Tag: Lady Hermon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the merits of increasing the capacity of the Moyle electricity interconnector between Northern Ireland and Scotland to improve electricity interconnection within the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman

The Government supports the development of new interconnection where it delivers benefits to the consumer, and our approach is designed to deliver those benefits in the most efficient way. We have a developer-led approach to interconnection where the market identifies the best projects and applies to Ofgem to assess their merits. In the 2016 Budget the Government said that it supports the increase of interconnection capacity to at least 9GW; if a developer was to propose additional capacity between Northern Ireland and the GB market, Ofgem would assess it on its merits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-03-23.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of the Tampon Tax Fund was allocated to (a) Women’s Aid and (b) other women’s charities in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke

The Chancellor announced initial donations from the Tampon Tax Fund at Autumn Statement totalling £5m. Further grants totalling £12 million were announced at Budget to support a range of charities that are making a significant impact in the lives of women and girls. This included an award of £118,000 to Parenting NI.

£5.2 million of funding was allocated to Comic Relief and Rosa, who will disburse funding to a range of grassroots women’s organisations across the UK, including those in Northern Ireland.

Details of all charities awarded funding at Budget can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2016-documents/budget-2016

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking fully to utilise the electricity interconnection between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK before the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman

We are pleased that the Moyle interconnector is back up to full strength after a period of reduced capacity. This will help with security of supply, and the stability and flexibility of the grid in Northern Ireland.

One of the issues for the Moyle interconnector is that imports into Scotland are constrained by wider constraints on the Scottish grid and on the border between Scotland and England. A number of measures are being taken to strengthen the Scottish grid and grid connections to England. These include the Western HVDC link, which is due for completion in mid-2017 and will provide an additional 2.2GW of capacity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what records his Department holds on representations made by the Government to (a) the US Administration and (b) the Libyan government in 2008 about inclusion of compensation claims by victims of IRA/Libyan sponsored violence in the UK in the scope of the Libyan Claims Settlement Agreement; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

When it became clear in May 2008 that the US and Libya were proceeding on a bilateral agreement to settle outstanding claims, the UK Government made representations to the US and Libyan authorities to include UK victims of Libyan-sponsored IRA terrorism on the list of recipients. Unfortunately this proved not to be possible. The Libyans made clear that they had answered questions about their support for the IRA in 1995 and considered the matter closed.

We want to see a just solution for all of the victims of Qadhafi-sponsored IRA terrorism, and we remain determined to make progress. Once stability returns, and our embassy re-opens, we will again encourage the Libyan authorities to engage with UK victims and their legal representatives seeking redress, including those seeking compensation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the progress towards the establishment of a government in Libya; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We welcomed the announcement on 8 October by UN Special Representative for Libya, Bernardino Léon, of details of the final political settlement. A political settlement remains the best way to create the environment in which the Government of National Accord can bring peace and security to the Libyan people, regenerate the Libyan economy, and effectively tackle the terrorist threat. It is therefore disappointing that the House of Representatives failed to take a decision on the political agreement on 19 October. We will continue to urge all parties to the talks to seize this moment by endorsing and signing the political agreement as soon as possible, and to quickly realise the establishment of a Government of National Accord.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to ensure that interest earned on Libyan assets frozen in the UK is used to compensate the victims of IRA/Libyan-sponsored violence; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

There is no legal basis upon which the UK could re-direct Libyan assets or the interest accrued to individuals for the purposes of compensation. Regarding assets which belonged to Qadhafi or other regime figures, the UN Security Council has stipulated that when these are unfrozen, they will be made available to, and for the benefit of the Libyan people. For the duration of time that these assets are frozen, they and any interest they accrue will be governed in accordance with the specific sanctions in place over the individuals or entities to which the assets belong. In this case, the asset freezing measures are set out under EU Regulation 204/2011 which prohibits the release of frozen funds and the interest accrued belonging to listed individuals or entities except in very specific circumstances, which do not apply here.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Moussa Koussa met UK police forces or security agencies between his entry into the UK at Farnborough airfield on 30 March 2011 and departure to Qatar three days later; and if she will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes

It is the longstanding policy of successive Governments not to comment on intelligence matters.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service stated in April 2011 that Police Service of Scotland officers met Moussa Koussa in 2011 in relation to the investigation into the Lockerbie bombing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to secure the extradition of Moussa Koussa in connection with IRA/Libyan-sponsored terrorism in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire

It is a matter of long-standing policy and practice that the Government will neither confirm nor deny whether an extradition request has been made or received prior to the arrest of the person concerned pursuant to that request.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what occasions Ministers or officials of her Department discussed the Immigration Bill with (a) the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and (b) the Justice Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire

Discussion with interested parties in Northern Ireland on the content of the Immigration Bill has been ongoing since the summer, and has included correspondence at Ministerial level and meetings and workshops at official level with relevant departments in the Northern Ireland Executive. Discussions are also ongoing with the officials of the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Justice Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2014-07-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps she is taking to publish the names of the 228 on-the-runs with comfort letters after the publication of the Hallett Report; and if she will make a statement.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

Lady Justice Hallett did not publish the names of OTRs in her report, with the exception of John Downey. She was clear that her decision not to do so was not “a result of any ‘whitewash’” but rather, “as a matter of law” she “was not entitled to do so”. Indeed, she has been “scrupulously careful not to reveal details of offences in which any OTR was a suspect… so as not to prejudice any future criminal trials”.

In the same way, and as I made clear in answering questions following my statement on 17 July about the report, I will not release the personal information of those involved in the scheme nor any other information which might prejudice any future trials. As Lady Justice Hallett has said, people “would not thank me if I inadvertently contributed to another successful abuse of process investigation”.