Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her international counterparts on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The Foreign Secretary continues to lead the diplomatic effort, regularly meeting and speaking with Foreign Minister counterparts, including the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, G7 Foreign Ministers and NATO Foreign Ministers.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps her Department is taking to support Ukraine.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The Foreign Secretary continues to lead the diplomatic effort, regularly meeting and speaking with Foreign Minister counterparts, including the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, G7 Foreign Ministers and NATO Foreign Ministers.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help safeguard democracy across eastern Europe.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK will defend democracy at the frontier of freedom in Eastern and Central Europe as part of a Network of Liberty. We are strengthening our partnerships in the region, including on trade and technology and supporting transparent, accountable political processes through the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, OSCE and other institutions. On 7 April, the Foreign Secretary met with NATO Foreign Ministers and affirmed our commitment to defend and deter threats to alliance members in Eastern and Central Europe.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 strengthen the UK’s economic and security relationship with India.
Answered by Vicky Ford
In May last year, the UK and India committed to strengthening our relationship through a new Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and a 2030 Roadmap which, comprising five pillars and more than 100 lines of activity, reflects the breadth of UK-India relations. Our economic and security relationship is set to grow further still following visits to India by the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister in March and April, which deepened trade and defence cooperation.
During the Foreign Secretary's visit to India on 31 March, she discussed, with India's Minister of External Affairs Dr Jaishankar, the importance of democracies working together to deter aggressors and strengthen global security in the wake of the ongoing conflict and humanitarian situation in Ukraine. The visit also focussed on deepening defence-related trade and co-operation between our two countries. The Foreign Secretary also visited Delhi and Mumbai on 22-23 October 2021, where discussions focused on technology and infrastructure cooperation with India, alongside forging stronger UK-India security and defence links. The Prime Minister's visit to India in April focused on the UK and India's strategic defence, diplomatic and economic partnership, and drove forward progress on the Free Trade Agreement negotiations launched earlier this year.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help support women and girls in Afghanistan.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The Government is committed upholding the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan; educated, empowered women will contribute to economic development as well as peace and stability. We continue to raise rights of women and girls in our political engagement with the Taliban. We have made clear our condemnation of the Taliban's 23 March decision not to re-open girls secondary schools, including through statements from the G7+, women foreign ministers and the UN Security Council, and we continue to press the Taliban to ensure that women play a full, equal role in national life.
As the Foreign Secretary said on 31 March, at least 50% of those we reach with our aid should be women and girls. The Foreign Secretary has announced £286 million of aid for Afghanistan this financial year and we are funding child protection support and supporting access to gender-based violence services. Ministers and officials regularly meet Afghan women to discuss our support; most recently, on 24 March Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Minister of State for South Asia, held a roundtable with a diverse group of Afghan women leaders.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department plans to take steps to ensure the safety and protection of Aiden Aslin, also known as CossackGundi or Johnny, a British citizen and Ukrainian marine, recently captured following the fall of Mariupol.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We are aware of the detention of two British nationals, including Aiden Aslin, who have been fighting as part of the Ukraine Armed Forces. We are in contact with their families to support them. The UK Government condemns the exploitation of prisoners of war for political purposes and calls on the Kremlin to treat all prisoners of war humanely, in accordance with the requirements of international humanitarian law. All members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are entitled to be treated as prisoners of war in line with the Geneva Convention.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help support the human rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong.
Answered by Amanda Milling
We continue to make clear to mainland Chinese and Hong Kong authorities our strong opposition to the National Security Law, which is being used to curtail freedoms, punish dissent and shrink the space for opposition, free press and civil society.
On 7 February, we and Media Freedom Coalition partners issued a statement calling out the Hong Kong authorities' suppression of human rights, freedom of speech and free flow and exchange of opinions and information that further undermine confidence in Hong Kong's international reputation.
As set out in the latest Six-Monthly Report published on the 31 March, the UK will continue to speak out when China breaches its legally binding agreements and when it breaks its promises to the people of Hong Kong. We urge China to honour their international commitments, including the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her G7 counterparts on strengthening European security.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs maintains regular contact with her G7 counterparts. In the past month, she has had discussions on strengthening European security with foreign ministers from the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs. On 7 April, she attended the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting with her G7 counterparts to discuss the response to Russia's war against Ukraine.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the impact of sanctions on the Russian economy.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We have implemented the largest and most severe package of economic sanctions that Russia has ever seen. Sanctions imposed by the UK and its international partners are having deep and damaging consequences for Putin's ability to wage war, with £275 billion - 60% of Russian foreign currency reserves - currently frozen. It is estimated that Russia's GDP will fall by between 8.5 and 15 per cent.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what (a) unilateral and (b) multilateral steps the Government is taking to reduce tensions on the Poland-Belarus border.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Foreign Secretary wrote on 14 November, the situation at the Polish border marks the latest step by the Lukashenko regime to undermine regional security. He is using desperate migrants as pawns in his bid to create instability and to cling on to power regardless of the human cost. We have made clear to the Belarusian authorities, including through their Ambassador to the UK, that this harmful, aggressive and exploitative behaviour must stop. We were pleased to send a small team of personnel to provide engineering support to ease pressure at the border. The Foreign Secretary discussed the situation with her Polish counterpart on 16 November, reiterating the UK's support and solidarity with Poland. We continue to work closely with international partners, including through the OSCE, NATO and the G7.