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Tag: Douglas Alexander

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions the Government has had with other countries in the (a) EU and (b) UN about a potential candidate to replace the outgoing UN Special Envoy to Syria.

    Mr William Hague

    Since Mr Brahimi stepped down we have had discussions with the UN and with a number of EU partners about arrangements for a successor. The appointment is still under consideration by the UN Secretary General.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many times he has visited Gibraltar in an official capacity since taking up his present office.

    Mr William Hague

    I have not yet had the opportunity to visit Gibraltar since taking up office. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington) visited in April 2011.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Egyptian counterpart on the likely date for parliamentary elections in Egypt.

    Mr William Hague

    I met Egyptian Foreign Minister Fahmy during his visit to the UK on 14 May and discussed a range of issues, including the timing of parliamentary elections. We believe the best way for the Egyptians to achieve goals of the 25 January revolution of 2011 is through free and fair elections and an inclusive political process in which all groups can participate.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the prospects of achieving a UN Security Council resolution referring Syria to the International Criminal Court.

    Mr William Hague

    On 22 May Russia and China vetoed a resolution that would have referred the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court, despite it having overwhelming international support, including from 13 members of the UN Security Council, 65 co-sponsors, over 100 Non-governmental organisations from across the world and the Syrian National Coalition.

    Nonetheless, we need to ensure that those responsible for atrocities in Syria are held to account. Russia and China cannot indefinitely shield those responsible for horrific crimes. The UK is funding efforts to document war crimes and crimes against humanity, and we are pressing for an expansion of EU sanctions to cover those responsible.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on what occasions he has met the First Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, since Mr Picardo became First Minister.

    Mr William Hague

    I have met Mr Fabian Picardo three times since December 2011. I had discussions with him in the margins of the reception for Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee on 5 June 2012 and during the Conservative Party Conference in October 2012. We also had a substantive meeting in London on 28 August 2013. In addition to those meetings, the Chief Minister and I have spoken on a number of occasions by telephone about various policy issues concerning Gibraltar.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government expects the International Atomic Energy Agency’s inquiry into the military dimension of the Iranian nuclear programme to be complete before the deadline for agreeing a comprehensive nuclear deal set by the P5+1.

    Mr William Hague

    It is unlikely that the complex questions surrounding the possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear programme (PMD) will be resolved by 20 July. We call on Iran to grant immediately access to all sites, equipment, persons and documents requested by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran must demonstrate real progress on PMD in order to reassure the international community that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many meetings the Minister for Europe has held with the European Commission to discuss incursions by Spanish government vessels into British-Gibraltar territorial waters in the last two years.

    Mr William Hague

    We are confident of UK sovereignty over British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW) under international law, a matter over which the European Commission has no locus to intervene. As a result the the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), the Minister responsible for Europe, has not had any meetings with them in the last two years where the sole purpose was discussing Spanish incursions into BGTW.

    However, my right hon. Friend has raised on a number of occasions, at a senior level in the European Commission, the adoption by the European Commission of a proposal from the Spanish government to designate a site of community importance (SCI) under the EU habitats directive (92/43/EEC). The SCI in question overlaps virtually the whole BGTW area. Spain has used this fact to justify certain incursions on the grounds that they are enacting obligations in relation to EU environmental legislation.

    The British Government maintains that the purported site known as the Estrecho Oriental was unlawfully designated and, in any event, cannot have any legal effect in BGTW due to UK sovereignty over this territory. We have made our position on this clear to the European Commission and the Spanish government.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received of allegations of repressive measures taken towards civil society activists in China related to commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown; and whether the Government has made representations to the Chinese government on that matter.

    Mr William Hague

    We are concerned at reports of detentions in relation to the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square incident, and we raised our concerns about this with the Chinese authorities during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in London on 20 May 2014. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), also raised this issue with the Chinese authorities on 19 May and made a statement on 21 May. We also fully support the EU statement of 28 May calling for the release of all those imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their views.

    We were pleased to see that on 5 June the Chinese authorities released a number of those who had been arrested after attending an event to commemorate the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many meetings the Minister of State for Europe has held with the European Commission with the sole purpose of discussing incursions by Spanish government vessels into British Gibraltar territorial waters.

    Mr William Hague

    We are confident of UK sovereignty over British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW) under international law, a matter over which the European Commission has no locus to intervene. As a result the the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), the Minister responsible for Europe, has not had any meetings with the EC in the last two years where the sole purpose was discussing Spanish incursions into BGTW.

    However, my right hon. Friend has raised on a number of occasions, at a senior level in the European Commission, the adoption by the European Commission of a proposal from the Spanish government to designate a site of community importance (SCI) under the EU habitats directive (92/43/EEC). The SCI in question overlaps virtually the whole BGTW area. Spain has used this fact to justify certain incursions on the grounds that they are enacting obligations in relation to EU environmental legislation.

    The British Government maintains that the purported site known as the Estrecho Oriental was unlawfully designated and, in any event, cannot have any legal effect in BGTW due to UK sovereignty over this territory. We have made our position on this clear to the European Commission and the Spanish government.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Sudanese counterpart on the case of Meriam Ibrahim and the persecution of Christians in that country.

    Mr William Hague

    I am appalled at the death sentence given to Meriam Ibrahim, and her continued imprisonment. At my request, the Chargé d’Affaires of the Sudanese Embassy in London was summoned to the Foreign Office on 19 May. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Ms Featherstone), also raised our deep concerns with the Sudanese Foreign Minister when she met him on 20 May. Our Embassy in Khartoum continues to press the Sudanese authorities for Meriam Ibrahim’s release, and is in close contact with her legal team.

    Along with our international partners, we regularly raise the persecution of Christians and other minorities with the Sudanese government. We have called on it to respect the right to freedom of religion and international human rights laws as enshrined in its own constitution.