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Tag: Baroness Tonge

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take to support access to Israeli courts for Palestinian civilian victims of military or settler violence.

    Baroness Warsi

    The British Government provides funding through our Conflict Pool for the Israeli non-governmental organisation Yesh Din to provide legal aid to victims of settler violence. We do not currently have plans to expand this support to those affected by Israeli military actions.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government with whom they have had discussions about including Millennium Development Goal 5b in the World Health Organisation’s draft health goal for the post-2015 framework.

    Baroness Northover

    The UK Government has had discussions with a broad range of interested parties about the importance of including universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights in the post-2015 framework, recognising the unfinished business of MDG5b on universal access to reproductive health. These parties include other national governments, international organisations and NGOs.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the United States’ Secretary of State’s prediction that Israel risks becoming an apartheid state.

    Baroness Warsi

    The British Government has made no assessment of this issue. A negotiated two-state agreement remains the only way to resolve the conflict.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to advocate the inclusion of Millennium Development Goal 5b in the World Health Organisation’s draft health goal for the post-2015 framework.

    Baroness Northover

    As we have already made clear, the UK supports a target to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health for all. Language on this is included in the most recent draft goals and targets list released by the co-chairs of the Open Working Group (OWG) on 2 June.

    The final targets in the post-2015 development framework will however be subject to international negotiations in the United Nations, in which the UK will play an active role.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take, other than increasing the aid budget, to reduce food insecurity and unemployment in the Gaza Strip.

    Baroness Northover

    UK support to Gaza includes providing food vouchers to 5,750 households. Our support provides work and an income to 5,300 vulnerable refugees in Gaza, and short term placements to boost the skills and employability of around 1,000 refugee women. We provide long term, predictable support to UNRWA’s General Fund, around 33% of which is spent in Gaza. Our support to the UN Access Coordination Unit helps 24 UN agencies and 90 INGOs get aid and goods into Gaza. Through our programme we are also helping to develop the Palestinian private sector. Movement and access restrictions prevent sustainable recovery of the Palestinian economy, so we continue to press the Government of Israel to ease those restrictions and allow the export of goods from Gaza to Israel and transfers to the West Bank.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-06-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have held with their European partners with regard to listing Israeli settler groups such as Hilltop Youth as terrorist groups, following the United States State Department’s description of recent settler acts of violence as terrorist incidents.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    We do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not under consideration for proscription.

    A decision to proscribe an organisation must be based on a belief that it is concerned in terrorism as defined in the Terrorism Act 2000, and it must be proportionate.

    The list of proscribed terrorist organisations can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/301777/ProscribedOrganisationsApril14.pdf.

    “

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning reports of Christian pilgrims being fired on with tear gas by the Israeli military at the Tomb of Lazarus in East Jerusalem.

    Baroness Warsi

    An official from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised this incident with an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson on 8 May. The spokesperson maintained that the Israeli soldiers did not fire tear gas directly at the pilgrims but at Palestinian protesters nearby who were throwing stones at the IDF soldiers.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take to secure compensation for the European Union-funded humanitarian housing shelters close to Ma’ale Adumim, which were demolished by Israeli authorities on 9 April.

    Baroness Northover

    Any decision to respond to these demolitions would be taken by the EU rather than the UK. We and our EU partners regularly lobby Israel against the demolition of Palestinian homes and infrastructure and forced transfer of population in Area C and East Jerusalem. Officials most recently raised the issue of demolitions with the office of Prime Minister Netanyahu on 1 May.On 5 May the EU missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah issued a statement condemning recent home demolitions and evictions of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and urging Israel against such actions.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-03-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government in what areas they operate drones; and for what use.

    Baroness Kramer

    The Ministry of Defence operates Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) globally for operational surveillance, precision attack and for training purposes.　 Reaper RPAS is the only armed system.　 It operates only in Afghanistan, and professional, qualified pilots follow the exact same Rules of Engagement as pilots of other aircraft types.

    Whilst the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has not used any RPAS, its Centre for Environment Fisheries & Aquaculture Science, Food & Environment Research Agency, Environment Agency, Natural England and Royal Botanic Gardens have used small RPAS to support work on flood defence and coastal erosion, and the monitoring of crops, plants and nature reserves.　 All flights were carried out within the UK except for an aerial plant survey in Peru carried out by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

    The Home Office does not itself operate RPAS and the only police force operationally using a system (albeit very occasionally) is Staffordshire. This system is mostly used for patrol sweeps of car park and camping areas at V Festival, security sweeps for VIP events at the National Arboretum, they have also carried out some missing person, search and rescue, and counter-poaching tasks.

    Sussex Police have completed formal training and are now in the process of gathering experience with their own RPAS system – although if an important operational task came up RPAS would be deployed. The formal start date for the trial is in the near future.

    Kent Police, as part of the 2 Seas project, have hosted some RPAS trial flights to assess the performance of the system. They are planning to host an event about the project in July.

    　

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take to ensure thatthe rights in international law of both Israel and Palestine become the starting point for any renewal of negotiations.

    Baroness Warsi

    The Government has strongly supported the tireless efforts of US Secretary of State Kerry to facilitate a lasting final status agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. It is disappointing that, despite these efforts, greater progress was not made. However, we remain convinced that common ground and political strength can be found, and we remain committed to doing all we can to support the US and the parties as they seek to find a way forward.