Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Iran on the imprisonment in 2008 of seven Bahá' í leaders in that country.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK regularly raises our concerns at the treatment of the Baha’i community in Iran. We call on the Iranian Government to end all persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith and to fulfil its international and domestic obligations to allow freedom of religion to all Iranians.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that UK expatriates living in EU countries are informed of their eligibility to vote in the EU referendum.
Answered by David Lidington
The Government is committed to ensuring as many eligible people are registered to vote ahead of the EU Referendum as possible. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office overseas network supported the Electoral Commission's Overseas Voter Registration Day last month - a global campaign to promote voter registration to British citizens abroad by raising awareness amongst overseas voters of their rights to vote through providing information on embassy websites and other activities.
I also spoke about voter registration to the English language media in Portugal during my visit to Lisbon on 9 March.
The Electoral Commission is organising its own campaign to increase voter registration.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of China on its recent decision to land civilian planes on Fiery Cross reef in the disputed South China Sea.
Answered by Lord Swire
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) expressed our concerns about the situation in the South China Sea during his visit to Beijing on 5 January. He stressed the need to avoid raising tensions and underlined the importance of maintaining freedom of navigation and overflight.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the decision of China to land civilian planes on Fiery Cross reef in the disputed South China Sea on regional relationships.
Answered by Lord Swire
The landings of Chinese civilian aircraft on Fiery Cross Reef have prompted diplomatic protests in the region and widespread expressions of concern about heightened tensions. The UK opposes any actions likely to increase tensions in the South China Sea and threaten regional stability. We continue to call on all parties to exercise restraint.