Asked by: Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the activity of Iran-backed terror groups in the West Bank.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We discuss all aspects of the current conflict with the Government of Israel.
The Foreign Secretary has also raised Iran's long-term support for proscribed groups directly with the Iranian Foreign Minister on 17 January and the UK's new sanctions regime designed to target Iran and its proxies' hostile activity came into force on 14 December. Iran must use its influence to curb attacks and deescalate regional tensions.
Asked by: Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 adequacy of Hamas's engagement with discussions on a potential humanitarian pause in the conflict in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We will not provide a running commentary on negotiations, but the UK is using all diplomatic channels to support the international effort being facilitated through Egypt, Qatar and the US.
Asked by: Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting (a) cigar-based products and (b) pipe tobacco from the Government's proposed ban on the sale of tobacco products.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Smoking is the number one entirely preventable cause of ill-health, disability and death in this country. It is responsible for 80,000 yearly in the United Kingdom and one in four of all UK cancer deaths. It costs our country £17 billion a year, £14 billion of which is through lost productivity alone. It puts huge pressure on the National Health Service and social care, costing over £3 billion a year.
The evidence is clear that there is no safe level of tobacco consumption, and all tobacco products are harmful. When smoked, tobacco kills up to two-thirds of its long-term users. Tobacco smoke has been classified as a group one carcinogen, and tobacco smoke from cigars leads to the same types of diseases as cigarette smoke.
The upcoming smokefree generation legislation proposes to align to existing age of sale legislation by applying it to any product containing tobacco, including cigars and pipe tobacco. In the Government’s response to the consultation, Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping published on 29 January 2024, 63.8% of respondents to the question on product scope agreed that all tobacco products should be included in the new age of sale restrictions.
Asked by: Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to reduce the Share Incentive Plan holding period.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government keeps all tax reliefs, including the Share Incentive Plan (SIP), under review. In June 2023, the Government published a call for evidence on SIP and the other non-discretionary share scheme, Save As You Earn. The government is carefully considering the responses and evidence submitted and will respond in due course. Any tax policy changes would be announced at a fiscal event in the usual way.
Asked by: Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had discussions with the Government of New Zealand on the proposed generational ban on smoking.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.
This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco products. On 12 October 2023, we launched a UK-wide consultation to gather views on these proposals and their implementation.
In development of this policy, we have, and will continue to, speak to a range of stakeholders including in the public health community both in the UK and globally, and government officials in countries such as New Zealand.
Asked by: Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many recorded incidents of (a) violence, (b) abuse, (c) theft and (d) other crimes against retailers took place in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020, (iii) 2021 and (iv) 2022.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The latest estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales show that levels of crime on a comparable basis are down by 56% compared with the year ending March 2010.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on crime affecting retail premises as part of the Commercial Victimisation survey, the publication for 2022 was published in May 2023 and is available at:
The data collected includes an estimation of the proportion of commercial premises which were a victim of crime. The data does not provide an estimate of the number of specific incidents of violence, abuse, theft, or other crimes.
The Government is clear that violent and abusive behaviour towards any public-facing worker is never acceptable. We take this issue very seriously and recognise the implications these incidents can have on businesses as well as the victims.
On 23 October, the National Police Chiefs Council launched their Retail Crime Action Plan; which includes a police commitment to prioritise attending the scene of retail crime instances where violence has been used; where an offender has been detained; or where evidence needs to be promptly secured and can only be done in person by police personnel.
The 23 October also saw the launch of Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership that will radically improve the way retailers are able to share intelligence with policing, to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.
Asked by: Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact that a generational ban on the purchase of cigarettes will have on the (a) excise duty and (b) VAT gap on tobacco products.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As announced by the Prime Minister on 4 October 2023, the Government is creating the first smokefree generation, by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco products. This will prevent future generations from ever taking up smoking, as there is no safe age to smoke. The ‘Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation’ command paper sets out the proposed actions the Government will take to tackle smoking and youth vaping: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/stopping-the-start-our-new-plan-to-create-a-smokefree-generation
The Government launched the ‘Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping’ consultation on 12 October on the smokefree generation policy detailed in the command paper: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/creating-a-smokefree-generation-and-tackling-youth-vaping
Once final policy decisions are confirmed, the impact of those decisions on the public finances will be assessed and reflected in the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast.
A smokefree generation will save the NHS billions over the long-term and put cash back in the pockets of millions of families across this country.
Asked by: Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had with his Middle Eastern counterparts on the threat to regional security and stability posed by Hamas.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since Hamas' abhorrent terrorist attacks on 7 October, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, and the Minister of State for the Middle East have spoken to counterparts from more than 20 countries as part of extensive diplomatic efforts to prevent regional escalation and to sustain the prospect of peace and stability in the Middle East. On 22 November the Foreign Secretary hosted Islamic and Arab leaders in London to discuss the Israel/Gaza conflict and on 24 November, the Foreign Secretary travelled to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to engage with leaders from the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel. Ministers also continue to focus on opposing any attempts by malign actors to cause further escalation in the region.
Asked by: Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for firearms licence certificates have been refused in the last five years; and what the primary reasons for those refusals were.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes annual figures on the number of firearm and shotgun licence certificate renewals and refusals in England and Wales in the ‘Statistics on firearm and shotgun certificates, England and Wales’ National Statistics publication. The latest data cover the year ending 31 March 2023 and are available here: Statistics on firearm and shotgun certificates, England and Wales: April 2022 to March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Data on the number of applications for the renewal of firearm and shotgun certificates that were granted, and the number of applications refused in the last five years are published in tables 1 and 3 of the accompanying data tables.
Reasons for refusing applications for a firearm certificate are not collected centrally. Under the Firearms Act 1968, police forces will refuse such applications where they are not satisfied that the applicant is fit to be entrusted with a firearm, has a good reason to possess a firearm, or that they can be permitted to possess a firearm without danger to the public safety or to the peace.
Asked by: Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Senior Coroner Ian Arrow’s Prevention of Future Deaths reports following the Plymouth shooting inquests, what steps her Department is taking to (a) develop and (b) implement a national training regime for police firearms licensing staff.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
I announced in my statement to the House on 29 June Firearms Licensing - Hansard - UK Parliament that we are providing funding of £500,000 to support the development and roll-out of a new national training package for firearms licensing staff, developed by the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs Council. In due course the training will become mandatory for police firearms licensing teams.
The training package will be reinforced and supported by a refresh of the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice, which was the subject of a consultation from January to March this year. The finalised APP will sit alongside the Statutory Guidance to provide support and guidance to police firearms licensing teams.