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 UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion 28/2016 adopted in August 2016 calling for the immediate release by Iran of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is legally binding.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is not a judicial body, and its opinions are not legally binding. However, I would encourage the Iranian authorities to co-operate and engage fully with the UN regarding the conclusions and recommedations of this report.
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 discussions he has had with Ecuadorian officials on the matter of Julian Assange since November 2018; and on what dates those discussions were held.
Answered by Alan Duncan
I met the new Ecuadorean Ambassador, Jaime Marchan on 18 December following the presentation of his diplomatic papers. We discussed a range of bilateral topics.
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 made any payments to The Bulldog Trust in each financial year since 2015-16.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not made any payments to The Bulldog Trust in any financial year since 2015-16.
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.