Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has had discussions with Commonwealth partners on strengthening trade resilience amid global supply chain disruptions.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
These issues were discussed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit (CHOGM) in Samoa in October 2024. Economic resilience is a key area of focus in the Commonwealth Strategic Plan for 2025 - 2030. Since CHOGM we have continued to discuss these issues in international and multilateral fora, and in bilateral conversations with our Commonwealth partners.
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 her Department is taking to support persecuted minorities in Bangladesh.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 6 November 2025 in response to Question 86282, and I would add that Baroness Chapman raised the issue of violence towards religious minority groups during her trip to Bangladesh later that month.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the humanitarian situation in northern Ethiopia, including the Tigray region; what estimate she has made of the number of internally displaced persons and other vulnerable populations currently experiencing acute food insecurity; what steps her Department is taking to provide emergency food, nutrition, and medical assistance; and what steps she is taking to coordinate UK support with the World Food Programme, other UN agencies, and international partners to alleviate hunger in the region.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The ongoing conflict in Amhara has led to significant humanitarian needs, and widespread conflict-related human rights violations and abuses. In Tigray, there are an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs).
UK Official Development Assistance to Ethiopia in 2025/26 is £172.7 million, of which £95.5 million has been used to provide lifesaving humanitarian aid, focused on emergency health, nutrition, and social protection implemented by a combination of UN agencies, non-governmental organisations, and the Red Cross.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 resilience of UK diplomatic missions’ digital infrastructure against state-sponsored cyber threats.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) maintains a clear and comprehensive strategy to address cyber and information security threats across the global network and continues to deliver an ongoing programme to strengthen resilience and safeguard critical assets. The FCDO's approach aligns with National Cyber Security Centre best practice and includes regular assessments to ensure resilience amid a continuously evolving business, digital and threat landscape.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will ensure that her Department has contingency plans in place to respond to any invasion or hostile act against Greenland by a foreign power.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It has been the long-standing policy of the United Kingdom under successive governments never to speculate on hypothetical operational responses to hypothetical scenarios.
I refer the Hon Member to the statement made to the House by the Foreign Secretary on 5 January, and her responses to questions raised in that debate, where she set out in comprehensive terms the UK's position on Greenland.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
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 stop goods produced in illegal settlements in the West Bank from entering the UK.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I provided on 15 October 2025 in response to Question 77510.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the proposed visit to China later this month is planned to be proceeded with irrespective of the outcome of His Majesty’s Government’s determination of the planning application for China’s new embassy.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Prime Minister's travel will be confirmed in the usual way.
This Government is taking a consistent, long term and strategic approach to managing the UK's relations with China, rooted in UK and global interests. We will co-operate where we can and challenge where we must.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what data her Department holds on the breakdown by age of the impact of changes in levels of overseas development aid.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) are an essential part of how we make decisions on Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme allocations. The 2025/26 EIA, as published on gov.uk captures the impacts on children where these were reported at programme level. We will continue to track spend on equalities and plan to improve the availability and use of data. As part of this, we will consider how we measure impacts on relevant age groups, as this is not something we have done previously.
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 recent assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for her policies of the humanitarian situation in Sudan.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the statement made to the House by the Foreign Secretary on 18 November 2025, and to the most recent Urgent Question debate on 15 December 2025.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) residential and (b) commercial properties in the UK are owned by the Chinese state.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government does not control the purchase of private property within the United Kingdom, and keeps no central record of purchases made on behalf of individual nation states.