Tag: Lord Alton of Liverpool

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of Amnesty International’s report highlighting an increase in the number of political prisoners in Burma, what steps they are taking to raise the cases of those prisoners, and to promote the rule of law and the need for reform to meet proper standards of justice in Burma.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We have welcomed the release of hundreds of political prisoners under the current Burmese government. But we have also spoken out vociferously about the worrying tempo of arrests, detentions and sentencing of political activists in the lead up to the elections on 8 November.

We have regularly raised our concerns with the government of Burma at the highest levels. Most recently, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), raised this issue directly with the Minister for the President’s Office, U Aung Min, during his visit to Burma in July. Officials from our Embassy in Rangoon meet regularly with civil society on this issue and we lobby on individual cases. We also raise our concerns publicly in our Annual Report on Human Rights and in multilateral fora such as the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, where the UK has co-sponsored Resolutions calling for the unconditional release of all political prisoners. We will continue to work with the incoming Burmese government to make progress on this important issue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-30.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they intend to assist members of the armed forces who are diagnosed with mesothelioma in the future; and what assessment they have made of whether those individuals should receive financial support at least equivalent to that of civilians diagnosed with the disease.

Earl Howe

In the UK it is the National Health Service (NHS) that is responsible for the provision of healthcare to veterans including those diagnosed with mesothelioma. Veterans in England, Scotland and Wales are entitled to receive priority access to NHS secondary healthcare for conditions suspected to be due to their service in the UK Armed Forces, subject to the clinical needs of all patients.

Veterans are able to access support from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) through Veterans UK, part of MOD’s Defence Business Services, which provides a package of welfare support for veterans through a free helpline, website and national Veterans Welfare Service. Veterans UK also administer compensation payments for ill health or injury suffered while serving in the Armed Forces through the War Pensions Scheme (WPS) and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.

The Department commissioned advice from the Independent Medical Expert Group to look at mesothelioma and the awards paid through the WPS. Following this, officials have considered what options there might be to offer any flexibility for those who will claim in the future under the WPS. This is a complex matter which has required detailed consideration and involved close consultation with our colleagues across Whitehall.

The Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans (Mark Lancaster) announced during the Adjournment Debate, in the House of Commons on mesothelioma compensation on 19 November 2015 (Official Report, columns 929-936) that he intends to make an announcement regarding the matter of lump sum payments as soon as possible. We will update ex-Service organisations at the forthcoming Central Advisory Committee on Compensation in December.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-12-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps are being taken to ensure that Do Not Resuscitate orders are not assigned in the future to patients solely because they have Down’s syndrome or any other learning disability.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department expects National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts to have in place local policies on resuscitation that are based on expert professional guidance. We have commended, as a basis for local policies, professional guidance, Decisions relating to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (2014), published jointly by the British Medical Association, the Resuscitation Council (UK) and the Royal College of Nursing. The guidance is clear that any resuscitation decision must be free from any discrimination, tailored to the individual circumstances of the patient and fully documented. The use of a Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation decision solely on the basis that a patient has Down’s Syndrome is totally unacceptable.

A copy of the guidance is attached.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will commission an assessment of the implications for the mental and physical health of children conceived through the use of sperm from prolific, unregulated donors, and whether they intend to review the regulation of sperm donation.

Lord Prior of Brampton

According to media reports, this particular case concerns private arrangements made between individual women seeking sperm for home insemination and the man providing the sperm. There is no third party involved. Such private arrangements between a man and a woman are not regulated. We understand that there is also no evidence to support the claim of up to 800 children having been born.

It is important that women seeking sperm donation treatment fully understand the benefits of using clinics licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 22 January (HL4827), in the light of the statements of the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, in their press releases on Islamophobia (Dec 2015), some religious leaders’ incitement to Holy War (Sept 2015), bombing by the Assad regime (June 2015), and concerns about people caught in Yarmouk (April 2015), where their statements about the murder, abduction, enslavement and genocide of Christians and Yazidis appear.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Statements made by the Office of the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect are published on the UN website.

