Tag: Mark Pritchard

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Palestinian Authority on introducing legislation to abolish the death penalty.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Government opposes all use of the death penalty as a matter of principle, including sentences imposed by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. I have asked that my officials in Jerusalem raise the issue of the death penalty with the Palestinian Authority in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what checks his Department carries out on non-governmental organisations and charities before allocating them funding to ensure that they do not have discriminatory policies against individual countries or states.

Mr David Lidington

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office conducts due diligence checks, for example background checks, on non-governmental organisations and charities before any offer of funding is made. However, the checks vary depending on the size, nature and operating environment of the proposed work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote universalisation and implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK encourages States not party to the ATT to accede to it as soon as possible. A first step towards universalisation was enabling full participation by interested states in the ATT First Conference of States Parties (CSP1) in August 2015. To that end, the UK contributed £150,000 towards the sponsoring of developing States to attend CSP1.

We are also funding projects totalling approximately £276,000 which are focused on effective ATT implementation and universalisation. In addition, the UK supports efforts by the UN and EU to provide technical assistance to states looking to accede to or implement the ATT.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Israeli counterpart on reducing the number of attacks on Christian religious sites in Israel.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We condemn all extremist violence, including attacks against religious buildings. We are aware that on 18 June, the Benedictine Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha, on the Sea of Galilee, was set on fire and vandalised with graffiti. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised this at the time with the Israeli Foreign Ministry and National Security Council. On 10 September the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised their concerns for peace in the region with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Georgian countertpart on freedom of expression and freedom of the media in that country.

Mr David Lidington

We raise human rights concerns with Georgian Ministers and officials, including freedom of expression and freedom of the media, at every appropriate opportunity.

We are closely monitoring the recent and ongoing court case involving the Rustavi 2 television company and continue to encourage Georgia to abide by the rule of law and due process in relation to all legal cases. We also impress the importance of creating a positive environment for media and civil society organisations working in Georgia.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Japan on the abolition of the death penalty in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire

We remain strongly opposed to the death penalty. Together with EU partners, we will continue to express our opposition to the death penalty. We recently co-funded a report on Japanese attitudes to the death penalty and will use this report to influence Japanese policy makers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to stop UK funding being used to pay the wages of convicted terrorists from the Palestinian Territories in custody in Israeli prisons.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

No UK money is used for payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The UK’s direct financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) is used to pay the salaries of PA public sector workers only. Our support is provided through a World Bank trust fund which carries out close monitoring of PA expenditure. The whole process is independently audited, which means we know exactly how our money is spent. We also have robust accounting procedures in place which mean we are confident that our funds do not benefit terrorist groups, and we ensure that our partners do the same.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of the Republic of Congo on the payment of UK companies for infrastructure work undertaken in that country on behalf of the Congolese government.

Grant Shapps

We were recently made aware of a case where a company owned by a British national has found it difficult to secure payment for infrastructure projects carried out on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Congo. In June this year, my officials raised this case with the Congolese authorities, and highlighted the importance to all involved of resolving this case in accordance with the court decisions made in the Republic of Congo and elsewhere.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will hold discussions with the FA about the affordability of tickets to Premier League matches for people on the national average wage.

Tracey Crouch

The pricing of tickets is a matter for the clubs to decide on, however we would encourage all clubs, whether in the Premier League or not, to think carefully about affordability for all fans when setting their ticket prices.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will hold discussions with the major auction houses on the sale of stolen antiquities from conflict areas and the links between the proceeds of such sales and the funding of terrorism.

Mr Edward Vaizey

I have no current plans to hold discussions with the major auction houses, nor has the Government recently discussed the sale of conflict antiquities with them. The Government believes that regulating trade in antiquities is primarily the responsibility of the art and antiquities trade itself. The established trade associations possess codes of ethics by which they expect their members to abide and we expect the associations to strictly enforce those codes. The DCMS has produced advice and guidance to help UK dealers and auction houses consider the relevant issues such as ensuring the secure provenance of cultural objects in which they deal.

The UK takes the issue of illicit trade in cultural goods very seriously and is continuously working to combat this type of trafficking.

The UK has legislation in place, the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, which makes it an offence to import or export objects if that is prohibited under any enactment. Once an EU Regulation prohibiting such import or export comes into force, the act becomes a UK offence. Accordingly, prohibitions on export and import of certain Syrian cultural property under Council Regulation (EU) 1332/2013 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria, have been backed up by UK offences since December 2013. These are complemented by a statutory instrument (The Export Control (Syria Sanctions) (Amendment) Order 2014) which was laid before Parliament on 18 July 2014. The prohibitions relate to the trade in certain Syrian cultural goods where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the goods were removed from Syria on or after 9 May 2011 without consent of the legitimate owner or in breach of Syrian or international law.

The import, export and dealing in illegally removed Iraqi cultural property is prohibited under The Iraq (United Nations Sanctions) Order 2003. While not specific to war situations, the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003 prohibits dealing in cultural objects illegally excavated or illegally removed from monuments or structures of historical, architectural or archaeological interest.