Tag: Hilary Benn

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will make an estimate of the potential average cost for a typical family of their weekly shopping in the event of the UK leaving the EU without securing any preferential trade agreements and reverting to standard World Trade Organisation tariffs.

Mr Robin Walker

My Department, working with officials across government, continues to undertake a wide range of data analyses to inform the UK’s position for the upcoming negotiations with our EU partners. We have been clear that we will not provide a running commentary that might undermine our negotiating position.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2015 to Question 12777, what assessment she has made of whether each party to the conflict is taking reasonable steps to allow access to Yemen’s ports for (a) fuel for civilian use and (b) other commercial and humanitarian goods.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK welcomes the improvement in access for commercial and humanitarian shipping to Yemen’s ports over the last two weeks. In October, a total of 60 ships of all types entered Yemeni ports, including grain ships, fuel tankers, and humanitarian ships. We will continue to work with the Coalition and the Government of Yemen to ensure this improvement is sustained.

We will also continue to call on all parties to the conflict to safeguard key infrastructure, including airports, sea ports, fuel distribution sites and major access routes into Yemen; and to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect on Syrian refugees of fluctuations in the value of food vouchers provided by the World Food Programme.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK is at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region and has pledged over £1.1 billion to date, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. By the end of June 2015, our support in Syria and the region had delivered almost 20 million food rations, over 2.5 million medical consultations and relief items for 4.6 million people.

Recent UN food security assessments have shown that fluctuations in assistance by the World Food Programme (WFP), as well as other agencies, has had an impact on refugee’s ability to provide for their basic needs. The UK is closely monitoring the situation across the region, alongside other key donors, to understand how this reduction in support will further impact the lives of Syrian refugees.

UN appeals for Syria and the region remain severely underfunded. We continue to lobby other partners to step up to the plate and match our commitment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 January 2016 to Question 15523, what assessment he has made of whether incidents of alleged violations of international humanitarian law in Yemen have been investigated fully by each party involved in that conflict.

Mr Philip Hammond

The UK’s support for military action is contingent on adherence to International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The Ministry of Defence monitors alleged IHL violations, using available information, which in turn informs our overall assessment of IHL compliance in Yemen. We consider a range of information from government sources, foreign governments, the media and international non-governmental organisations. We are also offering advice and training to Saudi Arabia to demonstrate best practice and to help ensure continued compliance with IHL. We are aware of reports on alleged violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) in Yemen by the Coalition and take these very seriously. We are also concerned by reports of alleged IHL violations by Houthi-Saleh and pro-government forces and again take these very seriously. The UK government has regularly raised with the Saudi Government the need to comply with IHL in Yemen and we continue to engage with them on this. I raised the issue of compliance with IHL during my October visit to Saudi Arabia. We have also raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with IHL. It is important that open and transparent investigations are conducted into all incidents where it is alleged that IHL has been breached. We welcome the public announcement by Saudi Arabia to establish a fact finding committee into the alleged airstrike on MSF mobile clinic in Taiz on 2 December.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2016 to Question 21464, what progress his Department has made on looking into reports of Saudi Arabia bombing the Iranian Embassy in Sana’a; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Hammond

From the evidence we have seen, it does not appear that a Saudi airstrike hit the Iranian Embassy in Sana’a. We continue to urge calm and are speaking with all sides to de-escalate tensions in regional affairs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether marketing standards conformity certificates issued by Israel covering consignments of fresh fruit and vegetables grown in the occupied Palestinian territories indicate that the products they cover originate in Israel.

George Eustice

The Horticultural Marketing Inspectors have no reason to believe that these certificates do not contain correct information. In 2012, the European Commission announced that their research into Israeli/Palestinian export certificates “did not reveal any evidence of non-conformity regarding the indication of the country of origin”. The Commission also reaffirmed the requirement that the origin needed to be clearly indicated whether it was Israel or an Occupied Territory.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2016 to Question 23906, if the Government will make it its policy to provide formal advice to banks or building societies offering second charge mortgages in territories outside the UK which are illegal under international law on potential financial risks of such products.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government has no plans to provide formal advice to banks or building societies offering second charge mortgages in territories outside the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK nationals work for the European External Action Service; and what proportion of the total number of employees in that service they represent.

Mr Philip Hammond

The European External Action Service (EEAS) has not published statistics on numbers of permanent staff by nationality since 2013, when a total of 133 British citizens were working for the EEAS. As of April 2015, our records show there were a total of 119 British citizens working for the European External Action Service, representing 4.8% of approximately 2500 total staff (excluding approximately 1000 local agents in Delegations) employed by the EEAS in 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 26922 and the statement with reference to genocide on 17 March 2016 by the US Secretary of State on Daesh atrocities, if he will reassess the Government’s policy on judgements as to whether genocide has occurred.

Mr Philip Hammond

The US Secretary of State is right to draw attention to the appalling crimes Daesh are committing, both against minorities groups and Muslims. We will continue to work closely with the US and our other partners in the Global Coalition to defeat Daesh and to ensure justice for those who have suffered at their hands. It is a long standing UK policy that any judgement on whether genocide has occurred should be a matter for judicial decision, rather than for governments. As Secretary of State Kerry said, “ultimately, the full facts must be brought to light by an independent investigation and through formal legal determination made by a competent court or tribunal.”

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received of human rights workers being (a) summoned for questioning, (b) banned from travelling and (c) subject to attempts to freeze their personal funds and family assets by the Egyptian authorities.

Mr Philip Hammond

We are concerned about the decreasing space for civil society to operate in Egypt, including for Non Government Organisations (NGOs). Human rights defenders have been subject to measures including questioning, travel bans and judicial applications for asset freezing against individuals and their families. I refer you to the statement made by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of Sate for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood) on 22 March. UK officials have raised our concerns with representatives from the Egyptian Government in both Cairo and London.