Tag: Hilary Benn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide on atrocities committed by Daesh.

Mr Philip Hammond

My officials have regular contact with the Joint Office of the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect. Their discussions cover a range of issues related to preventing genocide and mass atrocities, including the actions of Daesh.

The UK provides funding for the Office, including for its work with religious leaders and faith-based organisations in the Middle East and North Africa.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has (a) drafted a motion for or (b) discussed a draft of a motion with other members of the UN Security Council since 20 April 2016 that would refer the perpetrators of suspected (i) genocide and (ii) war crimes in Syria or Iraq to the International Criminal Court.

Mr Philip Hammond

In August 2014, the UK sponsored UN Security Council resolution 2170 which reaffirmed the call for those who have committed or are responsible for violations of international humanitarian law in Iraq and Syria to be held accountable. UN Security Council resolution 2249, passed in November 2015, again confirmed the importance of holding the Islamic State in the Levant (also known as Da’esh) to account. These resolutions follow an attempt in May 2014 to have the Security Council refer the situation in Syria to the ICC which was vetoed by Russia and China. We continue to discuss with partners on the UN Security Council further ways to ensure that the perpetrators of crimes committed in Syria and Iraq are held to account and face justice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-05-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK has released all the information it has in its possession relating to the death of Dag Hammarskjold to the Independent Panel of Experts.

Mr Philip Hammond

The vast majority of UK material relevant to the death of Dag Hammarskjold has already been released to The National Archives at Kew, where it is accessible to the public. In response to a request from the UN Independent Panel established in 2015 to examine the value of new information related to the death of former UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) coordinated a search across all relevant UK Government departments. None of these departments identified any pertinent material. In addition, the FCO also reviewed again a small number of file extracts that had previously been withheld. The review concluded that, although these file extracts did not contain any substantive information likely to be of interest to the Panel, they should continue to be withheld under Section 3(4) of the UK Public Records Act, for security-related reasons. The FCO wrote to the Panel, assuring it that the redactions consist of short individual pieces of text and that the FCO had not retained whole documents or files. Our assessment continues to be that all the information of value to the Panel has already been released to The National Archives and that release of the redacted material would not provide anything of additional value for the Panel’s work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-06-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the government of Bahrain on the suspension of the main Shia opposition group in that country.

Mr Philip Hammond

We are concerned by the decision to suspend the activities of the Bahraini opposition group, Al Wefaq, and freeze its assets. I raised this issue with my Bahraini counterpart, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa on 14 June 2016. We encourage Bahrain to respect the rights of political groups to operate and to seek an inclusive political dialogue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what meetings he has had to date with HM Government of Gibraltar on exiting the EU.

Mr Robin Walker

The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union met with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar this week and is committed to continued close working with the Government of Gibraltar.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-10-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the economic effect on the UK of the UK withdrawing from the European Banking Authority.

Simon Kirby

On 23 June the British people voted to leave the EU and the Government will deliver on their verdict. We will continue to undertake the policy work to support the UK’s negotiations to leave the European Union and to establish the future relationship between the EU and the UK. However, we are not going to give a running commentary on every twist and turn of our exit negotiations. It is in all our interests for UK and EU to work together on both our withdrawal and a new relationship and for us to be able to deliver a successful outcome through a constructive negotiation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many named people from which countries have been subject to UK targeted sanctions in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Philip Hammond

The UK implements EU and UN sanctions. The definitive lists of named individuals subject to sanctions are held by these multilateral bodies. Sanctions usually comprise an asset freeze and/or a travel ban.

HM Treasury maintains a consolidated list of individuals subject to financial sanctions [http://hmt-sanctions.s3.amazonaws.com/sanctionsconlist.htm]. At present there are 1,296 individuals on that list. It is not current practice to retain the records of individuals who are no longer subject to targeted sanctions, nor to segment data on an annual basis. The consolidated list is updated whenever an individual is added to, or removed from, an EU or UN sanctions regime. It represents the current situation and is designed specifically to facilitate sanctions implementation and compliance by the private sector. Annualised data for the last 10 years is not held by the UK, EU or UN.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his Department’s expenditure against Departmental Expenditure Limits is in 2015-16; and what his Department’s Annually Managed Expenditure in 2015-16 was (a) at the time of the March Budget, (b) at the time of the Summer Budget and (c) on 10 November 2015.

Mr Philip Hammond

Audited spend information for 2015-16 will not be available until the FCO Accounts are published after the end of the financial year. Audited departmental outturn for 2014-15 against both Departmental Expenditure Limits and Annually Managed Expenditure is published in the FCO Annual Report and Accounts which has been placed in the Library of the House of Commons.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to disrupt and prevent the sale of antiquities by Daesh to finance their terrorist activities.

Mr Philip Hammond

Daesh has two main sources of funding. About 40% comes from extorting communities living in territory it controls; and around 40% from selling oil. It also gets a small amount of funding from selling looted antiquities and donations from individuals in the region and around the world. The trade in stolen cultural property accounts for only a small proportion of Daesh revenues, and is mostly carried out by third parties operating in Daesh territory.

UK efforts in this area have focussed on limiting the market into which Daesh can sell looted antiquities into. UN Security Council 2199, which we co-sponsored in February 2015, sanctions those trading with Daesh and includes provisions on cultural heritage. The UK has an effective domestic legal framework for matters of cultural property. All import or export of illegally removed Iraqi and Syrian cultural property is prohibited, and it is a criminal offence in the UK to deal dishonestly in tainted cultural property from anywhere in the world.

The Government announced at the end of 2015 that a new Cultural Protection Fund would be established to help address recovery from acts of cultural destruction overseas, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office co-hosted a summitt in October 2015, with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to support this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 21322, what advice has been issued to UK banks and building societies offering second charge mortgages in territory outside the UK.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government is not aware of any formal advice that has been issued to banks or building societies offering second charge mortgages in territories outside the UK.