Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that the rights of older people are integrated into the humanitarian and recovery strategies to be discussed at the Sudan Conference in Berlin.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is standard practice to consider the particular needs of marginalised groups, including older people, when planning our humanitarian responses, and this will be reflected in our ongoing discussions with international partners and non-governmental organisations on the crisis in Sudan.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to page 261 of the FCDO Annual Report and Accounts 2024–2025, HC 1198, whether her Department considered declaring grants to Inter Mediate in 2024-25 as a related party transaction.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No change has been made to the approach to such grants since they were first made under the previous government of which the Hon Member was part.
Asked by: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of recent Israeli legislation introducing the death penalty.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK opposes capital punishment in all circumstances, and we have raised our concerns directly with the Israeli Government about the recently-passed Death Penalty Bill.
In a joint statement with Australia, France, Germany, Italy and New Zealand on 29 March, we highlighted the discriminatory character of the bill, and urged the Government of Israel to abandon it.
And on 30 March, the Foreign Secretary raised the bill in a call with Foreign Minister Sa’ar, and highlighted Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress her Department has made with Cabinet colleagues on resetting the UK's relationship with the European Union.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Our long‑term national interest requires a closer EU partnership, anchored in the Common Understanding and strengthened by new security and defence cooperation.
Our Security and Defence Partnership has delivered a step change in engagement, supporting Ukraine through coordinated sanctions, military assistance, training, and resilience.
While providing a long‑term framework for practical cooperation that protects our citizens and strengthens Europe’s collective defence.
This sits alongside wider progress, including Erasmus+ and negotiations on energy, youth experience, and food and drink.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the human rights situation in Somalia.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain deeply concerned by the human rights situation in Somalia, including the devastating conflict-related violence against women and children, and deteriorating media freedom.
The UK advocates for greater respect for human rights through targeted programmes and sustained engagement, holding the Federal Government of Somalia and other actors to account.
As co-chair of a Somalia-focused Human Rights Working Group, and joint penholder for the United Nations Human Rights Council mandate, the UK plays a leading role in keeping international partners’ attention and efforts focused on human rights issues in Somalia.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to monitor neglected global health threats.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office works with the UK Health Security Agency, World Health Organization (WHO), and other international partners to monitor a broad range of global health threats through established international surveillance systems. We support global disease surveillance networks, early‑warning systems and programmes that strengthen countries' capacity to prevent, detect and respond to disease outbreaks, including through our multilateral investments to WHO, the Global Fund, Gavi and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the state of freedom of religion or belief in Somalia; and whether this issue is systematically raised in the UK’s engagement with the Government of Somalia.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 6 August 2025 to Question 68009.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to her Oral Statement of 5 February 2026 on Sudan, Official Report, column 438, what steps her Department is taking to strengthen closer work through local partners in Sudan.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the comments made by the Foreign Secretary in her article for the Daily Telegraph on 15 April marking the third anniversary of the war in Sudan, where she said:
Amid all this horror, another Sudan endures, defined not by violence, but by courage. Across the country, civilians continue to step forward where the state has collapsed, working to keep their communities alive.
Local emergency responders travel neighbourhood by neighbourhood, providing food, water and medicine in conditions of danger and deprivation that few could imagine. They are unpaid, unaligned, and often targeted by the warring parties precisely because of the alternative model of life they represent.
They are not simply delivering aid. They are preserving the social fabric of their country and showing that Sudan's future does not belong to armed men battling for power, but to citizens committed to dignity and coexistence. They must be recognised as the rightful architects of Sudan's future.
That is why we are protecting the UK's humanitarian support to Sudan and doubling our funding to these local responders, helping them to reach nearly two million people. Our aid will support that local leadership, not overshadow it. That is not only more effective; it is how a peaceful Sudan will be rebuilt.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the British Council in promoting UK soft power through the global dissemination of Shakespeare and related cultural programming.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The British Council plays a crucial role supporting the UK's interests around the world, supported by its work on UK education, as well as its work to promote UK arts and culture, and the English language, including a love of the works of Shakespeare. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is providing a non-Official Development Assistance uplift of £40 million across the Spending Review period to the British Council, which underlines our continued support for their important work.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2026 to Question 122723 on Inter Mediate: Contracts, for what reason the agreement between her Department and Inter Mediate was classified as an Accountable Grant Agreement; and what the difference is between an Accountable Grant Agreements and a contract.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer he was provided on 30 March in response to Question 118788, and to the previous answer to which his questions refer.