Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 4 June (HL15867), what plans they have to reassess their initial assessment of who was responsible for the use of chemical weapons in Duoma when the further investigations by the OPCW Investigation and Identification Team are completed.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer of 4 June 2019 (PQ HL15867) given by the Minister of State for Defence. Our assessment remains as stated in my Noble Friend's answer.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have received from the government of the Republic of Ireland about the ownership of Rockall and its 12-mile territorial sea.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
There have been no representations from the Irish Government about the ownership of Rockall. Both the Irish Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have said that Ireland has no claim to Rockall and does not recognise any other sovereign claim to it.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the recent close naval encounter and near collision of United States and Russian ships in the East China Sea, whether there has been any reassessment of the rules relating to such incidents to avoid the possibility of dangerous escalation.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We are aware of this incident. There are clear international rules governing navigation which are vital to ensure the safety of all mariners, both military and civilians. We urge all countries to adhere to these rules. We do not believe that there is a need at this stage to review the rules themselves.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 19 March (HL14356), whether there is a requirement to board suspect vessels in the Marine Protected Areas.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Measures to manage and protect the maritime zones of the UK Overseas Territories, including where Marine Protected Areas have been established, are contained within the relevant Territory's legislative provisions. These can include powers for designated officers to board and inspect fishing vessels within their waters, irrespective of suspicion of infringement.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Maritime Conservation Areas around UK Overseas Territories are (1) monitored, and (2) policed.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Blue Belt programme is actively working with UKOTs to ensure large scale Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have effective monitoring and enforcement regimes in place. Blue Belt funding provides targeted satellite surveillance across the maritime zones of British Indian Ocean Territory, South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory, Pitcairn, St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The Programme is working closely with the National Maritime Information Centre (NMIC), allowing the use of the NMIC systems to undertake surveillance of all UKOTs, and has implemented a system to assess the risks of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The programme is also trialling new and emerging technologies such as unmanned aerial vehicles, which potentially improve the UKOTs' ability to monitor these vast and often remote areas, in conjunction with traditional monitoring platforms where available.
The Blue Belt has also funded work to ensure there are effective legislation and robust compliance frameworks in place, to enforce the MPAs. To support the OTs, the Blue Belt programme has improved the process whereby vessel monitoring data is requested from flag states, and has raised issues of non-compliance through Regional Fisheries Management Organisations.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have caused inquiries to be made about the export of plastinated human bodies (1) globally, and (2) to the UK, by Dalian Hoffen Bio-Technique Co, based in China.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The British Government is aware of the technique to plastinate human bodies exported from China for exhibition and for medical research. We have not made inquiries with the Chinese government on this matter but continue to monitor media coverage.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to counter Russian efforts to confront and destabilise the UK, as described in the speech on fourth generation espionage by Alex Younger, Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, on 3 December.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
As the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service stated in his speech on 3 December, we are drawing together all our national capabilities to detect, deter and counter hybrid attacks and other threats to the United Kingdom. Together with our allies, in response to the attack in Salisbury, we coordinated the largest ever collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers, fundamentally degrading Russian intelligence capability for years to come. We are investing £1.9 billion into our National Cyber Security Strategy and with our international partners have shone a light on the reckless and irresponsible cyber activities of the Russian military intelligence service, the GRU. We are a leading voice within the EU on delivering sanctions in respect of Russia's actions in Ukraine and we work closely with our NATO allies to deliver effective deterrence and reassurance measures. We will continue to work closely with our international allies to protect the UK and our interests from Russia-based threats.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the interim report published by the Fact-Finding Mission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on 6 July on the alleged chemical attack in Douma, Syria.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We welcome the work of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in investigating the 7 April attack on Douma. The interim report noted that chlorine was found in samples taken during the investigation, along with residues of explosives. We look forward to further reporting in due course. In addition, the 12 September 2018 report of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria also found that "a vast body of evidence" suggested that a gas cylinder containing chlorine, delivered by helicopter, struck a residential building in Douma on 7 April.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of jihadist groups in Idlib filming and preparing statements to prove a chemical attack on the inhabitants of the city has taken place.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
These reports, produced by the Russian Ministry of Defence, fit into a wider Russian disinformation campaign which includes absurd and baseless insinuations about the UK. The campaign is a desperate attempt to deflect attention from the appalling crimes of the Asad regime, including its documented and repeated use of chemical weapons. We are clear that this Russian disinformation campaign is designed to distort, distract and confuse the facts. In the last couple of years, the Syrian regime and its Russian backers have repeatedly hidden behind the rationale of confronting terrorism to launch brutal, indiscriminate campaigns, killing countless children and civilians in the process. If they do the same in Idlib, they will cause a human disaster that could leave thousands dead and many more homeless.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the current holdings of banned chemical agents by the Assad regime; and whether they have held any discussions with the government of Russia concerning the accuracy of those estimates.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is responsible for verifying Syria's Declaration and destruction of its chemical weapons programme under the Chemical Weapons Convention. Four years after Syria’s accession to the Convention, the Director General reported “gaps, inconsistencies and discrepancies remain” in the Declaration, and an absence of credible evidence to account for quantities of agent Syria possessed, the type of agent and the munitions used for delivery. The OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism has also confirmed Syrian regime use of chemical weapons four times since its accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013. This is a flagrant breach of the convention. Syria’s retention of a chemical weapons capability cannot be in doubt.
The UK has been active in highlighting the importance of action at the OPCW, at the UN and more widely to put an end to the possession and use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime and building international consensus to that end, engaging Russia accordingly both bilaterally and in key multilateral fora.