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  • Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Saudi Arabian government about freedom of speech in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK is a strong supporter of freedom of expression around the world. We continue to raise a range of human rights issues with the Saudi authorities including the right to freedom of expression. Earlier this month we raised freedom of expression at a senior level with the Saudi authorities.

  • Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Russian government about (a) human rights in general and (b) LGBT rights in that country.

    Mr David Lidington

    (a) We remain deeply concerned about deteriorating human rights in Russia and regularly make this clear in bilateral interactions at all levels. I discussed human rights with the Russian Ambassador in London at our last meeting on 18 December. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable and noble friend Baroness Anelay, discussed human rights with the Russian Ambassador on 25 November. The British Embassy in Moscow regularly raises our concerns about human rights with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, most recently with Foreign Minister Lavrov on 13 January.

    (b) We have raised concerns about LGBT rights in Russia bilaterally at a number of levels since the law banning the promotion of “non-traditional” sexual relations among minors was passed in June 2013. I raised concerns about the protection of LGBT people in Russia with the Russian Ambassador at our last meeting on 18 December. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials also discussed the safety of participants at LGBT events with the Russian authorities in November, and they regularly meet with LGBT activists and attend LGBT events to provide support.

  • Dame Joan Ruddock – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Dame Joan Ruddock – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dame Joan Ruddock on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether there will be a joint P5 statement on the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK attended the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons and made a statement afterwards. Not all the P5 Nuclear Weapons States attended; there are therefore no plans for a joint P5 statement on the Vienna Conference.

  • Dame Joan Ruddock – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Dame Joan Ruddock – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dame Joan Ruddock on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when the P5 nuclear weapon states will next meet in London; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK will host the sixth Conference of P5 Nuclear Weapon States in London on 4-5 February; I will update the House after the meeting.

  • Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Russian government about its annexation of Crimea.

    Mr David Lidington

    We have made clear that we will not recognise Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, which remains a part of the sovereign territory of Ukraine. This point is raised as a matter of principle in any high-level level UK/Russia bilateral meetings. I last raised this issue the last time I met the Russian Ambassador in December.

  • Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent progress has been made on negotiations on the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The E3+3 and Iran agreed on 24 November 2014 to extend the negotiations for seven months because both sides believed that a comprehensive nuclear deal was possible, but more time was needed to bridge differences, in particular on Iran’s enrichment capacity. Since then there have been two further rounds of talks, most recently on 18 January. These talks have been serious and useful. For us to reach a deal, Iran needs to show more flexibility on the key issue of enrichment. Talks will resume in February.

  • Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Icelandic counterpart on strengthening business relations between that country and the UK.

    Mr David Lidington

    My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, has not yet held discussions with his Icelandic counterpart on strengthening business relations. These issues were last discussed in detail by hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mark Prisk), Investment Envoy for the Nordic Baltic region, and Högni S. Kristjánsson, the Icelandic Director General of Trade and Economic Affairs, at the annual UK Iceland bilateral discussion on 27 November 2014. The British Embassy and UK Trade and Investment in Reykjavik have constant discussions with Icelandic companies on the possibilities of investing in the UK and assist UK companies to export to Iceland.

  • Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he next expects the Friends of Syria Group to meet next.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Core Group of the Friends of Syria are due to meet in London on 22 January at senior official level, following the meeting of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL.

  • Angela Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Angela Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what level of fishing mortality reduction her Department considers sufficient for the conservation and recovery of sea bass stocks.

    George Eustice

    The advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) in 2014 was that fishing mortality for sea bass should be reduced by 61%. Measures currently under discussion for introduction this year need to make substantial progress towards this objective.

  • Angela Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Angela Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recorded number of sea bass were discarded in the (a) Irish and (b) Celtic Sea by Irish vessels in each of the last five years.

    George Eustice

    Under long standing Irish national measures to protect bass stocks their commercial fishing vessels are not permitted to land bass for sale, which means a degree of discarding of bass by-catch from mixed fishing activity will occur. We have no data available to us, however, on the level of such discards by Irish vessels.

    For UK vessels we have discard estimates for the last five years combined for the Irish and Celtic Seas. These relate to otter trawlers, netters and beam trawlers, based on the numbers of sampled trips (see table (b)). We do not sample hook and line boats although these report a sizeable fraction of bass landings in these areas, as survival rates for discarded bass from commercial rod-and line or hand-line boats (under 10 metre inshore vessels) are considered potentially relatively high.

    (a) Numbers (thousands) and weight (tonnes) landed and discarded for sampled fleets (otter, nets, beam) in Irish and Celtic Seas, raised to fleet landings for each gear, based on at-sea observer sampling by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas).

    Number ‘000s

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    Mean

    Landed

    48

    36

    29

    39

    30

    36

    Discarded

    8

    9

    10

    10

    4

    8

    % discarded

    14

    20

    25

    21

    11

    18

    Tonnes

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    Mean

    Landed

    107

    58

    71

    94

    80

    82

    Discarded

    3

    3

    4

    6

    2

    3

    % discarded

    3

    5

    5

    6

    2

    4

    (b) Number of trips sampled, Irish and Celtic Seas

    No. trips sampled

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    Total

    Beam trawls

    1

    1

    2

    Netters

    4

    4

    16

    12

    10

    46

    Otter trawls

    23

    20

    21

    21

    12

    97

    Grand Total

    28

    24

    38

    33

    22

    145