Tag: Lord Alton of Liverpool

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the direct costs of the British Embassy in Pyongyang, broken down into (1) locally employed staff, (2) estate expenditure, (3) security, (4) vehicle costs, (5) travel, (6) subsistence and (7) allowances; and what is the cost of Foreign and Commonwealth Office funded activities broken down by individual projects in North Korea for 2016.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The total budget allocation for the British Embassy in Pyongyang this financial year is £203,627, which is used to cover a variety of costs including the estate, local travel, fuel and vehicle maintenance and local staff wages. For operational and security reasons we do not disclose the precise breakdown of the costs of maintaining certain posts. The bilateral programme fund budget for the British Embassy Pyongyang this financial year is approximately £235,000, which includes £200,000 for the British Council English Language Programme, £9,456 for a project to support disabled people in South Hamgyong and North Pyongan province, and £16,691 to provide a secure supply of drinking water to a remote North Korean community.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what procedures have been put in place to ensure that EU funds committed to the Khartoum Process are not embezzled by corrupt officials; and whether they have investigated whether there has been collusion between Sudanese security officials and human traffickers.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

​All EU funds committed to the Khartoum Process are managed by Member States’ Development Agencies or International Organisations. No funding will be channelled through the beneficiary countries’ government structures.

We are deeply concerned by the reports of collusion between Sudanese security officials and human traffickers, and have raised this issue directly with the government of Sudan as part of our wider engagement on migration. The UK is supporting the Sudanese judiciary to implement new anti-trafficking legislation by helping them improve their understanding of both this and the UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider imposing travel bans on, and freezing the assets of, senior figures in the Maldives who have been involved in the suspension of constitutional protections in that country.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

As the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire) made clear in his statement on 4 November, we are deeply worried by recent developments in the Maldives. While we welcomed the lifting of the State of Emergency on 10 November, we now urge the government to fully uphold the commitments it has made – including as a member of the Commonwealth – to democracy and the rule of law. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and we are carefully considering our next steps.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government from which sources they derive their claim that there are 70,000 Syrian ground troops available to fight ISIL; what assessment they have made of whether that figure is correct; and what is their assessment of the statement by General Sir Richard Shirreff that that force would be incapable of liberating a city of 350,000, such as Raqqa.

Earl Howe

I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, in the House of Commons on 1 December 2015 to Question 17826 and have nothing further to add.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will call upon the EU to impose stricter sanctions on European banks that facilitate North Korea’s nuclear programme.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are working with other members of the UN Security Council in response to the nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on 6 January. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has pressed for the need for a robust response to this serious violation of UN Security Council Resolutions. While negotiations are on-going, any further measures that are agreed by the UN will be replicated by the EU and implemented through EU legislation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority can confirm that a stated aim of the proposed research to perform genome editing in human embryos by researchers at the Francis Crick Institute has been to better understand why miscarriages occur in some pregnancies; if so, whether they can disclose which specific assay the researchers concerned have proposed using to determine whether embryos subjected to gene editing might be either able or unable to implant in a womb; and if not, why not.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended, permits the editing of genes in human embryos for research purposes only. It is illegal under the Act to place such embryos in a woman. There are no plans to change this.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that its licence committee considered an application to use CRISPR-Cas9 (a genome editing technique) in one of their licensed research projects on 14 January 2016. The outcome of the committee’s consideration and a description of the research will be made public as soon as the minutes have been agreed and the applicant has been informed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health, Melanie Johnson, on 11 May 2004 (HC Deb, col 315W), by Lord Darzi of Denham on 21 April 2008 (WA 235) and by Lord Prior of Brampton on 27 January (HL5039), whether it remains the case that lay summaries of research proposals submitted to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) are placed on its website with an invitation to the public to submit comments; if so, when the last licence applications and lay summaries were placed on its website; where and when the title of the licence application to use CRISPR-Cas9 and the lay summary submitted by the applicant were published on the HFEA website; and why the section of the HFEA website that describes human embryo research awaiting approval (http://www.hfea.gov.uk/167.html) has continued to state that there are currently no research projects awaiting approval”.”

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that lay summaries of research proposals submitted to the Authority are no longer placed on its website prior to consideration by a HFEA Licence Committee. Lay summaries are, however, available on the website in the inspection report for each research project, linked to a list of all licensed research projects.

The noble Lord is correct that the HFEA website still mistakenly refers to past practice. We are advised that this will be rectified shortly.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to investigate and address the role of the Embassy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in London in evading UN Security Council sanctions in respect of their submission of vessel registration changes to the International Maritime Organisation in 2014; and what assessment they have made of the involvement of embassies of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea worldwide in sanctions evasion.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Vessel registration is a matter for Flag state action. The UK is not a Flag state for any Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) vessels, so has not been involved in investigating this issue. We have processes in place to verify the provenance of any vessel registered under the British flag.

There are documented links between the DPRK’s diplomatic missions and its proliferation activity which are in breach of sanctions. For example, the UN DPRK Panel of Experts reported that DPRK Embassy officials in Cuba were engaged in making arrangements for the 2013 Chong Chon Gang shipment of conventional arms and related materials in violation of UN Security Council Resolutions. We have since worked with partners to encourage the need for vigilance over possible illicit activity taking place by DPRK diplomatic missions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-03-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the televised public confession of Kai Zhang prior to formal arrest, indictment or trial; what assessment they have made of what legal assistance he is receiving and what contact he has been permitted to have with his family; what contact the UK authorities have had with him; and what representations they have made to the government of China on his behalf.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We remain concerned that a number of Chinese lawyers and human rights defenders, such as Zhang Kai, have been arrested, detained, or have simply disappeared since last July. We have raised the cases regularly with the Chinese authorities. In January, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised our concerns directly with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. We supported a public statement by the Delegation of the EU in Beijing on 29 January, expressing concerns about the human rights situation in China, which included the detention of lawyers.

We urge the Chinese authorities to release the detained lawyers, including Zhang Kai, and ensure all detainees have access to legal counsel of their choice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mr Hugo Swire, on 25 February (HC27826), whether the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) relies upon information from the United States Department of the Treasury to ascertain which elements of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea government fund or participate in that country’s nuclear and missile programmes; or whether the FCO conducts its own research into this matter.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Government works collaboratively with international partners and organisations to counter the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s nuclear, ballistic missile or other weapons of mass destruction-related programmes. This includes sharing information to identify persons and entities responsible for this activity in violation of UN Security Council Resolutions.