Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, by how much they plan to reduce their Department's budget to help fund the digital ID scheme.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Digital Identity policy is in development, with a dedicated team inside the Cabinet Office working to develop the proposals.
Costs in this Spending Review period will be met within the existing Spending Review settlements.
We are inviting the public to have their say in the upcoming consultation as we develop a safe, secure, and inclusive system for the UK. No final decisions will be made until after the consultation.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many times Benjamin Wegg-Prosser has visited the UK embassy in Washington since 10 February 2025.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is a long-standing practice of successive governments not to comment on private meetings.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many times employees of Global Counsel have visited the UK embassy in Washington since 10 February 2025.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is a long-standing practice of successive governments not to comment on private meetings.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of issuing sanctions on individuals associated with the detention of Alaa Abd El-Fattah in Egypt.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain committed to securing Mr Alaa Abd El-Fattah's release. We raise his case at the highest levels. The Prime Minister did so with President Sisi on 8 August, the Foreign Secretary with Foreign Minister Abdelatty on 7 October and myself with Foreign Minister Abdelatty on 15 October. Our approach to the case is under regular review. It is not appropriate to speculate on possible future designations.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department has taken to prevent miscarriages of justice as a result of the UK-US extradition treaty.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK-US Extradition Treaty continues to produce tangible results, bringing justice to victims in both the UK and US. All individual extradition requests are subject to the Extradition Act 2003, which requires a UK judge to decide whether the requested person's extradition would be appropriate based on the safeguards and protections included in the Act. Extradition continues to be a vital tool in our fight against transnational crime. The US is one of our main extradition partners and it is in our national interest to have an effective extradition relationship.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with their US counterparts on the UK-US Extradition Treaty, in the context (i) the case of Anne Sacoolas and (ii) other prominent cases.
Answered by David Rutley
Extradition is a matter for the Home Office, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the courts. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has not had recent discussions with the US on the UK-US Extradition Treaty.
With regards to Anne Sacoolas, she has now been sentenced. We engaged frequently with the US on this case when it was ongoing: in 2022, it was raised at least seven times by FCDO ministers or senior officials with US counterparts.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, If he will make it his policy to provide consular support to British nationals detained in North East Syria.
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO continues to advise against all travel to Syria. The Embassy closed in 2012 and therefore we have no consular presence within Syria.
This makes it extremely challenging to provide direct help to British nationals located there. But we carefully consider every request for consular assistance on a case-by-case basis, taking into account all relevant circumstances.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which Minister or official authorised the Government Information Cell to collect data related to public statements, social media and internet activity as part of its work.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The Government Information Cell (GIC) was established in February 2022 to support the UK's response to Russian disinformation relating to their invasion of Ukraine. Overall responsibility for the GIC lies with the Foreign Secretary.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he holds any information on how many people traffickers operating in the English Channel the French authorities have (a) arrested and (b) charged in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is not the owner of this information and we are therefore unable to provide the requested details. However, if the French Government publishes these figures we will update the Rt. Hon David Davis MP separately.