The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-02-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to work with the UK members of parliament who are attending the forthcoming World Humanitarian Summit in May.
Baroness Verma
The UK is committed to making the World Humanitarian Summit a success and recognises that this requires coordination with a large number of interested parties.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-03-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Bahrain concerning the imprisonment of Ibrahim Sharif for making speeches about democracy.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We have raised Ibrahim Sharif’s case with the Government of Bahrain, including at the highest levels, and we understand that he has the right of appeal. The UK encourages Bahrain to respect the rights of all peaceful opposition figures. We call on the Bahraini government to act proportionately in all such cases to protect the universal rights of freedom of expression and assembly. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), most recently raised human rights with the Bahraini Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Sheikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa , on 8 March.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-03-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how to achieve legally binding targets for air pollution should the third runway at Heathrow proceed.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Airports Commission published a large amount of analysis on air quality, which included an assessment of potential impacts on limit values, in its Final Report, which is available in the libraries of the House.
In addition, as announced in December, we are testing the Airports Commission’s work on air quality against the Government’s new air quality plan, as recommended by the Environmental Audit Committee.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-04-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take in response to Israel’s Jerusalem Municipality plan to demolish Palestinian homes to make way for a tourist complex in the Silwan neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We have not raised the specific issue of demolition of Palestinian homes to make way for the Kedem Compound. We are not aware of any impending home demolitions to make way for the site.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-05-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take within the World Health Organization to ensure that targets on universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services and reproductive rights are treated on an equal footing with other targets in terms of implementation, financial support, follow-up and review.
Baroness Verma
We support the World Health Assembly resolution that proposes to review, at future World Health Assemblies, the report of the Every Woman Every Child Independent Accountability Panel. The proposed accountability mechanism will review key indicators under the strategic themes of Survive, Thrive and Transform, including those on sexual and reproductive services (including for adolescents) and including rights.
UK officials are engaged in developing the rights component of the accountability mechanism.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-05-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take to protect the Golan Heights from further Israeli settlement expansion, discriminatory policies against the native Syrian population, and the extraction of natural resources from the area.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Government regards the Golan Heights – along with East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza – as Occupied Territory. We continue to call on Israel, as the Occupying Power, to uphold its obligations under international law in the Occupied Territories, including abiding by UN Security Council Resolution 497 (1981). We have been clear that Israel must comply with its obligations under international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-06-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have made for bilateral and multilateral aid to the Palestinian Authority after the UK has left the EU.
Baroness Verma
The Prime Minister has been clear that the negotiation for Britain’s future relationship with Europe will need to begin under a new Prime Minister, and we have now got to look at all the detailed arrangements. In the meantime, Departments continue working to deliver the Government agenda.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-09-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for ending the siege of Gaza in the light of the new data released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs confirming that Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip tightened during July and the warning from the UN that Gaza will be uninhabitable by 2020.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
While we have not made any assessment on this specific issue, we remain deeply concerned by the situation in Gaza. We continue to press for urgent measures to relieve the humanitarian suffering of those in Gaza and urge donors to disburse their Gaza pledges.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-10-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultation they have held on the proposal to remove the 50 per cent cap on religious selection for existing schools as well as new schools, and which groups they have consulted.
Lord Nash
On 9th September the Prime Minister announced that we will remove the 50 per cent cap for new faith free schools and consult on a new set of much more effective requirements to ensure that new faith schools are properly inclusive. The consultation is available to view at consult.education.gov.uk/ under ‘Schools that work for everyone’. We would welcome your views on our proposals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-10-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about the recent attacks in Silwan and the fatal shooting of Ali Alef Shyoukhi.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
While we have not made any representations to the Israeli authorities on this issue, we have an ongoing dialogue with the Israeli authorities about the Israel Defence Forces’ use of live fire. We remain concerned by the use of force by Israeli security personnel in response to protests and security incidents. We regularly raise these concerns with the Israeli Government, stressing the need for proportionality and proper accountability.