Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to the urgent question on Israel and Hamas: Humanitarian Pause in the House of Lords on 29 November 2023, Official Report column 1091 HL, what his Department's policy is on whether there should be a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.
Answered by David Rutley
Israel has a right to self-defence and needs to be able to address the threat posed by Hamas, in a manner that abides by International Humanitarian Law. The UK is supportive of humanitarian pauses, and the temporary cessation of hostilities, to enable humanitarian organisations to deliver aid and give respite to civilians. As noted in the response of 29 November, the recent pause was a welcome opportunity to get hostages out and to allow increased amounts of aid and fuel in. We continue to press, at the UN and with Israel, for unhindered humanitarian access and substantive, repeated humanitarian pauses.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the humanitarian pause in the conflict between Israel and Hamas on the provision of humanitarian aid to people in Gaza.
Answered by David Rutley
The recent humanitarian pause demonstrated what can be achieved to get vital aid into Gaza including the levels of aid that is possible and it is important that this level of aid is now, at a minimum, sustained. The UK is supportive of humanitarian pauses as part of measures to facilitate the flow of life-saving humanitarian aid and ensure civilians are safe. The FCDO is actively engaging with international partners and those operating on the ground to do all we can to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We will continue to use all the tools of British diplomacy and development to enhance the prospects of peace and stability in the region, working closely with our partners.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with his Israeli counterpart on the potential merits of re-opening additional crossings into Gaza for humanitarian access.
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO is actively engaging with international partners and those operating on the ground to do all we can to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary engage regularly and closely with regional counterparts including Israel and Egypt on the humanitarian response. However, the flow of aid into and through Gaza continues to be insufficient and we are urgently exploring all diplomatic options to increase this, including urging Israel to open other existing land border crossings such as Kerem Shalom. Fuel remains a critical component and without sufficient aid, fuel cannot be distributed by humanitarian organisations and hospitals, bakeries as well as desalination plants cannot operate. We are also actively exploring other routes for aid to get into Gaza. The UK Government has already announced £60 million in humanitarian funding and has sent more than 74 tonnes of emergency relief for civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Prime Minister raised the provision of arms to Myanmar by Indian suppliers with Prime Minister Modi at the G20 Summit.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Discussions between the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Modi covered the breadth and depth of the UK-India relationship, ranging from trade to cooperation on education, research and defence.
Although the provision of arms to Myanmar was not discussed, we continue to raise this issue bilaterally with those who are reported to be providing arms to the Myanmar military.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if their Department will publish an Ethnicity Pay Gap Report for financial year 2023-24 in line with the Ethnicity Pay Gap reporting guidance for employers published on 17 April 2023.
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO is liaising with Civil Service HR colleagues and other government departments to work through the details of the Ethnicity Pay Gap reporting guidance that was published on 17 April 2023. In line with Gender Pay Gap Reporting, the Civil Service is looking to develop a consistent methodology to produce the data and Ethnicity Pay Reports. The outcomes of this work will inform whether we are able to publish a report for 2023/2024. More generally the Civil Service is undertaking extensive work both centrally and within departments to promote diversity across its workplaces, including ethnicity.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterparts in other high-income countries on investing a higher proportion of Official Development Assistance in foundational literacy and numeracy programmes.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
FCDO and likeminded education partners have come together to promote a shared commitment to improving foundational learning for all. At the Transforming Education Summit in September 2022, countries and organisations were invited to endorse a Commitment to Action on Foundational Learning. This aims to build a global coalition of education partners collaborating on foundational learning. The UK is also asking the G7 and G20 to focus on foundational learning, including by prioritising more global Official Development Assistance (ODA) for education. This builds on our 2021 G7 Presidency, where we secured G7 support for two Global Objectives on girls' access and foundational learning objectives.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to intervene in the Rohingya genocide case before the International Court of Justice.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
On 25 August 2022, the UK announced its intention to intervene in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case regarding Myanmar's compliance with its obligations under the Genocide Convention, in relation to acts committed against the Rohingya. The UK is currently working on the scope of its intervention, including detailed consideration of the legal arguments. It intends to make a formal declaration to the Court in due course.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings of the report by Amnesty International entitled Deadly Cargo: Exposing the Supply Chain that Fuels War Crimes in Myanmar, published on 3 November 2022, on the supply of aviation fuel to Myanmar.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
We welcome Amnesty International's important report on the supply of aviation fuel to Myanmar. It clearly sets out the risks associated with the provision of aviation fuel to Myanmar, which is used to facilitate military airstrikes against the civilian population.
On 28 February 2022, the UK updated its Overseas Business Risk Guidance to make it clear that UK businesses should conduct thorough supply chain due diligence to ensure that commodities such as aviation fuel do not reach the Myanmar military. The UK is also using targeted sanctions and lobbying against those who provide weapons and parts to the Myanmar Air Force.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of reserving posts in the Diplomatic Service and his Department to UK nationals on the (a) efficacy of and (b) recruitment of expertise for UK Official Development Assistance programmes.
Answered by David Rutley
The Civil Service Nationality Rules (CSNR) set out who is eligible to be employed in the Civil Service. Under the CSNRs, all posts in the Diplomatic Service were reserved for British nationals only. When the FCDO was formed, the Foreign Secretary decided that a reserved model best meets with the FCDO's security and representational requirements.
FCDO continues to review workforce policies to ensure that it has access to the skills and experience to deliver its objectives.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
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 policy to allocate £170 million to the UN Education Cannot Wait fund over the next three years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK Government is proud to be a co-founding member and leading donor to Education Cannot Wait (ECW). We are working through options for our future commitment to ECW. The Government remains committed to transparency and will provide an update to Parliament on spending plans in due course.