Tag: Lord Pearson of Rannoch

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2016-03-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the cases of organised grooming and sexual exploitation in Rotherham and elsewhere, whether police forces have been issued with new guidance on responding to allegations of abuse; and if so, what is that guidance.

Lord Keen of Elie

The Government does not hold information on the faith of those accused or convicted of child sexual exploitation (CSE) offences.

CSE is not exclusive to any single culture, community, race or religion, and anyone who abuses children must be stopped. It happens in all areas of the country and can take many different forms. However, the previous Government’s ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation’ report of March 2015 makes it very clear that the issue of race, regardless of ethnic group, should be tackled as a priority if it is known to be a significant factor in the criminal activity of organised abuse in any local community.

The College of Policing (CoP) has issued clear guidance on how police forces should respond to allegations of child sexual abuse and exploitation. This is available on the CoP website at: https://www.app.college.police.uk/app-content/major-investigation-and-public-protection/child-abuse/ .

In addition the National Policing Lead for child protection has taken action to revise the national policing CSE action plan to take account of the learning from the Professor Alexis Jay report and other recent publications. All Chief Constables have committed to this action plan that aims to raise standards in tackling CSE so that the police are providing a consistently strong approach to protecting vulnerable young people. The action plan is available on the CoP website at: https://www.app.college.police.uk/app-content/major-investigation-and-public-protection/child-sexual-exploitation/cse-action-plan/

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2016-07-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the treatment of Russian minorities in the Baltic States, particularly Lithuania, and (2) whether such treatment would attract a response from Russia; and if so, what type of response that would be.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

There are sizeable Russian-speaking communities in Latvia and Estonia, and a smaller community in Lithuania. All EU Member States are obliged to meet the standards for minority rights and are subject to obligations and monitoring mechanisms, such as through the Council of Europe. Our Embassies in the Baltic States have supported programmes run by their host governments and non-governmental organisations to encourage integration, tolerance, diversity and respect for minorities – including programmes to support media plurality and social cohesion.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2015-12-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 10 June (HL56), whether they will provide updated statistics for the tables entitled Growth in the UK Muslim Population, to show the most recent figures available.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2016-03-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which Government buildings have been transferred to finance Islamic bond schemes; what restrictions there are on the use of such assets as a result of Sharia financing; and why that method of raising money was chosen.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

Three government properties underpin the Sukuk. These are Richmond House, Wellington House and 22-26 Whitehall.

The Sukuk is issued under, and governed by, English law. The properties underpinning the Sukuk continue to be occupied by the departments that were there before issuance, with no change to their use. While investors have a beneficial interest in the assets, they do not have any say over how the properties are used.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2016-07-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average age of the child refugees they propose to take in from the conflicts in Syria and North Africa; what assessment they have made of the dominant religion of those children; whether it is their policy that priority should be given to Christian children; and, if not, why not.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Syrian Vulnerable Person’s Resettlement Scheme prioritises the most vulnerable Syrian refugees, including families with dependent children of any age. Of the 1,602 Syrians who arrived between October 2015 and March 2016, around half were aged under 18. The Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme, announced in April, will resettle vulnerable children under the age of 18 from the Middle East and North Africa region, with their families or carers where appropriate. One of the reasons for creating the scheme was to allow the inclusion of children at risk from nationalities other than Syrian, including, for example, Yazidis from Iraq.

For both schemes, we work closely with the UNHCR, who identify refugees for resettlement using their established vulnerability criteria rather than seeking to include children of a particular age. While membership of a minority religion is not in itself one of the vulnerability criteria, members of minority religions may qualify under one of the vulnerability headings. It is important that we base our selection criteria on those most in need, rather than on the basis of membership of a particular religious group.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2015-12-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, as part of their counter-terrorism strategy, they will encourage a national debate about the nature of Islam, including whether the Muslim tenets of Al Hijra, Taqiya, and Abrogation remain valid today.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

On 19 October, the Prime Minister announced the launch of the Government’s new comprehensive Counter Extremism Strategy, a core element of which is a programme of work to support those communities who are opposed to extremism in all its forms.

It is only by building a stronger Britain together, across all communities, that we will win the fight against terrorists and extremists.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2016-03-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the UK can withdraw from EU treaties under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, with 12 months notice or otherwise.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), made clear to the House of Commons that “if the British people vote to leave, there is only one way to bring that about, namely to trigger Article 50 of the Treaties and begin the process of exit". The rules for exit are set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This is the only lawful route available to withdraw from the EU.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2016-07-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in clarifying their definition of non-violent extremism”.”

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The definition of extremism is set out in the Counter-Extremism Strategy published on 19 October 2015 and is: ‘The vocal or active opposition to our fundamental values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and the mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. We also regard calls for the death of members of the armed forces as extremist.’ This definition covers both violent and non-violent extremism.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2015-12-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Earl Howe on 2 December (HL Deb, col 1193), what actions will be criminalised from next April under the specific offence of anti-Muslim hatred, and whether the actions criminalised under that offence will include (1) criticism of the Muslim religion, and (2) statements from people who have left that religion explaining why they have done so.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

As the Prime Minister announced in October, we have asked the police to record all existing religious based hate crimes by the faith or belief (including absence of belief) of the victim from April next year.

Under existing hate crimes it is not an offence to criticise Islam or for those who have left the faith to explain why they have done so. The new recording system does not constitute a new offence of anti-Muslim hatred, but will require this to be recorded specifically.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2016-03-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which EU countries are required by their constitutions to hold a referendum before their governments can agree changes to the EU treaties; and which countries have done so in the past.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

No EU country has an absolute constitutional requirement to hold a referendum before their government can agree to any amendment to the EU Treaties. Indeed, no EU Member State held a referendum on the most recent change to the EU Treaties which came into effect in 2013.

The following countries have a constitutional requirement to hold a referendum in certain circumstances (e.g. if proposed changes require a revision of a Member State’s constitution or constitute a transfer of competence/sovereignty to the EU):

• Austria
• Croatia
• Denmark
• Ireland
• Lithuania
• Romania
• Slovakia

The following countries have previously held a referendum on changes to the EU Treaties:

• Denmark
• Ireland
• France
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Spain