Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether the law officers plans to seek to negotiate reforms of the European Convention of Human Rights at Council of Europe level.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
As the Prime Minister has made clear, the United Kingdom will not withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights. To leave would be entirely contrary to this country’s national interest.
We need to work with our friends and partners in Europe to tackle all our major issues from irregular migration to combatting climate change. The solutions to these problems will not be met by isolating ourselves from our allies. But the status quo is not an option, and we are looking at various options to modernise our approach both domestically and internationally to the Convention.
As Chief Legal Advisors to Government, any advice that might be given by the Law Officers would be protected by the Law Officers’ Convention.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether the Attorney General held discussions with the (a) CPS and (b) Director of Public Prosecutions on the available evidence prior to the decision not to proceed with prosecution in the case on Chinese espionage.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Decisions to prosecute are, rightly, made independently of Government by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Consent was given by my predecessor on 3 April 2024. Following that date, no Law Officer intervened in the case at any stage.
Where a case can no longer proceed because of evidential reasons, as in this case, then the requirement is that the CPS informs the Attorney General of the decision as soon as it is taken.
The decision to offer no evidence was a decision made by the CPS, without any political influence, by the Attorney General or me, as the CPS has already confirmed.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, if she will publish legal advice provided to the Crown Prosecution Service on the case relating to the alleged breach of Official Secrets Act on behalf of China.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Decisions to prosecute are, rightly, made independently of Government by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Consent was given by my predecessor on 3 April 2024. Following that date, no Law Officer intervened in the case at any stage.
Where a case can no longer proceed because of evidential reasons, as in this case, then the requirement is that the CPS informs the Attorney General of the decision as soon as it is taken.
The decision to offer no evidence was a decision made by the CPS, without any political influence, by the Attorney General or me, as the CPS has already confirmed.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of (a) the cyber-security of services provided to the Government by Global Switch, (b) the potential implications of its Chinese ownership for national security and (c) the decision of the Australian Government to stop using the company.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We do not comment on specific national security cases or specific companies.
Ensuring the security of UK data is a priority for the government. When the government procures any service, cybersecurity is a paramount requirement. Government departments conduct thorough cybersecurity checks on all suppliers before sharing data and continuously monitor their compliance with these requirements throughout the contract's duration. If there is evidence of threats to our data, including in relation to data centres, we will not hesitate to take the necessary action to protect our national security.
We have taken decisive action to monitor, and mitigate, potential future threats to data centres. Last year this Government designated data centres as Critical National Infrastructure, putting them on a level footing with emergency services systems. We work closely with industry to understand risks and manage threats to the UK’s infrastructure.
We do not comment on the security decisions of other governments.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to transparency data on FCDO ministerial meetings, April to June 2025, published on 25 September 2025, if she will publish the minutes of the ministerial meeting with the TUC on 16 June 2025; and whether the recognition of Palestine was discussed in that meeting.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As has been the case under successive governments, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office does not routinely publish the details of meetings with external bodies.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will publish the letter of 16 May 2025 from FCDO staff to the former Foreign Secretary on HM Government's Middle East policy.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is a long-standing principle that Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office staff should be free to express their views internally without concern that their views will be made public.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the style guide entitled Writing about ethnicity, updated in October 2024, for what reason references to travellers were capitalised.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In October 2024, the style guide ‘Writing about ethnicity’ on the Ethnicity facts and figures website was updated. While the guide makes no direct reference to the capitalisation of references to Travellers, a capital letter was used to align with the Government Analysis Function's harmonised standard for ethnicity, based on the 2011 Census.
This standard is also followed by the Office for National Statistics in its service manual.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2025 to Question HL10630, on Lord Mandelson, what role her Department played in the due diligence undertaken prior to the appointment of the former Ambassador to the United States.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 22nd September to question 74188.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether Inter-Mediate has received funding from the Government for work on (a) China and (b) North Korea.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer he was provided on 25 September to Question 70454.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the ContractFinder entry entitled Disinformation Analysis Software awarded to Storyzy, award date 1 July 2025, for what reasons does her Department use this software.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DSIT leads the operational response to information threats by analysing narratives and trends from publicly available information online, within its ministerially defined remit - public safety or national security risk to the UK.
This does not include the monitoring of individuals.