Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has held recent discussions with his counterpart in Nigeria on the persecution of Christians in that country.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
Promoting the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities. Rising insecurity has impeded on the rights of people of all faiths in Nigeria. The UK supports Nigeria to deliver on its constitutional commitment to FoRB through ongoing development programming and security cooperation. The UK also regularly raises FoRB with the Nigerian Government and will be an active participant in the upcoming UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process for Nigeria which provides an opportunity to raise questions and recommendations on a country's human rights record, including FoRB.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to (a) renegotiate the UK's membership of the European Convention on Human Rights and (b) hold a referendum on remaining a member of that treaty.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK has a longstanding tradition of ensuring rights and liberties are protected and abiding by the rule of law, both domestically and internationally. The Government remains committed to that position and will ensure that our laws continue to be fit for purpose and work for the people of the UK. As the Prime Minister has said, if it becomes clear that our domestic laws or international conventions are frustrating our priority of stopping the boats, we are prepared to change those laws and revisit those relationships.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to (a) renegotiate adhesion to the European Convention on Human Rights and (b) hold a referendum on remaining a party to that treaty.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK has a longstanding tradition of ensuring rights and liberties are protected and abiding by the rule of law, both domestically and internationally. The Government remains committed to that position and will ensure that our laws continue to be fit for purpose and work for the people of the UK. As the Prime Minister has said, if it becomes clear that our domestic laws or international conventions are frustrating our priority of stopping the boats, we are prepared to change those laws and revisit those relationships.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress the Government has made on distribution of the proceeds of the sale of Chelsea Football Club.
Answered by David Rutley
The proceeds from the sale of Chelsea FC are frozen in a UK bank account. They cannot be moved or used without a licence from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI). An independent foundation is being established by humanitarian experts outside the UK Government to manage and distribute the funds for humanitarian purposes in Ukraine. Once the foundation has been established, a licence application will need to be made to move the funds to the foundation. The Government will assess this application against the risks of sanctions circumvention.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support his Department is providing to the South African Government to investigate corruption in that country.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK's Integrated Review sets out the UK Government's commitment to fighting corruption and illicit finance as threats to democratic values and open societies around the world. We are fully committed to supporting South Africa's fight against corruption, which President Ramaphosa has identified as one of his priorities. We work closely with the South African authorities including through our law enforcement agencies to facilitate intelligence sharing, evidence gathering and the recovery of criminal proceeds.
Under the UK Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions regime, the UK imposed sanctions against Ajay Gupta, Atul Gupta, Rajesh Gupta and Salim Essa in May 2021 for their roles in serious corruption which caused significant damage to the South African economy. As a long-standing friend of South Africa, the UK will continue to partner closely with the South African authorities, business and civil society on a shared agenda of security, economic and social issues.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much and what proportion of the overseas aid budget has been allocated to Rwanda; and in what years that budget was allocated.
Answered by James Duddridge
Full budgets per country and a final audited spend for 2021/22 will be published in due course, including in our regular Statistics on International Development and in the FCDO Annual Report and Accounts.