Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the information regarding Harrods in the article “Amazon gets tough with workers over 35p pay rise”, published in The Sunday Times on 14 August; whether Harrods is classified as a “crucial public service”; whether supermarkets are classified as such; and what other services are included in that designation.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The legislation repealing regulation 7 applies to all employers in all sectors. It came into force on 21st July after debates in both houses of Parliament. It gives employers the choice to work with employment businesses to find suitably qualified staff when they are facing industrial action and offers agency workers the freedom to accept roles replacing staff on strike if they wish. It does not affect the ability of workers to go on strike and existing protections for striking workers are maintained. It does, however, balance the right to strike against the right of employers and third parties not to suffer disproportionate disruption. This is particularly important as we continue to recover from the pandemic and are faced with what are global economic challenges.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 27 June (HL854), whether they will now answer the question put, namely, what assessment they have made of the report by Lord Skidelsky Economic Sanctions: A Weapon out of Control, published in April; and in particular, what assessment they have made of the conclusion that "They [sanctions] should come into play only after diplomacy has been exhausted, never as an alternative to it. This has not been the case in the present conflict".
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK uses sanctions as part of a broader political strategy, a comprehensive approach encompassing the full range of diplomatic actions. Russia's assault on Ukraine is an unprovoked, premeditated attack against a sovereign democratic state that threatens global security. There can be no negotiated settlement which replicates the Minsk Agreement, which came at the expense of Ukraine's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity. Prior to Russia's further invasion, the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and the Secretary of State for Defence visited Moscow and the Prime Minister spoke to Putin. However, Putin launched an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and has made clear he will not stop at Ukraine in his ambitions, but go further by targeting other sovereign nations. In the face of rising aggression we must be assertive in use of our economic levers such as sanctions, and the UK will continue ratcheting up economic pressure in order to cripple Putin's war machine.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the remarks by the new Chief of the British Army that "there is now a burning imperative to forge an Army capable of fighting alongside our allies and defeating Russia in battle" represents Government policy.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The 2021 Integrated Review and Defence Command Paper set out a year ago that Russia poses “the greatest nuclear, conventional military and sub-threshold threat to European security”.
Warfighting capability remains the cornerstone of deterrence and the bedrock of a world-class British Army. The ability and willingness to commit hard capability to fighting wars is a fundamental foundation of our influence and deterrence.
Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, therefore confirms why the UK must be ready to defend and deter threats emanating from our adversaries in a deteriorating global security environment.
We continue to review our capabilities and readiness levels as we deliver the transformation of the Army under Future Soldier.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the remarks by the new Chief of the British Army on 16 June regarding "fighting alongside our allies and defeating Russia in battle", (2) the potential for more fatalities as a result of the UK's involvement in the war against Russia; and what estimate they have made, if any, of the number of fatalities that would result from UK involvement in the conflict.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The ability and willingness to commit hard capability to fighting wars is a fundamental foundation of our influence and deterrence. As outlined in the Integrated Review, we will continue to work with our Allies and partners to increase our interoperability and burden sharing, ensuring a united response to threats to global security, combining our military, diplomatic and intelligence assets in support of collective security.
We conduct a rigorous assessment of the risks associated with providing defensive capabilities to Ukraine. However, Ukraine is not a NATO member and Ministers have been clear that UK troops will not fight alongside the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We do not comment on hypothetical situations.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when section 177 of the Health and Care Act 2022 came, or will come, into force.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Section 117 of the Health and Care Act 2022 will come into force on 1 October 2022.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Lord Skidelsky Economic Sanctions: A Weapon out of Control, published in April.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government uses our sanctions regimes as part of an integrated approach to promote our values and interests, and to combat state threats, terrorism, cyber-attacks, and the use and proliferation of chemical weapons. The UK considers the impact and effectiveness of sanctions, and works with our international partners to ensure sanctions regimes support our objectives and minimise unintended impacts.
In lockstep with our allies, we have announced the strongest set of economic sanctions ever imposed against a major economy in response to Russia's unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine, cutting off funding for Putin's war machine. The UK's sanctions have been strategically coordinated with international allies to impose a severe cost. Sanctions imposed by the UK and its international partners are having deep and damaging consequences for Putin's ability to wage war, with around £275 billion - up to 60% of Russian foreign currency reserves - currently frozen.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to including a representative from the British Airline Pilots Association to their Jet Zero Council membership.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
When the Jet Zero Council was established in July 2020, we sought to ensure that all relevant parts of the industry were represented, from airlines, airports, and aerospace manufacturers, to NGOs, academics, and start-ups.
To ensure that the Council remains at the forefront of driving zero emission transatlantic flight within a generation, we are currently reviewing the Council’s membership to ensure it reflects the expertise required to deliver this challenge. Though there will always be practical limits to the size of the Council, and we are not able to accommodate all individual requests for membership.
To support the delivery of the Jet Zero Council and allow wider participation in its work, we have established Delivery Groups focussed on Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and Zero Emission Flight (ZEF), which we encourage organisations with relevant interests to engage with.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk that revoking the broadcasting licence of the Russian news channel RT may increase interest in its broadcasts.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We welcome Ofcom’s independent decision to revoke RT’s licence to broadcast in the UK so that President Putin can no longer spread his regime’s lies on UK television. The Russian authorities must not be allowed to spread their insidious propaganda in the UK.
We will not hesitate to take any necessary action against any key individuals and bodies responsible for disseminating these lies and are exploring all options further to choke off this material in the UK.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they require biometric data from people seeking refugee status having fled from Ukraine; what assessment they have made of decision by the government of the Republic of Ireland not to require biometric information from such refugees; and what plans they have to review the Common Travel Area in response to this different approach.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Secretary updated Parliament on 10 March about the government's support for people fleeing Ukraine.
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/home-secretary-update-on-support-for-ukrainians
The UK Government is firmly committed to maintaining the Common Travel Area arrangement for UK and Irish citizens. There is a high level of cooperation on border security between both the UK and Irish Governments to ensure all the necessary measures to protect and secure the Common Travel Area are being taken.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations, if any, they are making to the government of Turkey regarding (1) the United Nations' Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, and (2) the dismissal of Sait Erdal Dincer as head of the Turkish Statistical Institute.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
As an active UN member state, we encourage all countries in the UN to abide by these important guiding principles. We have not raised the dismissal of Mr Dincer with the Turkish authorities, as this is an internal matter for Turkey.