Tag: Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission is a credible body to investigate human rights violations committed by the Ethiopian security forces in their response to the Oromo protests.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The British Government remains deeply concerned about the handling of demonstrations in Oromia and the reported deaths of a number of protestors, and has repeatedly made representations to the Ethiopian Government over the ongoing situation in Oromia. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and raise our concerns with the Ethiopian Government, including on the use of force.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has been appointed to look into the handling of the protests in Oromia. We will not pre-judge the outcome of their investigation and we await the publication of their report. We will continue to urge the EHRC and the Government of Ethiopia to ensure that their report is credible, transparent and leads to concrete action. We will take a view on what further lobbying, if any might be appropriate following the publication of the EHRC report.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-07-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the continuing impact of the alterations to the state pension age on women born in the 1950s, on or after 6 April 1951.

Lord Freud

The decision to equalise the State Pension age for men and women dates back to 1995 and addresses a longstanding inequality. Since April 2010, women’s State Pension age has been gradually increasing for those born after 6 April 1950. Following sharp increases in life expectancy projections, and therefore the increase in the number of people living longer in retirement, this timetable was accelerated by the Pensions Act 2011.

The Government listened to concerns expressed by those affected by the Pension Act 2011 changes, and took action to limit the maximum change to State Pension age to 18 months, a concession worth over £1billion.

All those affected by the faster equalisation timetable will reach State Pension age following the introduction of the new State Pension, which is more generous for many women who have historically done poorly under the current system.

The average woman reaching State Pension age in the first forty years of the new State Pension is estimated to receive 10 per cent more State Pension over her lifetime than the average man.

Women retiring today can still expect to receive the State Pension for 26 years on average – several years longer than men. And this generation of women will spend a higher proportion of their lives in retirement than any before.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-11-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their policy to suspend existing arms export licences, and to refuse new ones, if a country is believed to be committing violations of international law during an armed conflict.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

All export licence applications are carefully assessed on a case by case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking account of all relevant factors at the time of the application. A licence will not be issued for any country if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the Criteria

We keep all licences under review in the light of changing circumstances in countries of destination for UK arms exports.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-01-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of claims that Saudi Arabia has bombed several hospitals in Yemen, including Médecins Sans Frontières clinics.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are aware of recent allegations regarding an attack on a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Sa’ada province on 10 January. We are also aware of reports of alleged attacks against a MSF hospital in Sa’ada on 26 October and on a MSF unit in Taiz on 2 December. We welcome the public announcement by Saudi Arabia to establish a fact finding committee into the alleged airstrike on the MSF mobile clinic in Taiz. It is important that Saudi Arabia conducts thorough and conclusive investigation into incidents that have raised concerns.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-03-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the impact on UK tax receipts of the corporate tax regimes in Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The information requested is not available in this format.

HM Revenue and Customs publishes estimates of the tax gap each year. The latest edition was published on 22 October 2015 and is available on the gov.uk website.

Estimates are made for all major taxes, including corporation tax and income tax. However, this information is not broken down in such a way that can be used to identify the loss of tax receipts due to the tax regimes requested.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what response they have made to the call by Syria Solidarity UK and others for air drops of aid to the people of the town of Daraya.

Baroness Verma

Across Syria, Assad and other parties to the conflict are wilfully impeding humanitarian access on a day-by-day basis. It is unacceptable and illegal to use starvation as a weapon of war. The UK has given support to the UN and international NGOs since the start of the conflict to deliver aid to these areas and are pushing for humanitarian access to be granted to all besieged and hard to reach places in Syria through the International Syria Support Group Humanitarian taskforce and our position in the UN Security Council.

The United Nations has been unable to deliver assistance to the 4,000 people besieged by the Syrian Regime in Daraya since November 2012, despite repeated requests for permission. The UN report that humanitarian conditions there are dire and it stands ready to deliver assistance as soon as access is granted by the Syrian regime. The UN has not ruled out air drops to locations in Syria, but aid delivered by road, by UN agencies and by others who know the situation on the ground, and who can ensure it gets to those who need it most, remains the best way of getting help through. Daraya is only a few minutes’ drive from UN warehouses in Damascus.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to support a statement on Ethiopia at the June session of the UN Human Rights Council, in the light of the government of Ethiopia’s response to the Oromo protests.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We remain deeply concerned about the handling of demonstrations in Oromia and the reported deaths of a number of protestors. We have repeatedly made representations to the Ethiopian government over the ongoing situation in that region. We will consider the merits of a statement, with likeminded countries, on Ethiopia’s response to the Oromo protests at the UN Human Rights Council in June.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-07-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the calls by Women Against State Pension Inequality for transitional state pension arrangements for women born in the 1950s, on or after 6 April 1951.

Lord Freud

Transitional arrangements are already in place. At the time of the Pensions Act 2011 the government introduced a concession worth £1.1 billion to limit the impact of the rising state pension age on those most affected. The concession capped the maximum delay that anyone would face in claiming their State Pension to 18 months rather than two years, relative to the previous timetable.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-11-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of whether continuing efforts to press the government of Sudan to tackle sexual and gender-based violence in Darfur have been successful, in the light of (1) the incidence of rape in the areas currently monitored by the UN and (2) the requirement in the legal framework in Sudan for a victim to provide four male witnesses to confirm that a rape was without consent.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We remain deeply concerned by the reported prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence in Darfur. While we welcome amendments to Sudanese law earlier this year that separated the crimes of rape and adultery we are concerned about how the law is implemented.

In addition to engaging the Government of Sudan, we will continue to support a wide-range of efforts to progress this issue. We strongly support the presence of the African Union/UN Hybrid Mission operation in Darfur (UNAMID) and have worked to ensure that the mission has a strong mandate to protect civilians across Darfur. We are also vocal – both bilaterally and through the UN’s Security and Human Rights Councils – in urging all armed actors to address sexual and gender-based violence in Darfur. The UK played a significant role in the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2242 reflecting the importance of Women, Peace and Security-related issues for the UN family. Bilaterally, we have provided support to over 150 survivors of rape in Darfur and contributed to the successful prosecution of members of the police and armed forces.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-01-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the response made by human rights groups to figures released by the UK that it sold Saudi Arabia over £1 billion of weapons and air-to-air missiles between July and September 2015.

Lord Maude of Horsham

The UK operates one of the most rigorous and transparent export control regimes in the world. No licence would be issued if to do so would contravene the UK’s strict export control criteria. In this case a single licence accounted for 90% of the total value of potential exports authorised by the licences. This was for a long-term contract for the delivery of a new air-to-air munitions capability over a number of years [and is unconnected to current operations by the Royal Saudi Air Force in Yemen.

Licences granted in a given period do not equate to goods shipped The Department for Business (BIS) export licensing statistics only indicate the number and value of licences granted in a specified period, not the value of actual exports. Licences are usually valid for up to two years and the value of the licence therefore represents an estimate of future export value. As such, the value of licences granted in any one quarter will generally not be the same as the value of goods actually exported and does not provide an indication of goods shipped.