Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
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 his international counterparts on protection of the Arctic environment and its eco-system.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The British Government is committed to the protection of the Arctic environment through bilateral and multilateral engagement in the region. The UK is an observer to the Arctic Council and actively engages its working groups and task forces, encouraging expert engagement as appropriate. The Arctic is often discussed in bilateral discussions with representatives of the Arctic States. My Hon Friend, the Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation (Jo Johnson) attended the first White House Arctic Science Ministerial meeting in September 2016, meeting science Ministers from 24 other countries and representatives from Arctic Indigenous peoples' organisations to advance international reserch efforts focused on the Arctic .
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that UK citizens travelling to India, Thailand and other elephant-range states are made aware of the illegal practice of capturing and breaking young elephants for use in the tourism industry.
Answered by Lord Sharma
The United Kingdom is committed to conserving Asian elephants and recognises the growing threats to their populations. We have been working internationally through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to increase protection for Asian elephants, specifically with regard to the illegal cross border trade in live elephants which has been used to supply the tourism and logging industries. In August, officials from DEFRA met Indian officials in London to discuss the treatment of captive Asian elephants, the illegal trade in live elephants and the broader illegal wildlife trade. Whilst HMG does not offer advice to British citizens on ethical issues, such as the practice of keeping animals in captivity abroad, we will continue to work with the relevant government authorities and non-government organisations on this important issue.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that British citizens travelling to the Cayman Islands are aware of the practice of farming the Cayman Turtle for use in the tourism industry.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Neither I nor The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwelath Affairs, my Noble Friend, the Rt Hon. the Baroness Anelay of St Johns, the FCO Minister with responsibility for the Overseas Territories, have had discussions with the Cayman Islands government about the Cayman Turtle Centre (previously known as the Cayman Turtle Farm). Responsibility for animal welfare and tourism, including policies governing the Cayman Turtle Centre, is devolved to the elected government of the Cayman Islands under the terms of their Constitution.
FCO travel advice provides information and advice to help British nationals have a trouble-free time abroad. It does not offer information and advice on ethical issues such as the practice of keeping animals in captivity.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Cayman Island counterpart on preventing the practice of farming the Cayman Turtle for meat and tourist entertainment.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Neither I nor The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Noble Friend, the Rt Hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns, the FCO Minister with responsibility for the Overseas Territories, have had discussions with the Cayman Islands government about farming the Cayman Turtle for meat and tourist entertainment. Responsibility for animal welfare and tourism, is devolved to the elected government of the Cayman Islands under the terms of their Constitution.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Chinese counterpart for the release of Tashi Wangchuk.
Answered by Lord Swire
We plan to raise the case of Tashi Wangchuk at the next round of the UK-China human rights dialogue.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Chinese counterpart on releasing the Tibetan blogger Druklo.
Answered by Lord Swire
We plan to raise the case of Druklo (also known as Shokjang) at the next round of the UK-China human rights dialogue.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Chinese government on the detention and charging of Tibetan education advocate Tashi Wangchuk; and what response he has received to those representations.
Answered by Lord Swire
We plan to raise the case of Tashi Wangchuk at the next round of the UK-China human rights dialogue.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
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 implications for his policies of recent Iranian television broadcasting footage of an underground missile base and long-range missiles and launcher units.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We believe Iran to have an extensive ballistic missile programme, which it is developing in contravention of UN Security Council resolutions. Provisions of the UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) endorsing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (UNSCR 2231) retain restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile programme for a further eight years.