Tag: Andrew Rosindell

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with officials from (a) the EU and (b) the UN on obtaining compensation for UK victims of Libyan-sponsored IRA terrorism.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK Government takes the needs of UK victims of Qadhafi-sponsored terrorism very seriously and is sympathetic to their attempts to seek redress. We have raised this with the Libyan authorities, making it clear that resolution remains a priority for us, though current instability has delayed progress on this issue. The UK Government is not currently involved in negotiations on securing compensation payments with the EU or UN, though the FCO does provide facilitation support to campaign groups, where it has been requested. The EU and UN have made clear that when sanctions are lifted, frozen assets must be made available to and for the benefit of the people of Libya.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department is taking to promote trade between the UK and (a) Australia and (b) New Zealand.

Greg Hands

The department has identified opportunities and resourced campaigns to access high value sectors including defence, consumer & retail and financial services across the region.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of German policy on working with the Turkish government to tackle migration on her Department’s objective to reduce net migration to the UK.

James Brokenshire

The Government supports Turkey’s efforts to manage the flow of illegal migration, and maintain an effective border between Turkey and the EU. Any progress made on these areas, with the support of individual Member States or the EU as a whole, is welcomed.

In line with the Government’s commitment, any nations who aspire to accede to the EU in future, including Turkey, should not gain free movement rights until that accession state’s economy has converged more closely with existing Member States.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that people involved in the conflict in Yemen are able to access humanitarian and commercial aid,

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Intense fighting and insecurity on the ground in Yemen has resulted in restrictions being placed on commercial and humanitarian shipping, and difficulties in distributing food and fuel to those who need it. The most important action to address the humanitarian situation, beyond a ceasefire, is to facilitate access for commercial and humanitarian goods, which all parties to the conflict have a responsibility to ensure. The UK continues to monitor this issue, and has engaged frequently with the Government of Yemen and members of the Saudi Arabian-led coalition on facilitating access. We have emphasised with all parties to the conflict the importance of the non-politicisation of aid. There has been some recent progress on shipping access, which we welcome, but this needs to be maintained and increased in the future. We will continue to work with the Government of Yemen, members of the coalition, and the UN to see sustained progress.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent young people from being forced in to arranged marriages overseas.

Karen Bradley

The UK is a world-leader in the fight to stamp out forced marriage, with our Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) leading efforts to combat this brutal practice. The FMU can provide support and assistance to anyone in the UK at risk, and to British nationals overseas. The Unit works with our High Commissions and embassies overseas to assist with protection and repatriation of vulnerable victims.

o To date, over 800 Forced Marriage Protection Orders have been made to prevent people from being forced into a marriage and to assist in repatriating victims;

o In 2014, the FMU gave advice or support related to a possible forced marriage in 1,267 cases.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all sides in the conflict in Yemen maintain acceptable humanitarian and human rights standards.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are aware of reports of alleged violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and abuses of human rights in Yemen, committed by all parties to the conflict – and take them very seriously. We have raised our concerns with the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition, and have received repeated assurances that they are complying with IHL. We continue to engage with them on those assurances. We are also concerned by reports of alleged IHL violations by Houthi-Saleh forces, including attacks on civilians in Aden and Taiz; intimidation of UN ships attempting to dock at Aden; the use of schools and hospitals for military purposes; the use of child soldiers; and the targeting of aid workers and restrictions on humanitarian access. We have raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with IHL.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will take steps to reduce aid spending in countries with their own space programme.

Mr Desmond Swayne

No UK aid money is spent on helping developing countries put people in space. We already take the growing ability of emerging economies like India and China to finance their own development programmes into account in reviewing our aid relationship with such countries.

Through the ongoing Bilateral Aid Review, we will decide which countries will receive bilateral funding and how much. We will use a range of criteria to determine allocations to countries, including the level and persistence of extreme poverty in the country and the ability of the government of that country to finance its own development needs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that British citizens travelling to India are aware of the illegal practice of capturing and breaking young elephants in India for use in the tourism industry.

Mr Hugo Swire

We are aware of reports that some elephants in use in the tourist industry in India have been captured as calves and then beaten and mistreated. This practice is illegal in India. Officials in London have discussed this issue with Save The Asian Elephant (STAE), an organisation that works to stop this cruel treatment.

The UK is committed to conserving Asian elephants and recognises the growing threats to their populations, particularly from poaching and cross-border, illegal trade in live animals to feed the demand by the tourist and entertainment industries. The UK has been working internationally through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in discussion with elephant range states, including India, to increase protection for Asian elephants. We secured agreement from the Indian government in 2014 for elephant range states to put in place measures to prevent illegal trade in live elephants.

It is not for the Government to make British citizens aware of this practice. However, we will continue to work together with the Indian authorities, as well as STAE and other non-governmental organisations, on protecting elephants.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the memorandum from the Director of the US Office of the Secretary of Defense on Observations on the Marine Corps F-35B Demonstration on USS Wasp, published by Project on Government Oversight on 14 September 2015, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy on procurement of the F-35 of that memorandum’s finding on that aircraft’s reliability and combat readiness.

Mr Philip Dunne

The trial aboard the USS Wasp was an operational test for the United States Marine Corps (USMC) F-35B, with much of the data produced being used to inform the USMC’s declaration of initial operating capability. This achievement was a significant milestone for the USMC and for the wider Joint Strike Fighter programme, particularly for the UK which operates the same Short Take-Off Vertical Landing variant.

UK personnel were fully embedded in the USS Wasp trial and we will use the data gathered from this event, future trials and operational deployments to support our own flying trials aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth in 2018 as we re-generate the UK’s Carrier Strike capability.