The statements cover a range of issues including incitement to violence in Syria on religious grounds; urging against rhetoric that escalates the risk of violence against religious communities; expressing concern about the on-going threat to the safety of minority groups in Syria; expressing outrage at speeches and media articles that dehumanise Alawites and Christians; expressing alarm at reports of the abduction of 1,500 Yazidi, Christian and Shabak women and girls; expressing concern at the situation of religious and other minorities, noting that members of the Christian community were fleeing the northern city of Mosul following the Daesh-led invasion; urging leaders in the wider region to refrain from using or condoning any language that may escalate sectarian tension; calling on all actors to condemn hate speech that could constitute incitement to violence against communities based on their religious affiliation.

The complete statements are attached to this response, and the link to the website is provided below for your ease of reference: http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/statements.shtml

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many meetings have been held between senior officials of the UK and representatives of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea since the release of the report of the UN Commission of Inquiry on 7 February 2014.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Our Ambassador to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and senior officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have met representatives of the DPRK on a number of occasions since 7 February 2014. These meetings are part of normal diplomatic business and play a crucial role in our policy of critical engagement with the DPRK. The FCO does not keep a record of the number of individual meetings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom regarding the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry’s 2014 report on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) that persons who are forcibly repatriated to the DPRK are commonly subjected to torture, arbitrary detention, summary execution, forced abortions and other sexual violence; and the Commission’s recommendation that countries should respect the principle of non-refoulement and abstain from forcibly repatriating any persons to the DPRK.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We have not made specific bilateral representations to the Russian Federation Government on the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) report.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-03-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Earl Howe on 22 January 2013 (WA194–5) and by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Department of Health, Mr George Freeman, on 8 March (HC29426), what control the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has over the contents of any external website, such as that maintained by the Francis Crick Institute; what prior examples they can provide in which (1) either centre 0157 or 0206, or (2) any other licensed centre, has immediately and voluntarily altered the publication on their websites of clinical success rate data or information on costs in response to a request from the HFEA to do so; and what assessment they have made of how any expectations that licensed centres would comply with such requests might be affected by the Francis Crick Institute’s claim that it is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as a private body that has hitherto not provided copies of the patient information and consent forms directly for that reason.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) Code of Practice, at section 4.5, sets out the obligations on a licensed treatment centre regarding information provided on its website; other relevant marketing communications; and in relation to associated satellite and transport centres. This is in line with the Advertising Standards Authority Code. This guidance does not apply to licensed research centres.

Assessment of the websites of licensed treatment centres is made during inspections undertaken by the HFEA, or in response to ad hoc instances where information has come to us suggesting breaches of these requirements. There have been a number of examples where clinics have voluntarily and immediately amended the content of their websites and it would not be proportionate to set out all such examples. The HFEA has no statutory powers relating to the costs of treatment.

The fact that the Francis Crick Institute is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act 2000 has no impact on the HFEA’s expectations of licensed centres’ websites.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the timing of the referendum taking place in Darfur between 11 and 13 April, in the light of the levels of violence in Jebel Marra, Central Darfur.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We remain concerned by the timing of the Darfur referendum due to ongoing violence and the absence of a peace agreement. The continued fighting and level of civilian displacement in Jebel Marra is particularly troubling, and brings in to question the viability of holding the referendum at this time. We have raised such concerns with the Government of Sudan. We have also pressed for full humanitarian access to be granted, including at the UN Security Council and bilaterally as part our recent strategic dialogue with the Government of Sudan, led by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Africa Director. Officials from our Embassy in Khartoum are monitoring the situation closely.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the attacks on 26 April on the Christian neighbourhood of Sulaymaniyah in Aleppo, and of reports that at least eight children were among those killed.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are aware of reports of attacks on the Sulaymaniyah neighbourhood in Aleppo, and of reports that at least eight children were among those killed. We are deeply concerned about the increasing numbers of violations of the Cessation of Hostilities, especially around Aleppo. In the overwhelming majority of cases, it is the Asad regime that is responsible for the breaches, including when it has bombed schools, marketplaces, hospitals and a search and rescue centre in the last week. As the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), said in a press statement on 28 April, we call on those with influence to apply real pressure to end this spiral of violence. The UK will continue to support the Syrian people to secure their future, free from Asad, and push for progress with our international partners.