Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the total cost to the public purse was of his visit to Afghanistan on 25 June 2018.
Answered by Mark Field
The Foreign Secretary visited Afghanistan on 25 June ahead of a National Security Council discussion. Following the recent ceasefires in Afghanistan, and with elections due later this year, this was a timely opportunity to take stock of progress and the UK’s supportive role in providing peace and stability to Afghanistan (full details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-flies-into-kabul-to-support-signs-of-progress-in-afghanistan). The Foreign Secretary also visited the United Arab Emirates, meeting the Deputy Foreign Minister. The cost of the Foreign Secretary’s travel will be disclosed in the usual way and published as part of transparency data in accordance with Cabinet Office requirements. We do not discuss operational planning of any visits by the Foreign Secretary.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which countries he visited on 25 June 2018; and on what date the arrangements for those visits were confirmed.
Answered by Mark Field
The Foreign Secretary visited Afghanistan on 25 June ahead of a National Security Council discussion. Following the recent ceasefires in Afghanistan, and with elections due later this year, this was a timely opportunity to take stock of progress and the UK’s supportive role in providing peace and stability to Afghanistan (full details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-flies-into-kabul-to-support-signs-of-progress-in-afghanistan). The Foreign Secretary also visited the United Arab Emirates, meeting the Deputy Foreign Minister. The cost of the Foreign Secretary’s travel will be disclosed in the usual way and published as part of transparency data in accordance with Cabinet Office requirements. We do not discuss operational planning of any visits by the Foreign Secretary.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the level of religious freedom in Uzbekistan; and what steps the Government is taking to promote and protect the right to freedom of religion or belief in that country.
Answered by Alan Duncan
In October 2017 Dr Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, spent two weeks in Uzbekistan. He was received by the government, travelled to the regions, met religious groups, civil society and visited Jaslyk prison. We agree with his initial report which recognised Uzbekistan's relatively tolerant approach to the major religions and acknowledged the measures taken over the past year. These were mainly towards the Muslim communities; the review of prisoners which has led to several releases; the removal of 16000 names from a government watch list for suspected religious extremism, along with the reintegration of those individuals and rehabilitation of prisoners. His report also set out recommendations for reducing the legal constraints around religious practice.
We regularly raise individual human rights cases with the Uzbek authorities and play an active and visible part in human rights activities in Uzbekistan. We have stressed the importance of constructive, private dialogue on human rights issues, including the freedom of religious expression. On 27 October our Ambassador highlighted the importance of freedom of religion or belief and Dr Shaheed's recommendations in a video on Facebook. We expectDr Shaheed's report to the UN Human Rights Council in March.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will arrange for President Trump to meet representatives of the Muslim and ethnic minority communities during his forthcoming official visit to the UK.
Answered by Alan Duncan
A State Visit invitation has been offered and accepted. The precise dates and programme have yet to be confirmed. Once the dates are agreed, Government officials will begin work on the programme.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what benefits he anticipates will accrue to the British public from President Trump's forthcoming official visit to the UK.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The United States is one of our closest allies and a Presidential visit is an opportunity to further advance that important relationship. It remains in the UK's public interest to work closely with the US on a range of foreign, security and trade policy issues.