Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to formally recognise Taiwan.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 19 December 2024 to Question 19224.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the 10-Year Health Plan, what safeguards will be put in place to prevent hostile actors from accessing genomic data held by the NHS.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
All organisations that have access to National Health Service patient data and systems must use the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) to provide assurance on an annual basis that they are practising good data security and that personal information is handled correctly. In September 2025, we introduced the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) to aligned DSPTs in order to raise DSPT requirements for genomics organisations as suggested by the Department. The CAF is the National Cyber Security Centre’s framework and focuses on outcomes and principles to guide good decision-making, and the CAF-aligned DSPT return is supported by an independent audit to the mandated framework.
National cyber teams are tackling the changing cyber risk head-on through their ambitious Cyber Improvement Programme, expanding protection and services to better protect the health and care system, backed up with over £338 million of investment since 2017.
Patients who are offered whole genome sequencing through the NHS can consent to having their genomic data stored in the National Genomic Research Library (NGRL) which is run by Genomics England. Data stored in the NGRL is de-identified and access to it is carefully controlled, including through an independent Access Review Committee, which ensures that only approved individuals from approved institutions have access to the data. Approved researchers can only access the data within a Secure Research Environment for health research purposes and are not allowed to extract data from the library.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she made continued access for Jewish and Christian communities to holy sites in the State of Palestine a condition of UK recognition.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 29 October to Question 83047.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the UK will support Palestinian membership of the United Nations, in the context of UK recognition of the State of Palestine.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 29 October to Question 83047.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to withdraw recognition of the State of Palestine in the event that Hamas break any conditions of that recognition.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 29 October to Question 83047.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what her Department's policy is on the status of East Jerusalem, in the context of the UK's recognition of the State of Palestine.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 29 October to Question 83047.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she made the proscription of Hamas by the Government of the State of Palestine a condition of UK recognition.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 29 October to Question 83047.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the level of (a) human rights and (b) democracy in the State of Palestine.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 29 October to Question 83047.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made free and fair elections a condition of the UK's recognition of the State of Palestine.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 29 October to Question 83047.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department plans to take to support Jamaican authorities to ensure that (a) search and rescue efforts and (b) UK aid are able to access the hardest hit areas of Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the hon. member to the written ministerial statement published on 4 November.