Iraq who are not members of Daesh. The Government reserves the right to take lawful action to address an identified, direct and imminent threat to the UK and report to Parliament after it has done so.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what guarantees she has received that UK development aid for Ethiopia is not used for military or security purposes or the so-called villagisation dispersal programme; and what safeguards are in place to ensure that UK aid to Ethiopia is used only for agreed development purposes.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    All DFID aid in Ethiopia is administered through specific programmes, each with a strong set of controls, high standard monitoring and strong DFID oversight. Aid in Ethiopia is distributed through a number of channels. Where a programme is administered using government systems a standard fiduciary risk assessment evaluating the national public financial management system is mandatory. As with all aid spending, strong checks and balances and regular monitoring ensure that aid is used for the purposes intended.

    UK aid in Ethiopia has contributed to the remarkable developmental gains the country has made over the past decade. The UK has helped reduce poverty and child mortality in Ethiopia by a quarter and put four more million children in primary school.

  • Gordon Henderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Gordon Henderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Henderson on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to allow all British citizens who live abroad but pay income tax in the UK to vote in UK elections regardless of the length of time they have been resident abroad.

    Chris Skidmore

    As set out in our manifesto, the Government will bring forward legislation to remove the outdated 15 year time limit on overseas voting rights.

    The Government’s proposals will make no change to the extent to which taxation is the basis for enfranchisement in the UK.

  • David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been deported to (a) India, (b) Pakistan, (c) China, (d) Nigeria, (e) Uganda and (f) Iran in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The term ‘deportations’ refers to a legal definition of a specific set of returns. Deportations are a specific subset of returns which are enforced either following a criminal conviction or when it is judged that a person’s removal from the UK is conducive to the public good. The deportation order prohibits the person returning to the UK until such time as it may be revoked.

    Published information on those deported is not separately available. As such, the question has been interpreted as referring to enforced returns. In an enforced return, it has been established that a person has breached UK immigration laws and / or has no valid leave to remain in the UK. They have declined to leave voluntarily and the Home Office enforces their departure from the UK.

    Statistics on persons returned from the UK is published in the Home Office’s Immigration Statistics. The latest edition, Immigration Statistics: April to June 2016 is available from GOV.UK on the statistics web pages at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-11-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the Government’s policy is on negotiating legally binding targets at the Paris World Climate Summit 2015.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The UK Government is committed to securing at the Conference of the Parties (COP) 21 in Paris, an ambitious, legally binding global Agreement on climate change with mitigation commitments from all Parties and a set of rules that ensure transparency and accountability of commitments that will allow the world to track progress.

    The Prime Minister at the G7 Summit prioritised an ambitious climate package, and more recently at the G20, all Leaders were clear that an ambitious climate deal remains a global priority. My Ministerial colleagues and I are taking every opportunity to press for an agreement that meets these objectives.

  • Lord Rana – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Rana – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rana on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the future after 2016 of existing projects currently funded by UK aid in India.

    Baroness Verma

    An exit and sustainability plan has been agreed between DFID and partners for every closing programme. In November 2012, we announced we would end our programme of financial aid grants to India by the end of 2015. That is exactly what we are doing. We set this three year transition period so that we could responsibly fulfil commitments to existing financial grant aid projects – all of which will be completed by end of 2015 – after which we will only provide support in the form of private sector expertise and technical assistance

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times personnel from UK Reaper Squadrons 39 and 13 have used the red card system in 2015 in joint operations.

    Penny Mordaunt

    I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the minimum number of bids for rail franchises they require to create the necessary competitive tension to ensure value for money for the travelling public, and in particular whether they consider that three bids is sufficient for that purpose.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Whilst the Department for Transport prefer to have three bids for each franchise competition, as was the established practice under the previous government, we are prepared to accept that on occasion, we may only have two genuine bidders.

  • Chris Bryant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Chris Bryant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Prime Minister, how many special advisers have (a) requested and (b) been granted the Prime Minister’s approval for working part or full-time for a Leave campaign in the EU referendum.

    Mr David Cameron

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Leicester South (Mr Ashworth) on 29 February 2016, UIN 28380.