Tag: Paul Flynn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what representations she has received from the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate on the Paris Climate Conference; and whether she has evaluated that Commission’s list of 10 opportunities for economically beneficial climate action.

Andrea Leadsom

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State is aware of the work from the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, as the UK is one of its commissioning countries. The Secretary of State welcomed the Global Commission’s reports, which underlined that growth and tackling climate change can go hand in hand.

We continue to reflect on the reports’ findings and contribution to the economic debate. It sets out how Governments of countries at different stages of economic development can achieve strong economic performance, improve standards of living, create jobs and reduce poverty, whilst simultaneously helping to reduce the risks of climate change. The reports’ evidence on the potential economic opportunities is a powerful contribution to the clear case for action. It is in this spirit that we strongly recommend all countries to consider its findings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he expects that the trial will begin of Michael Misick, former Prime Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

James Duddridge

We expect the trial to start this week.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she has reviewed the fitness-for-purpose of the UK Nuclear Industry Malicious Capability Planning Assessment to deal with attacks similar to those carried out recently in Paris and San Bernadino.

Andrea Leadsom

The security of the UK’s civil nuclear sector is of paramount importance to the Government. The Nuclear Industry Malicious Capability Planning Assumptions (NIMCA) provide a common basis for determining the sector’s required protective security posture. It is reviewed by DECC, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), and industry representatives on an annual basis. To ensure that the NIMCA assumptions remain appropriate, these annual reviews are supplemented with assessments of threat information provided by the police and the intelligence agencies on an ongoing basis. Additionally, the ONR maintains a permanent presence within the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which guarantees the fastest possible identification and notification of intelligence that might indicate changes to present and foreseeable threats to civil nuclear sites.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to support initiative to the create an independent regional centre for security dialogue in the Middle East.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

A stable and secure Middle East is a key UK priority. We are working with the international community to support those tackling short term conflict and promoting longer-term reform in the region. We believe that regional security initiatives can have an important role to play too.

We are not aware of any specific, new initiatives to create an independent regional centre for security dialogue in the Middle East, at the current time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proposal the Government plans to put to the second UN open-ended working group on nuclear disarmament.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK and the four other Non-Proliferation Treaty Nuclear Weapons States voted against the Resolution “Taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations” in the UN General Assembly First Committee which established an Open Ended Working Group. The Government believes that productive results can only be ensured through a consensus-based approach that takes into account the wider global security environment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effect on employment levels in the Syrian textile industry of the application of sanctions on Syria; and if he will estimate the number of Syrian textile workers and their families who have left Syria due to the loss of employment arising from application of economic sanctions.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

International sanctions restrict the regime’s ability to wage war against the civilian population and pressure the regime to engage in negotiations with the opposition. The UK fully supports EU sanctions against Syria which are rigorously assessed to ensure restrictive measures are targeted and proportionate. We are mindful of the humanitarian impact of sanctions.

There are no EU sanctions specifically on the Syrian textile industry and we are not aware of any direct impact of sanctions on employment levels in the textile industry.

The high number of civilians fleeing Syria is a direct consequence of the regime’s brutal five-year war against the civilian population. The regime has repeatedly employed siege tactics, indiscriminately attacked densely populated areas and targeted civilian infrastructure. Therefore, only by securing a political solution to the Syrian conflict will it be possible to provide stability for Syrian workers and their families, and stop the current levels of people leaving Syria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for projects supported by State Aid agreements of the UK leaving the EU.

Anna Soubry

The Government’s view is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off in a reformed European Union.

As required by the EU Referendum Act 2015, the Government is committed to producing clear information, ahead of the Referendum, on: the outcome of the renegotiation, rights and obligations in European Union law, an assessment of alternatives to membership, and the process for leaving.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many instances of adverse reactions have been reported under the Yellow Card Scheme; and what the nature of the reaction reported was in the case of (a) dabigatran, (b) rivaroxaban and (c) apixaban.

George Freeman

Reports of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are collected by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Commission for Human Medicines through the spontaneous reporting scheme, the Yellow Card Scheme. The scheme collects suspected ADR reports from the whole of the United Kingdom in relation to all medicines and vaccines. Reporting to the Yellow Card Scheme is voluntary for healthcare professionals and members of the public. There is also a legal obligation for pharmaceutical companies to report all serious ADRs for their products that they are aware of.

