Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of relations between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal government of Iraq; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK is encouraging cooperation between the Kurdistan Regional of Iraq (KRI) and Federal Government of Iraq to resolve outstanding issues, including around the budget. We continue to press the Iraqi and Kurdistan Regional Governments for more progress on security and services in the liberated areas of Iraq and to solve disputed internal boundaries. We are supporting Iraq to address humanitarian, economic, security and Covid-19 challenges and we continue to follow the situation there closely. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary met the President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, President Nechirvan Barzani, during his visit to London on 15-17 September and discussed the stability of Iraq and the KRI.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to use UK's Global Human Rights sanctions regime against (a) Ebrahim Raisi and (b) other members of the Iranian Government in response to human rights violations in Iran.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
Iran is a Human Rights Priority Country for the FCDO. We regularly raise human rights with the Iranians at all levels and take action with the international community to press Iran to improve its poor record. It would not be appropriate to speculate which individuals may be designated under the Global Human Rights sanctions regime in the future. To do so could reduce the impact of designations.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if the Government will ease the restrictions on travel from the UK to the British Virgin Islands in response to the improving covid-19 situation and to support the recovery of the tourism industry in that country.
Answered by James Duddridge
Currently there are no restrictions on travelling to the British Virgin Islands. Current entry requirements for entering are for the BVI authorities to decide. Those returning to the UK from BVI are subject to current Amber border restrictions as part of the current border measures. The UK Traffic Light System is led by the Department for Transport, as part of a cross-government effort, and reflects measures at the UK border that aim to mitigate the overall risk to UK public health relating to inbound travel to the UK. This operates separately from FCDO Travel Advice. Decisions on Red, Amber or Green (RAG) List and associated border measures are taken by Ministers, who take into account the JBC risk assessments, alongside wider public health factors. A summary of the JBC methodology is published on gov.uk, alongside key data that supports Ministers' decisions.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if the Government will provide funding to the British Virgin Islands to support the recovery of the tourism sector in that country following the devastation resulting from Hurricane Irma in 2017 and the effect of ongoing covid-19 travel restrictions.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Since the start of the pandemic, the UK has provided in excess of £1.5 million of medical supplies, including testing kits, PPE, a field hospital kit and ventilators. The UK began supplying vaccines to BVI in February and will continue to supply sufficient vaccines for all adults in the Territory. In addition UK health experts continue to provide advice and information to the BVI Health Service Authority to help inform BVI's COVID response. The tourism industry is the responsibility of the BVI Government and they have recently announced protocols designed to enable the return of cruise ships to the BVI.
In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the UK provided a range of support, including military, police and humanitarian support and technical expertise. The UK then donated approximately £13 million to support immediate priorities identified by the BVI Government in partnership with the Governor's office, including critical infrastructure, the supply of water, electricity and housing.
Since then the UK has supported the long term recovery of the territory through the BVI territory programme which is funded by the UK Government's Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF).
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 his counterparts in British overseas territories on their contribution to the COP 26 Conference in the context of those countries having generally low carbon emissions but often being affected by climate change.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK Government is working closely with the Overseas Territories to ensure that their valuable contribution to address the environmental issues they face is featured appropriately during the COP26 conference. While the Overseas Territories make a minimal contribution to global emissions, they are on the frontline of climate change and work in the Overseas Territories contributes to global understanding of climate science. COP26 provides an opportunity for the Overseas Territories to showcase their unique biodiversity, environments and marine protected areas and highlight the importance of adaptation.
At the UK-Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council in 2020, each Overseas Territories government committed to endeavour to communicate a territory-led plan for climate change adaptation and mitigation, which contributes towards global carbon emission reductions, by the time of the COP26 Summit. The Minister for the Overseas Territories discussed the territory-led plans for climate change and COP26 with Overseas Territories Environment Ministers in June 2021.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
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 Department's policy to fly the Commonwealth flag all year round from his Department's main building in Whitehall.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will fly the Commonwealth flag for a week in March 2022 to mark Commonwealth Day, as well as for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. It is not our practice to fly on a permanent basis the flags of organisations of which the UK is a member.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will fly the Commonwealth flag from his Department's building permanently.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The FCDO UK estate flies the Commonwealth flag on the second Monday in March to celebrate Commonwealth Day and our Posts in Commonwealth countries can do so on Commonwealth Day as well where the Post has sufficient flagpoles to do so. It is not the practice to fly the flags of organisations of which the UK is a member on a permanent basis. FCDO flag policy is reviewed on an annual basis.