Asked by: David T C Davies (Conservative - Monmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether staff based in UKRep Brussels were offered group therapy sessions by counsellors following the EU referendum result.
Answered by Alan Duncan
No
Asked by: David T C Davies (Conservative - Monmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage investment in The Gambia.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Minister for the Commonwealth and UN visited Gambia on 16 February, soon after their re-admittance to the Commonwealth. He met the Gambian Trade Minister during his visit to Gambia and also held discussions on agriculture and tourism, in particular on how Gambia could increase the number of British tourists visiting.
I congratulate the Government of Gambia and look forward to their participation in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in April. This will be an opportunity for them to commit to good governance and signal to UK companies their commitment to creating a business environment that encourages investment.
Asked by: David T C Davies (Conservative - Monmouth)
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 Portuguese counterpart on the treatment of British nationals within the Portuguese judicial system.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign Secretary has not had any recent discussions with his Portuguese counterpart on the treatment of British nationals within the Portuguese judicial system.
Consular officials regularly discuss individual prisoner cases with their counterparts in Portugal.
Asked by: David T C Davies (Conservative - Monmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of British subjects being held in pre-trial detention in Portugal.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Of the 19 British nationals currently in prison in Portugal, 8 are being held in pre-trial detention.
Asked by: David T C Davies (Conservative - Monmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of British nationals being held in prison in Portugal.
Answered by Alan Duncan
We are providing assistance to 19 British Nationals currently detained in Portugal.
Asked by: David T C Davies (Conservative - Monmouth)
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 counterpart in the Romanian government on press freedom in that country.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign Secretary and I have had no discussions on this issue with the new Romanian government, which has been in office for just two weeks.
Asked by: David T C Davies (Conservative - Monmouth)
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 counterpart in the Romanian government on the case of Alexander Adamescu.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign Secretary and I have had no discussions with my Romanian counterpart on this case.
Asked by: David T C Davies (Conservative - Monmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received from the Austrian government on a person suspected of rape in Linz, Austria, who is now resident in the UK.
Answered by David Lidington
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not received any representations from the Austrian government on this alleged case.
Asked by: David T C Davies (Conservative - Monmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will update his Department's travel advice guidance on the safety of women travellers to (a) Germany and (b) Austria to take account of recent events in those countries.
Answered by David Lidington
The FCO’s travel advice is kept under constant review, and is based on objective assessments of the risk to British nationals.
Our current advice for Germany can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/germany
Our current advice for Austria can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/austria
While we condemn the criminal behaviour seen in Cologne and on a smaller scale in Hamburg, Salzburg and elsewhere on New Year’s Eve, we do not assess that this is now the standard of behaviour to expect at all public gatherings in Germany or Austria. In addition, the authorities are taking action to ensure that such attacks are not repeated.
We advise all travellers and British nationals resident in Germany and Austria to monitor our travel advice regularly.
Asked by: David T C Davies (Conservative - Monmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what restrictions are in place on the export of medical equipment to Iran.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
EU sanctions against Iran are not intended to affect humanitarian goods, and explicitly exclude medical equipment. Furthermore, the Joint Plan of Action includes provisions to make transactions with Iran for humanitarian purposes much easier. Provided no designated entities are involved, the UK issues, as a priority, licenses for transactions for humanitarian goods.