The table below provides the number of UK suspected spontaneous ADR reports received via the Yellow card Scheme in association with each drug substance as requested.

The information in the table shows the number of UK spontaneous suspected ADR reports in association with Dabigatran, Rivaroxaban and Apixaban up to and including 7 March 2016.

Drug substance	Number of reports
Dabigatran	1,552
Rivaroxaban	3,291
Apixaban	900

A full list of the type and number of reactions, broken down by the reaction term, is publically available for each medicine on the MHRA website. It is important to note that Yellow Card reports are not proof of a side effect occurring due to the medicine but only a suspicion by the reporter that the medicine may have caused the side effect. Yellow Card reports may therefore relate to true side effects of the medicine, or they may be due to coincidental illnesses that would have occurred in the absence of the medicine.

Dabigatran, rivaroxaban and apixaban are anticoagulant medicines used to prevent or treat blood clots. The most commonly reported adverse reaction for all three medicines is gastrointestinal haemorrhage or bleeding, which is in keeping with the known anticoagulant effects of these medicines. Other relatively commonly reported suspected adverse reactions include bleeding at other sites of the body, gastrointestinal symptoms (such as nausea, pain and diarrhoea), anaemia, and rash. These adverse reactions are described in the product information, in both the Patient Information Leaflet for patients and the Summary of Healthcare Products for healthcare professionals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-08.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph A.23 of the Economic and fiscal outlook of the Office for Budget Responsibility, Cm 9212, published in March 2016, what steps he has taken to increase HM Revenue and Custom’s yields from tax repatriation from British overseas territories.

Mr David Gauke

The Government is absolutely committed to exposing and acting on financial wrongdoing and we relentlessly pursue tax evaders.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has brought in more than £2 billion from offshore tax evaders since 2010 and the government has repeatedly strengthened our powers so we can take even tougher action against those who try to cheat the honest majority by hiding their money in offshore tax havens.

The Government has led a transformation in global tax transparency which, from this year, will see HMRC start to automatically receive offshore account and trust data from more than 90 countries, including British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. This will further increase HMRC’s ability to crack down on those still hiding their money offshore.

The Government is further pushing for full and effective transparency for UK law enforcement to have access to beneficial ownership information of companies from all its Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories.

The Government has also introduced tough new powers and game-changing measures to tackle offshore and onshore tax evasion, and as recently as the summer Budget 2015 gave HMRC an additional £800 million to invest in compliance and tax evasion work.

This is expected to recover £7.2 billion in tax over the next five years and includes tripling the number of criminal investigations that HMRC can undertake into serious and complex tax crime, focusing particularly on wealthy individuals and corporates, with the aim of achieving 100 prosecutions a year by the end of the Parliament.

The new powers and measures include:

• Higher financial penalties for those hiding money and other assets offshore, such as, for the first time, linking the penalty to the value of the asset kept offshore. These are in addition to existing measures which already allow for fines of up to 300% of any tax found to have been evaded offshore.

• New civil penalties for those who deliberately enable offshore evasion so they will face the same penalty as the tax evader.

• Public naming of both evaders and those who enable evasion.

• A new criminal offence for corporations that fail to prevent their representatives from facilitating tax evasion. The new offence, which will be legislated for this year, will ensure that corporations exercise due diligence over the services they provide, and ensure that those who don’t can be held to account.

• A new strict liability criminal offence for offshore evasion, which we are currently legislating for – so in the worst cases it’s no longer possible to plead ignorance in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the Defence Attaché and Loan Service Centre was established; how many staff that Centre employs; and what that Centre’s budget is for 2016-17.

Mr Julian Brazier

Staff for the Defence Attache and Loan Service Centre (DALSC) were recruited from January to March 2016. The Centre opened for limited operations on 4 April 2016, supporting 75 defence section staff currently undertaking language training or preparation for deployment. In the first quarter of 2017 the DALSC is expected to be at full capability. The Centre will then also provide support to Loan Service personnel.

The DALSC employs 14 staff and, when running fully in 2017, their annual operating costs will be approximately £1.2 million. The establishment of the DALSC represents early progress against a Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 deliverable.