Asked by: Lord Willoughby de Broke (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ascertain the safety of Martin Lee and other supporters of democracy in Hong Kong arrested in April.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are concerned by the arrests of Martin Lee and other pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong. We are following these cases closely. Senior Officials have raised our concern about the arrests with the authorities in Hong Kong, Beijing and with the Chinese Embassy in London. We will continue to make our views clear publicly and privately.
Asked by: Lord Willoughby de Broke (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) suspend the construction of HS2, and (2) use any money saved as a result to support communities and businesses affected by COVID-19.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government will do whatever is necessary to deal with COVID-19 now and will also continue to invest in the country’s future infrastructure.
Asked by: Lord Willoughby de Broke (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the recent adverse weather conditions, what consideration they have given to suspending the requirement for farmers to grow three different crops in order to qualify for payments under the Basic Payment Scheme in 2020.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
We are working closely with the Rural Payment Agency (RPA) to look at all the available options to support farmers who are being affected by wet weather issues.
The RPA has published online guidance to provide advice around crop diversification requirements and force majeure. We encourage farmers to look at that guidance in the first instance.
We are currently exploring what options are available to us to offer flexibility to the 2020 Basic Payment Scheme rules now we have left the EU.