Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to releasing parts of one or both of the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus to facilitate a political settlement on the island.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The UK will continue to support the efforts of President Anastasiades and Mr Akinci to reunite Cyprus through a just and lasting settlement. The UK has made a generous offer that, as part of a comprehensive settlement, we will cede a significant proportion of the land mass of the Sovereign Base Areas. However, the Sovereign Base Areas continue to have a significant operational value for defence that is expected to endure for the long term.
Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to abandoning one or both of the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus to facilitate a political settlement on the island.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The UK will continue to support the efforts of President Anastasiades and Mr Akinci to reunite Cyprus through a just and lasting settlement. The UK has made a generous offer that, as part of a comprehensive settlement, we will cede a significant proportion of the land mass of the Sovereign Base Areas. However, the Sovereign Base Areas continue to have a significant operational value for defence that is expected to endure for the long term.
Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many refugees have penetrated security at the sovereign base of Akrotiri in the past two months; how many of those refugees remain on that base; and where those refugees who are no longer on that base have gone.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
115 migrants arrived by boat at RAF Akrotiri on 21 October 2015. None penetrated the robust and established security measures we have in place to protect the base. The migrants came under the control of the Sovereign Base Area Administration as soon as they set foot on shore and at no point were they near any secure facilities within the base. Operational activity was not affected.
All of the migrants were transferred from RAF Akrotiri on 27 October 2015 to a specially prepared transit facility in the Eastern Sovereign Base Area of Dhekelia outside of the military garrison.
As at 4 December 2015, 54 migrants are accommodated in the transit facility, one is held within HMP Dhekelia and 60 have transferred to reception centres in the Republic of Cyprus.
Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many service personnel in (1) the army, (2) the Royal Navy, and (3) the Royal Air Force, have declared themselves to be Muslim.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Declaration of religion is a voluntary decision for each individual.
The number of UK regular service personnel in the Royal Navy/Royal Marines (RN/RM), the Army and the Royal Air Force who have declared themselves to be Muslim as at 1 April 2014 can be found in the table below:
Royal Navy/Royal Marines (RN/RM) | 40 |
Army | 510 |
Royal Air Force | 40 |
Notes: 1 April 2014 is the latest published information available. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.
Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many residential units are owned by the United Kingdom authorities in the Sovereign Base of Dhekelia, and to which authority it is intended to surrender them to facilitate a political settlement in Cyprus.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
There are 416 residential units owned by the United Kingdom authorities in the Sovereign Base of Dhekelia.
The land offer put forward to the UN in 2003/4, and subsequently readdressed in 2009 in the event of a reunified Cyprus, does not include any of the residential units owned by the United Kingdom authorities in the Sovereign Base of Dhekelia.
Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the length of the land perimeter of the Sovereign Base Area of Dhekelia with (1) the area administered by the Turkish Cypriot Authorities, and (2) the area administered by the government of Cyprus.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The length of the land perimeter of the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area, excluding the small Republic of Cyprus enclaves, with (1) is approximately 50.4 km and (2) approximately 34.6 km. The Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area is also on the perimeter of the UN controlled zone and the length of the boundaries is approximately 8.5 km in the West and 1.1 km in the East.
Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how old are the two Royal Navy vessels providing security in British waters at Gibraltar; what is their maximum potential speed in knots; and what is the estimated speed of the Spanish naval vessels which have made incursions in those waters.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
HMS SCIMITAR is 21 years old; HMS SABRE is 22 years old. Both are capable of travelling in excess of 25 knots, which enables them to fulfil their assigned role.
The speed of Spanish naval vessels is a matter for them.
Asked by: Lord Kilclooney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the intention of the government of the Republic of Ireland to request that the European Court of Human Rights revise its judgment from 1978 in relation to the treatment of internees.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
That is a matter for the Irish Government.