Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which departments were involved in producing a briefing for (1) the planned visit to the Palantir showroom in Washington in February 2025, and (2) the meeting between the Prime Minister and the head of Palantir on 27 February 2025.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Baroness to the answer provided to HC86672 on 7 November 2025, which is reproduced below for ease of reference:
Officials from our Embassy in Washington arranged this trip in the normal way.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any concerns were raised before the proposed meeting between the Prime Minister and the head of Palantir on 27 February 2025.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Baroness to the answer provided to HC86672 on 7 November 2025, which is reproduced below for ease of reference:
Officials from our Embassy in Washington arranged this trip in the normal way.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of threats made by the Iranian authorities to target locations and infrastructure linked to broadcasts to Iran, especially those of Iran International, and the continuing threats against international journalists, their legal representatives, and others working with them.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided in the House of Commons on 24 March in response to Question HC120196, which - for ease of reference - is reproduced below:
Iran's threats and intimidation toward journalists and their families, both inside Iran and in the UK, are absolutely unacceptable, and we have consistently raised these issues directly with the Iranian government. We were integral to the delivery of the Iran Human Rights Resolution, adopted by the UN General Assembly in November 2025, which called on Iran to halt threats and intimidation against journalists who are critical of the government, and to investigate and prosecute those responsible for reprisals. In the UK, the National Protective Security Authority and Counter Terrorism Policing also continue to provide protective security advice and support to individuals and organisations threatened by the Iranian regime and its criminal proxies.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about allowing international media access to Gaza.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided in the House of Commons on 3 October 2025 in response to Question HC76551, which - for ease of reference - is reproduced below:
The UK is appalled by the extremely high number of fatalities, arrests and detentions of media workers in the State of Palestine. We have called on all parties to fully uphold International Humanitarian Law and ensure protection of civilians including journalists. In a recent joint statement with 28 other members of the Media Freedom Coalition, we called on the Israeli authorities and all other parties to make every effort to ensure that media workers in Gaza, Israel, the West Bank and East Jerusalem can conduct their work freely and safely. The statement also called for all attacks against media workers to be investigated and for those responsible to be prosecuted in compliance with national and international law. Earlier this year the UK provided funds to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Special Fund for Gaza, supporting locally based journalists and providing vital equipment.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental implications of attacks on Kharg Island.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
No such assessments are available at this time, but the UK continues to (a) work for a resolution of the conflict in the Gulf, and (b) call on Israel to respect Syria's territorial integrity, and lay out timelines for their withdrawal from the Area of Separation.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the human rights situation and the protection of freedom of expression for citizens within each of the Gulf Cooperation Council states who have expressed dissent or disagreement with their respective governments' policies following the recent escalation in the conflict between the United States and Iran; and what representations they have made to those governments regarding the importance of upholding international human rights obligations during periods of regional instability.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK encourages all states to uphold international human rights obligations, and will continue to speak frankly about these issues with our Gulf Cooperation Council partners through ministerial and diplomatic channels.
Asked by: Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour - Penrith and Solway)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Saudi counterpart on (a) freedom of expression, (b) the cases of arbitrarily detained journalists and (c) the recently reported arrest and detention of Mohamed El-Sayed.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government continues to monitor individual cases of concern in Saudi Arabia, and we regularly raise human rights with the Saudi authorities, including at ministerial level.
The UK is concerned over the arrests and continued detention of a number of individuals, particularly those detained for expressing their political views.
Asked by: Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour - Penrith and Solway)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her Saudi Arabian counterpart on the case of Ahmed al-Doush.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government continues to monitor individual cases of concern in Saudi Arabia, and we regularly raise human rights with the Saudi authorities, including at ministerial level.
The UK is concerned over the arrests and continued detention of a number of individuals, particularly those detained for expressing their political views.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 18 March (HL15286), what assessment they have made of the number of (1) schools, and (2) hospitals, in Iran that have been hit or destroyed since 28 February; and if there is not yet an assessment or estimate available, when they expect that an assessment or estimate will be made available.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer he cites in his question. The position has not changed in the intervening week.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental impacts of Israel’s attacks on oil facilities in Iran, following reports of toxic smoke and acid rain in Tehran.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
No such assessments are available at this time, but the UK continues to (a) work for a resolution of the conflict in the Gulf, and (b) call on Israel to respect Syria's territorial integrity, and lay out timelines for their withdrawal from the Area of Separation.