Tag: Jim Shannon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Ministers had with the Iranian government on the imprisonment of (a) Rasoul Abdollahi, (b) Saeed Abedini, (c) Ebrahim Firozi, (d) Behmain Iranal, (e) Alireza Seyedin, (f) Maryam Naghash-Zargaran, (g) Farshid Fathi and (h) others imprisoned for their religious beliefs in Iran.

Hugh Robertson

We remain deeply concerned about the detention and treatment of all prisoners of conscience in Iran and the ongoing discrimination against Christians and other minority religious groups. We have called publicly for the Iranian government to end all persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith. The UK’s non-resident Chargé d’Affaires raised the issue of freedom of religion with the Iranian authorities during his last visit to Iran on 12 March.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the number of merlins in the UK; and what steps his Department is taking to maintain their numbers and habitat.

George Eustice

The merlin is protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 which makes it an offence to take, kill or injure any wild bird; take or damage their nests while in use; and take or destroy an egg. This robust legal framework protects the merlin from persecution, with penalties including imprisonment.

The Department has not made an assessment of merlin population levels. A study by Ewing et al reported that in 2008 there were approximately 1,100 breeding pairs of merlins in the UK.

Several measures are in place to protect habitats. The UK has designated 615 sites as Special Areas of Conservation under the Habitats Directive, and 270 sites as Special Protection Areas under the Birds Directive to provide protection to our most vulnerable and threatened wild birds.

The Government has also provided £7.5 million to establish twelve Nature Improvement Areas. These are intended to benefit birds by improving existing habitat, creating new habitat and improving connectivity between habitats.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps her Department has taken to ensure further opportunities for Northern Ireland’s film industry are secured.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

The hon Member will appreciate that this is a devolved matter. However I take every opportunity to promote the Northern Ireland film industry which has been significantly boosted by the high end television tax credit introduced by my Rt hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

I have met the senior team at Home Box Office on two occasions. Last month I wrote to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to coincide with the publication of the UK Creative Industries International Strategy in China, in order to promote some 250 media production companies based in Northern Ireland that are already delivering on a global stage and offering world-class talent across the sector.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-04-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure the retention of (a) rural post offices and (b) jobs in rural post offices.

Jenny Willott

Since 2010 the Government has committed nearly £2 billion to maintain, modernise and protect a Post Office network of at least 11,500 branches that meets strict access criteria that ensure fair and reasonable access to Post Office services, including in rural communities. For example, the access criteria require 99% of the population nationally to live within three miles of a post office outlet. The Post Office is the only retailer in the UK that meets these criteria. Furthermore, the Government has been consistently clear that there will be no programme of branch closures, and under this Government the Post Office network is at its most stable for a generation.

The overwhelming majority of rural branches are owned and operated by private businesspeople known as subpostmasters who provide access to Post Office services under contractual arrangements. Subpostmasters are responsible for employing the staff required to deliver Post Office services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he had with the Iranian government on the prosecution of people of the Baha’i faith.

Hugh Robertson

The UK has repeatedly expressed concern at the treatment of the Baha’i community in Iran, including the sentencing of seven Baha’i leaders in Iran to 20 years imprisonment and the regular harassment the community suffers from. We raised the treatment of Baha’is with the UN Special Rapporteur at the UN Human Rights Council in March 2014 and the UK’s non-resident Chargé d’Affaires discussed freedom of religion with the Iranian authorities during his last visit to Iran on 12 March. We will continue to call on the Iranian government to ensure that all its citizens are able to exercise their right to freedom of religion, free from persecution and harassment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has had with the Chinese government on the export of British cheeses to China.

Michael Fallon

My Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, has not had any recent discussions with the Chinese Government regarding the export of British cheese to China. However, officials at the British Embassy in Beijing have been in contact with the relevant authorities regarding the recent temporary suspension of imports of British cheese into China. The suspension has now ended.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that local colleges train the people of Northern Ireland with the appropriate skills to enable further growth in film and television production in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

This is a devolved matter but I took the opportunity of raising it with the Northern Ireland Minister for Employment and Learning, on the hon Member’s behalf, when I met him on 18 June.