Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) content and (b) level of disinformation spread by (a) the Russian state,(b) agents of the Russian state, (c) Russian, non-state actors in the UK.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The UK is at the forefront of a growing international consensus on the need to take action against disinformation, regardless of source or intent. The Government continues to monitor the nature and level of the threat posed by Russian state-sponsored disinformation. As the Prime Minister said in her Mansion House speech in November 2017, Russia is seeking to weaponise information, deploying its state-run media organisations to plant fake stories and photo-shopped images in an attempt to sow discord in the West and undermine our institutions. Following the Salisbury attack in March 2018, the Russian state and Russian state media pushed out a deluge of disinformation with over 40 different narratives to confuse audiences and distract from Russian culpability.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much funding his Department allocated to each recipient under the Russian Language Programme since financial year 2013-14.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Russian Language Programme was launched in 2014 following Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea. The Programme was funded from the Cross-Government Conflict, Stability, and Security Fund (CSSF). In April 2016 we launched a new four year strategic communications and media development programme, called the Counter Disinformation and Media Development Programme, designed to protect national security by countering disinformation directed at the UK and its Allies from Russia. The former Russian Language Programme was amalgamated into this. Documents and correspondence about projects within the Programme will not be published, as this information could then be used actively to attempt to disrupt and undermine the Programme's effectiveness.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will list (a) the recipients of funding allocated from the public purse under the Counter Disinformation and Media Development Programme and (b) the amounts allocated to each recipient under the Programme in each financial year since 2015-16.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The FCO's Counter Disinformation and Media Development Programme is designed to protect national security by countering disinformation directed at the UK and its Allies from Russia. Russia persistently uses disinformation to target its perceived enemies. An example was the Russian disinformation campaign that followed the attack in Salisbury, which was intended to distract from Russian culpability. Documents and correspondence about projects within the Programme will not be published, as this information could then be used actively to attempt to disrupt and undermine the Programme's effectiveness.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the (a) amount and (b) recipient name was for grants paid through the FCO-led Russian Language Programme in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The FCO's Counter Disinformation and Media Development Programme is designed to protect national security by countering disinformation directed at the UK and its Allies from Russia. Russia persistently uses disinformation to target its perceived enemies. An example was the Russian disinformation campaign that followed the attack in Salisbury, which was intended to distract from Russian culpability. Information about individual projects within the Programme will not be published, as this information could then be used to actively attempt to disrupt and undermine the Programme's effectiveness.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2018 to Question 196177 on Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Integrity Initiative, whether the funding provided to the Institute of Statecraft was through the FCO-led Russian Language Programme.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Russian Language Programme was launched in 2014 following Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea. In April 2016 we launched a new four year strategic communications and media development programme authorised by the National Security Council, called the Counter Disinformation and Media Development Programme. The former Russian Language Programme was amalgamated into this. The funding provided to the Institute for Statecraft was funded from the Counter Disinformation and Media Development Programme.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2018 to Question 196177 on Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Integrity Initiative, if he will publish his Department's (a) documents and (b) correspondence on grant agreements for the Integrity Initiative.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The FCO's Counter Disinformation and Media Development Programme is designed to protect national security by countering disinformation directed at the UK and its Allies from Russia. Russia persistently uses disinformation to target its perceived enemies. An example was the Russian disinformation campaign that followed the attack in Salisbury, which was intended to distract from Russian culpability. Documents and correspondence about projects within the Programme will not be published, as this information could then be used to actively attempt to disrupt and undermine the Programme's effectiveness.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2018 to Question 196177 on Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Integrity Initiative, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people employed to work (a) on the Integrity Initiative and (b) for the Institute of Statecraft that hold (i) posts and (ii) honorary posts in the British military.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office do not have an estimate for the number of people employed by the Institute for Statecraft. None of those employed in the Integrity Initiative are serving members of the UKforces. Two are in the reserves, and one holds a purely honorary role.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has (a) funded, (b) provided contracts to and (c) procured the services of the Integrity Initiative in each financial year since 2015/16.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Institute for Statecraft is an independent, Scottish, charitable body whose work seeks to improve governance and enhance national security. They launched the Integrity Initiative in 2015 to defend democracy against disinformation.
In financial year 2017/18, the FCO funded the Institute for Statecraft's Integrity Initiative £296,500. This financial year, the FCO is funding a further £1,961,000. Both have been funded through grant agreements.
At the Eastern Partnership Summit in November 2017, the Prime Minister announced that the UK Government has committed £100m over five years to tackling this threat internationally.
Such funding furthers our commitment to producing important work to counter disinformation and other malign influence.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates on the imprisonment of the human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor.
Answered by Alistair Burt
My officials raised the case of Ahmed Mansoor with their Emirati counterparts at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 15 April. Similarly, in coordination with my officials and other EU member states, the EU Delegation to the UAE raised this case with Emirati officials on 5 July.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government received information following the inspection of Barzeh by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons at any time in the six months before missile strikes were initiated against that location on 14 April 2018.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) reports on a monthly basis to the UN Security Council on the Syrian chemical weapons programme. Its report of 24 November 2017 noted Syria's declaration of parts of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC) and the OPCW assessment that this declaration remained incomplete. The OPCW report of 23 March 2018 reported on the inspections at the Barzeh facility of the SSRC, and repeated the conclusion that outstanding issues remained unresolved and the declaration remained incomplete.