Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has met with her French counterpart to discuss military and diplomatic cooperation between the UK and France in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK and France regularly discuss military and security cooperation in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. As chair of the G7 the Foreign Secretary invited colleagues from Australia, the Republic of Korea and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to join our meeting in Liverpool 11-12 December. We reaffirmed our strong engagement and co-operation in the region and discussed regional and security issues, in addition to maritime cooperation and state behaviour in cyberspace.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that citizens in the British Overseas Territories receive booster shots of the covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Amanda Milling
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been supporting the Overseas Territories since the outset of the pandemic. This includes the provision of vaccines which have been provided on a population proportionate basis with the United Kingdom. The UK Overseas Territories have some of the highest vaccination rates globally and the roll out of booster vaccines began in October 2021. To date, eleven (Anguilla, Ascension Island, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the Turks & Caicos Islands Overseas Territories) have received booster vaccines. Plans are in hand to deliver boosters to the remaining three Overseas Territories (Pitcairn, Tristan da Cunha and staff at the British Antarctic Territory) in early 2022.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what specific issues in relation to LGBT rights in Brunei were raised between the Minister of State and the Foreign Minister of Brunei in their meeting of 9 December 2021; and what the response from Foreign Minister II Erywan was.
Answered by Amanda Milling
The UK is committed to the principle of non-discrimination on any grounds, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Human rights are universal and should apply equally to all people. We continue to raise human rights and respect of individual freedoms as part of our bilateral discussions with Brunei. In my meeting with the Foreign Minister of Brunei on 9 December I discussed LGBT+ issues, including in the context of the implementation of Brunei's Sharia Penal Code Order. The Foreign Minister of Brunei welcomed discussions on these areas.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the political dispute between Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia Herzegovina; and whether she has made representations to her respective Bosnian and Serbian counterparts to encourage cooperation between the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina within the framework of the Dayton Agreement.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is deeply concerned at the deteriorating political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The Foreign Secretary met BiH Foreign Minister Turkovic at the OSCE Ministerial meeting on 1 December, and High Representative Schmidt in London on 2 December.
The UK remains committed to ensuring peace and stability in BiH, and upholding its sovereignty and state integrity. We continue to work closely with political parties, civil society, and community leaders in BiH to support reconciliation efforts, tackle legacy issues, and build common purpose around a brighter future for all citizens.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department will take to assist Bougainville towards independence in line with that region’s agreement with the Government of Papua New Guinea.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK has consistently supported implementation of the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement. This includes sharing our experience of conflict resolution and devolution, and providing almost £200,000 to UN programmes supporting the non-binding 2019 independence referendum and subsequent consultations on Bougainville’s final political status. We will continue to support international efforts to help the Governments of Papua New Guinea and Bougainville reach an agreed settlement.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much her Department has spent protecting endangered languages from extinction in Papua New Guinea; and what assessment she has made of the importance to indigenous communities of speaking their native languages and the wider linguistic diversity of that country.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK Government acknowledges the importance of Papua New Guinea's rich cultural and linguistic diversity, with almost 850 spoken languages. In partnership with the Leverhulme Trust and British Library, we are funding a three year project - True Echoes - to connect communities in Papua New Guinea with the earliest recordings of their local languages and song, dating from 1898 to 1918, and to make the archive available online for all, including Papua New Guinea's cultural institutions and future generations.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will hold discussions with the Government of Brunei on the penalties in place in that country against LGBT people.
Answered by Amanda Milling
The UK is committed to the principle of non-discrimination on any grounds, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Human rights are universal and should apply equally to all people. We continue to raise human rights and respect of individual freedoms as part of our bilateral discussions with Brunei. I discussed LGBT rights in my meeting with Foreign Minister II Erywan on 9 December.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to sanction businesses that are complicit in the use of forced labour in Xinjiang, China.
Answered by Amanda Milling
On the 12th of January, the UK Government announced a series of robust measures in respect of UK supply chains to help ensure that no British organisations - government or private sector, deliberately or inadvertently - are profiting from or contributing to human rights violations against the Uyghurs or other minorities in Xinjiang. These measures include a review of export controls as they apply to Xinjiang, the introduction of financial penalties for organisations that fail to comply with their obligations under the Modern Slavery Act, and new, robust guidance to UK businesses on the specific risks faced by companies with links to the region.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of joining Australia, India, Japan and the United States in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.
Answered by Amanda Milling
As the UK continues to deliver our tilt to the Indo-Pacific, we are building and strengthening partnerships bilaterally, multilaterally and in minilateral groupings across the region. The Indo-Pacific Quad is increasingly important to four of the UK's closest partners in the region (Australia, India, Japan and the US). The UK welcomes the outcomes of the two leaders' level Quad summits in March and September 2021 which echo many of the UK's priorities, including climate change, COVID-19 response and emerging technology and we are looking at options for closer practical cooperation with Quad members in these areas, supplementing our important bilateral engagement with each of these key partners.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the recent tensions between China and Taiwan.
Answered by Amanda Milling
Her Majesty's Government considers the Taiwan issue one to be settled peacefully by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait through constructive dialogue. We are concerned by any activity which raises tensions and risks destabilising the status quo and have been clear that the numerous Chinese military flights near Taiwan at the beginning of October were not conducive to peace and stability in the region. We underscored the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait alongside partners in the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers' communique in May and G7 Leaders' communique in June.