Tag: Stewart Malcolm McDonald

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the charity Broken Rainbow on renewing funding from her Department; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley

The Government is committed to tackling domestic violence and abuse. Broken Rainbow plays an important role in supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims of domestic abuse, and the Home Office provided £120,000 to support the Broken Rainbow helpline for the 2015/16 financial year.

We are carefully considering ongoing funding of national helplines, in close consultation with helpline providers, and decisions on renewing funding will be announced shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-05-23.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations his Department have received from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on the list of addresses of British entities registered with the Mossack Fonseca law firm in Panama published by the ICIJ on their website on 9 May 2016.

Mr David Gauke

We welcome the statement from the source of the Panama Papers that they are willing to speak to law enforcement bodies. Tax evasion and money laundering are global issues, which is why the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and National Crime Agency (NCA) taskforce is working with international tax and law enforcement partners to take up this offer, and develop as many leads as possible from the data that is currently available.

HMRC has been in regular contact with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), who have refused to share their full data with HMRC, stating that their policy is not to hand over such material. While we welcome the steps the ICIJ has taken in exposing this issue, its decision not to release the full set of information is disappointing.

HMRC has begun analytical work on all the data published by the ICIJ, in addition to a wide range of other intelligence. As a result of this, the HMRC and NCA taskforce has opened a number of detailed and forensic enquiries.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Bahrain.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to meet its human rights obligations and to honour all conventions to which it is a party. We welcome the progress made by Bahrain on their reform programme, particularly with organisations that provide independent oversight of police behaviour and standards in detention.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he was made aware of Volkswagen’s decision to delay Jones Day’s comprehensive investigation into diesel emissions until the fourth quarter of 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department for Transport was informed of this decision by Volkswagen on 22 April. This coincided with the public announcement from the company.