Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to help eradicate polio in (a) Afghanistan and (b) Pakistan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided to question 76022 on 17 September 2025.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it her Department's policy to utilise frozen Libyan assets to compensate victims of Libyan-sponsored IRA terrorism.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Libyan assets were frozen under United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973 to prevent their misuse, with the aim of preserving them for the future benefit of the Libyan people. Therefore, these frozen assets cannot be used to compensate victims of Qadhafi-sponsored IRA terrorism. The UK Government has profound sympathy for victims of Qadhafi-sponsored IRA terrorism and all victims of the Troubles, and will continue to look for opportunities to press the Libyan authorities to address the Libyan State's historic responsibility.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will hold discussions with the UN on its estimate of the number of rocket attacks into Israel in the 12 months before and since 7 October 2023.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government has consistently condemned the rocket attacks launched by Hamas and other terror groups at civilian populations within Israel, both before and after the horrors of October 7 2023. Those attacks reinforce our determination that there will be no place for Hamas in the future governance of Palestine, as we continue working with international partners to support the US peace plan. We also condemn the Iranian attacks which saw Iran fire over 600 rockets, missiles and drones since October 7, leading to the deaths of 29 Israelis. I equally condemn the Houthi attacks, which have targeted Israeli civilians with over 100 ballistic missiles and drones.Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she plans to answer Question 75168 tabled on 4 September 2025 by the hon. Member for East Londonderry.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I apologise for the delay in responding to the Hon. Member's written parliamentary question. I issued a response to the Hon. Member on 3 October.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2025 to Question 70326 on Hamas: Guided Weapons, if he will make representations to the UN on the need for an independent verifiable assessment of the number of missiles fired by Hamas into Israel on the dates in question, and which does not solely rely on data produced by Israel or Hamas.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The missile attacks in question are completely unacceptable, their source and impact are clear, and they reinforce why Hamas can have no role in the future governance of Gaza.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2025 to Question 63282 on Business: Cybercrime, what steps the National Cyber Security Centre is taking to tackle those incidents of cyber crime.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) works closely with Law Enforcement partners to respond to cyber crime. The NCSC also provides a range of services and guidance to help organisations defend against cyber incidents. These include the Early Warning service that shares threat intelligence of precursor indicators of ransomware.
Additionally, the NCSC regularly publishes advice and guidance on the mitigations that organisations can implement to help prevent them becoming a victim of cyber crime (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online/). For example, the Cyber Essentials scheme is recommended as the minimum standard of cyber security for all organisations (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberessentials/overview). Organisations are 92 per cent less likely to make a claim on their cyber insurance if they have implemented the five controls outlined in Cyber Essentials.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to the UN on the need for an independent verifiable assessment of the number of missiles fired by Hamas into Israel between (a) July 2022 and September 2023, (b) October 2023 and January 2024 and (c) February 2024 and May 2025.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK regularly uses - and will continue to use - our seat on the United Nations Security Council and our voice in the UN to condemn Hamas' terror attacks against Israel. The UK has consistently stressed that Hamas can have no place in the future governance of Gaza and should never again threaten Israel's security. Israel already produces data on the number of missiles fired by Hamas into Israel. Israelis and Palestinians must be able to live in peace and security. Hamas must cease all such attacks.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to his Eritrean counterpart on reported discrimination of Evangelical Christians who are serving members of the Eritrean armed forces.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We consistently raise human rights with the Eritrean government, including religious freedoms. We advocate for the end of discriminatory detentions based on religion or belief, as we have stated at the UN Human Rights Council. We call for all those unjustly incarcerated to be released. The UK's Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea raised human rights during her most recent visit to Eritrea in April 2025 and the UK supports the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea, voting in favour of his mandate renewal in July 2025.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information the National Cyber Security Centre holds on the number of cyber attacks that were carried out against UK-based businesses between 2022 and 2024.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The cyber threat picture in the UK is diverse. Cyber security incidents can be reported into several different agencies within the UK depending on the type and severity of the incident. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) provides practical, expert guidance tailored to help businesses of all sizes build resilience against evolving cyber threats. NCSC also addresses a wide range of national cyber threats, from protecting citizens against online harm to responding to major cyber incidents. I recently met with NCSC colleagues to discuss the trends in threats and attacks and how we ensure high levels of resilience.
Since September 2024, NCSC have managed more than 200 incidents, with a significant proportion impacting businesses across the UK. This includes twice as many nationally significant incidents as the same period a year ago. As published in the NCSC Annual Review (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/files/NCSC_Annual_Review_2024.pdf) the breakdown of incidents managed by the NCSC Incident Management team is as follows:
Date | Number of Incidents |
Sept 21 - Aug 22 | 355 |
Sept 22 - Aug 23 | 371 |
Sept 23 - Aug 24 | 430 |
Other credible reports on cyber incidents include the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology's Cyber Security Breaches survey from each of the last three years: 2022 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2022/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2022), 2023 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2023/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2023) and 2024 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2024/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2024). The Information Commissioner's Office also has an Incident Trend Report (https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/complaints-and-concerns-data-sets/data-security-incident-trends/) on cyber incidents reported to them.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Syrian authorities following the suicide bombing that resulted in twenty three deaths and scores injured at a Church in Damascus on 23 June 2025.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK strongly condemns the horrific terrorist attack at Mar Elias Church in Damascus, and remains committed to combatting terrorism in all forms. I sent a personal message to Syrian Foreign Minister Al-Shaibani, expressing my condolences and the UK's continued support to the people of Syria. The UK Special Representative for Syria visited Damascus last week and discussed the assessment of the situation with the Syrian authorities, including the Foreign Minister and also gave her condolences. We will continue to advocate for the right to Freedom of Religion or Belief for all Syrians.