Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to prevent any Minister or official of HM Government from (a) using accommodation, (b) attending any event at a Dorchester Collection hotel until (i) the Dorchester Collection is no longer under ownership of the Brunei Investment Agency or (b) he is satisfied that Brunei has a legal system that protects universal human rights.
Answered by Mark Field
As I stated in the Westminster Hall debate on Brunei on 10 April, the British Government does not support calls for an economic boycott. This includes the Brunei Investment Agency-owned businesses, including the Dorchester Hotel in London. We believe that open and honest discussions best support our efforts to encourage Brunei to uphold its international human rights obligations, and to respect individual freedoms.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Government of Democratic Republic of Congo on working conditions for children involved in the mining of cobalt.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The UK is concerned about working conditions for children involved in the mining of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The DRC is a Foreign and Commonwealth Office Human Rights Priority Country. We will continue to encourage the DRC Government to take concrete steps to improve respect for human rights. Through our existing and future programming in DRC, we hope to eradicate child labour in the mines in the long term.
DFID is working to tackle the root causes of child labour in the mining sector in the DRC. DFID collaborates closely with other Government Departments and through a European Partnership for Responsible Minerals. We provide funding to the Carter Center in the DRC to improve transparency and governance of the sector. DFID DRC is also working with other international partners to consider how we might tackle the issues in the cobalt supply chain in future programme design.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Democratic Republic of Congo on upholding Article 32.1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The UK actively encourages countries to uphold Article 32.1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The UK was among the main sponsors of the annual resolution at the Human Rights Council on the Rights of the Child in March 2017 and we are already working on the Rights of the Child Resolution ahead of the Human Rights Council session in March 2018. The UK actively encourages International Labour Organisation (ILO) member states, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to fulfil their ILO obligations and work towards ratifying and meeting the provisions of the core ILO conventions. This includes ILO conventions relating to child labour.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with officials (a) of the European Commission, (b) the EU member states and (c) of the European Parliament on the regulation of social media operators.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson) has had no such discussions.