Tag: Jim Shannon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-03-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in African countries about numbers of (a) elephants, (b) rhinoceroses and (c) lions in those countries.

George Eustice

The London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade, which the Government hosted on 12-13 February, brought together 42 countries, including four Presidents of African states, to discuss the decline in numbers of elephants, rhino and other species affected by the scourge of the illegal trade in wildlife. Conference participants agreed an ambitious political declaration, containing 25 practical commitments to action that will help to eradicate the demand for wildlife products, strengthen law enforcement and support the development of sustainable livelihoods for communities affected by wildlife crime.

Prior to the Conference, my colleague Lord de Mauley represented the UK Government at the African Elephant Summit in Botswana on 2 to 4 December 2014. This was attended by numerous government ministers from across Africa and the status of the African elephant at a continental level was discussed. During the summit, Lord de Mauley held bilateral discussions on illegal wildlife trade issues with the President of Botswana. Separately, he met with the South African Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Mrs Edna Molewa, to discuss the crisis facing African wildlife affected by poaching and illegal trade. The Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, also had discussions about the effects of the illegal wildlife trade on numbers of key species with the Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Natural Resources, Professor Judy Wakhungu, during a visit to Kenya in November 2013.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Laos about the persecution of Christians in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire

Our recently re-opened Embassy in Vientiane regularly raises human rights concerns with the Lao government, including their adherence to their international human rights commitments that protect freedom of religion and belief. Laos has seen some improvements in religious freedom over the past decade with a reduction in the number of long-term Christian prisoners of conscience. However, we are aware of cases of Christians being arrested for proselytising. The EU raised these cases at the last EU-Laos Human Rights Dialogue in February 2013 and we will press for it to be raised at the next EU-Laos Human Rights Dialogue which will take place in Brussels in May 2014. We continue to work with the EU and other like-minded partners to raise our concerns about religious freedom with the Lao government.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-03-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of which countries in Africa (a) have the highest incidence of illegal killing of wildlife and (b) have the largest illegal trade in wildlife with China.

George Eustice

As a Party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the UK supports work to monitor the illegal killing of wildlife. My Department has provided £270,000 since 2009 to support the CITES Secretariat to undertake such work, including the MIKE (Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants) project and ETIS (Elephant Trade Information System).

In response to assessments made of illegal killing, the CITES Secretariat has identified the following African counties as primary source countries for ivory: Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United Republic of Tanzania. Assessments have also shown that illegal killing poses a significant threat to rhinoceros populations, particularly in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

These countries are taking action under CITES, such as producing National Ivory Action Plans, but many are going beyond this. For example,Botswana, Chad, Ethiopia, Gabon and Tanzania announced the Elephant Protection Initiative at the London Conference in February. This initiative aims to secure new funding from private and public sources for the implementation of the African Elephant Action Plan. Other recent developments include Gabon announcing plans to impose new penalties for poachers and traffickers, and Ethiopia committing to destroying its ivory stockpiles.

Further knowledge is needed about the trafficking of the products of poaching of wildlife from source countries to consumer countries, particularly in Asia. The Declaration adopted at the recent London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade took an important step forward in relation to this, with over 40 countries agreeing to undertake further assessment, initially over the next twelve months, of the markets and dynamics of the illegal wildlife trade, and the progress made in combatting it.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women have been charged with child sex offences but not convicted in each of the last three years.

Simon Hughes

The proportion of offenders given custody for sexual offences has increased since 2003.

The number of female defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty or not guilty at all courts for sexual offences against children, in England and Wales from 2008 to 2012 (the latest data available), can be viewed in the table.

Court Proceedings data for calendar year 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014

Charging data is not held by the Ministry of Justice.