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, if he will publish his Department's (a) documents and (b) correspondence on grant agreements for the Integrity Initiative.
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 Documents and correspondence about projects within the Programme will not be published, as this information could then be used to actively attempt to disrupt and undermine the Programme's effectiveness.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, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people employed to work (a) on the Integrity Initiative and (b) for the Institute of Statecraft that hold (i) posts and (ii) honorary posts in the British military.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office do not have an estimate for the number of people employed by the Institute for Statecraft. None of those employed in the Integrity Initiative are serving members of the UKforces. Two are in the reserves, and one holds a purely honorary role.
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 (a) funded, (b) provided contracts to and (c) procured the services of the Integrity Initiative in each financial year since 2015/16.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Institute for Statecraft is an independent, Scottish, charitable body whose work seeks to improve governance and enhance national security. They launched the Integrity Initiative in 2015 to defend democracy against disinformation.
In financial year 2017/18, the FCO funded the Institute for Statecraft's Integrity Initiative £296,500. This financial year, the FCO is funding a further £1,961,000. Both have been funded through grant agreements.
At the Eastern Partnership Summit in November 2017, the Prime Minister announced that the UK Government has committed £100m over five years to tackling this threat internationally.
Such funding furthers our commitment to producing important work to counter disinformation and other malign influence.
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 recent representations he has made to his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates on the imprisonment of the human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor.
Answered by Alistair Burt
My officials raised the case of Ahmed Mansoor with their Emirati counterparts at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 15 April. Similarly, in coordination with my officials and other EU member states, the EU Delegation to the UAE raised this case with Emirati officials on 5 July.
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 Government received information following the inspection of Barzeh by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons at any time in the six months before missile strikes were initiated against that location on 14 April 2018.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) reports on a monthly basis to the UN Security Council on the Syrian chemical weapons programme. Its report of 24 November 2017 noted Syria's declaration of parts of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC) and the OPCW assessment that this declaration remained incomplete. The OPCW report of 23 March 2018 reported on the inspections at the Barzeh facility of the SSRC, and repeated the conclusion that outstanding issues remained unresolved and the declaration remained incomplete.
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 17 September 2018 to Question 172062 on Syria: chemical weapons, what the evidential basis is for his statement that the Director General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons reported that they had been prevented from deploying to Douma by Russia and Syria.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Director General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) reported in detail on 16 April and again on 18 April to the Executive Council meeting of the OPCW about the attempted deployment of the Fact Finding Mission to Douma. The UK is a member of the Executive Council and was represented at both meetings. The OPCW Director General's relevant statements to the Executive Council are available on the website of the OPCW.
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 11 October 2018 to Question 176249 on Joe Robinson, for what reason the British Government has not made a public demand for the (a) release or (b) extradition of Joe Robinson; and whether it is the policy of the Government to ensure the timely return to the UK of Joe Robinson.
Answered by Alan Duncan
We have raised Mr Robinson’s case at the highest levels and will continue to do all we can to support Mr Robinson and his family. We approach each consular case in a way that we judge is most likely to best support the needs of the individual. However, we cannot interfere in another country’s independent judicial process, just as we would not expect them to interfere in ours. The UK can only seek extradition of any individual when they are wanted for a crime in the UK, and a prosecuting authority decides to make a request.
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 representations has he made to the Turkish Government on the repatriation of the body of British national Anna Campbell from that country.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The British Embassy in Ankara has engaged with the Turkish authorities about returning Anna Campbell's body to her family and with the International Red Cross. Due to the situation on the ground it is extremely difficult to confirm the whereabouts of any British nationals in Syria. We continue to stress to Turkey the importance of ensuring that the UN and non-governmental organisation partners are able to operate in areas under Turkish control. We stand ready to engage further with the authorities should the situation change.
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 recent discussions he has had with representatives of the Turkish Government on the imprisonment of the British national Joe Robinson.
Answered by Alan Duncan
We are doing all we can to support Mr Robinson. I have raised his case with my counterpart, and also raised it with the Turkish Foreign Minister when I visited last year. Mr Robinson has also had consular support since his arrest. Consular staff visited Mr Robinson while he was in detention to check on his welfare and arranged prison visits for his mother. We have continued to offer Mr Robinson consular support since his conditional release in November.
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, with reference to the Prime Minister's statement of 16 April 2018 on Syria, Official Report columns 39-44, what the evidential basis is for the assertion that Russia and Syria delayed the access of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to Douma.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) notified Syria on 10 April of its intention to deploy its Fact-Finding Mission to Douma. The team arrived in Damascus on 14 April, following an invitation from Syria which was supported by Russia, but their deployment to Douma was delayed for a week until 21 April. The Director General of the OPCW reported that they had been prevented from deploying to Douma by Russia and Syria, who cited security concerns. Russia instead offered to bring witnesses to Damascus, but the OPCW rightly insisted on access to Douma itself, which was later granted.