The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-03-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the BBC new board members should (1) be appointed without ministerial influence, and (2) include audience and staff representatives.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
These issues are being considered as part of Charter Review. The Government will set out its proposals in the forthcoming White Paper.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-06-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 3 June (HL311), whether one of the ideologies they are directly challenging is Wahhabism.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Counter-Extremism Strategy set outs our approach to tackling extremist ideologies. We will challenge all those groups or individuals who vocally or actively oppose our fundamental values, who seek to promote, encourage and spread intolerance of individuals of different faith and beliefs. We are clear that this approach tackles all forms of extremism: violent and non violent, Islamist and neo-Nazi.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-11-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Answer by Lord Faulks on 18 November (HL Deb, col 133), what is their assessment of whether they have the power under section 26 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 to give direction to the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland to secure their compliance with the European Human Rights Conventions; and whether the Secretary of State has considered exercising any such power to secure full compliance in Northern Ireland with its obligations under the Convention in relation to equal marriage, blasphemy and defamation.
Lord Faulks
Under section 26 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (NIA) the Secretary of State may by order direct that action be taken by a Northern Ireland Minister or department if required for the purpose of giving effect to international obligations. However, international obligations in this context are defined as “any international obligations of the United Kingdom other than obligations to observe and implement EU law or the Convention rights” (Section 98 of the NIA). As such, the power under section 26 cannot be used for the purpose of bringing about action in Northern Ireland to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-01-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the official records from 1987 relating to the ban on the publication of Spycatcher by Peter Wright have not been released to the National Archives under the 20-year rule.
Lord Bridges of Headley
Moving from a 30 year to 20 year rule has meant a doubling of the amount of information to be considered for release. The Cabinet Office is actively reviewing the remaining 1987 and 1988 records and will complete this work as quickly as possible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-03-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for the BBC’s service licences being reviewed and strengthened by an independent regulator at an early date.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
These issues are being considered as part of Charter Review. The Government will set out its proposals in the forthcoming White Paper.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-06-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will seek assurances from the government of Iran that Nazanin Ratcliffe will be granted access to a lawyer and due process rights.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We regularly lobby the Iranian government on all of our consular cases; requesting consular access for our officials, and to ensure that they have access to lawyers and are receiving appropriate medical care. Most recently the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised the issue with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif on 17 May, and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), raised the subject with the Iranian Charge d’Affaires in London on 18 May. The Iranian government do not recognise dual nationals of any country, therefore we cannot gain direct access to dual nationals held in custody.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-12-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have evidence that Saudi Arabia funds Wahhabi mosques and Wahhabi communities in the UK.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
HM Government does not collect information on the denomination of religious institutions, nor of communities in the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-01-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 13 January (HL4703 and HL4704), what were the other administrative reasons for retaining documents to which she refers.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The administrative grounds for retaining public records referred to in my answer to HL4703 are: records or series of records which have not been selected for transfer to The National Archives or a place of deposit, but which the department has retained after they are defined as historical records because they are required for its own administrative purposes; records or series of records that have been selected for transfer to The National Archives or place of deposit but are still required for administrative purposes; records or series of records which are awaiting appraisal or preparation for transfer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-03-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the appropriate level for the BBC licence fee and of the case for that level being recommended by an independent regulator.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The BBC Charter Review Consultation Paper, published in July 2015, set out the issues for consideration in Charter Review, including questions about how the BBC is funded. The Government will set out its proposals in the forthcoming White Paper, but remains clear that the licence fee is a tax and therefore should ultimately be decided by Ministers. The level of the licence fee will be agreed once questions on the BBC’s scope and purposes, have been agreed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-06-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 13 June (HL424), whether another country’s failure to recognise dual citizenship impedes the UK from offering consular assistance to an individual whose fundamental rights are being violated.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Dual citizenship is allowed in the UK and we respect the rights of Britons who choose to have dual nationality in the UK or overseas. However we acknowledge that many countries do not accept dual nationality, or allow it in the same way as the UK.
The consular assistance we offer to dual British nationals overseas depends on where they are and their circumstances.
We do not normally offer support to dual nationals who are in the country of their other nationality, however we consider each case on the circumstances and we may make exceptions if there are special humanitarian reasons to do so.
In countries where dual nationality is not recognised we offer assistance and lobby for consular access, but the other country has the right to refuse to grant such access.