Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has with his counterparts in (a) Japan, (b) Australia and (c) the United States on (i) defence, (ii) trade and (iii) foreign policy relations.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to engage with our allies across the world on defence, trade and foreign policy relations. It is the long-standing practice of successive governments not to comment on matters of national security and private diplomatic meetings. I refer the Rt Hon Member to the read outs available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the state of freedoms in Hong Kong; and what steps the Government is taking to support the rights of British National (Overseas) passport holders.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has deep and longstanding ties with Hong Kong. However, as set out in detail in the Government's successive Six-monthly Reports on Hong Kong, the continued erosion of rights and freedoms threatens Hong Kong's way of life. China's imposition of the National Security Law (NSL) has seen dissent criminalised. The UK has called for the NSL to be repealed and for an end to the prosecution of all individuals charged under it.
The UK has demonstrated our commitment to the people of Hong Kong through the bespoke immigration route for British National (Overseas) status holders and their eligible family members. This Government will continue to stand with the people of Hong Kong and provide a welcoming home to Hong Kongers.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on the treatment of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government stands firm on human rights in China, including the repression of people in Xinjiang and Tibet.
We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor and Energy Secretary all raised human rights recently with their counterparts (President Xi, Foreign Minister Wang, Vice Premier He and Vice Premier Ding respectively).
This Government continues to coordinate efforts with our international partners to hold China to account for human rights violations. For example, joining a statement led by Australia on Xinjiang and Tibet at the UN General Assembly in October.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps with his international counterparts to establish an international register of damage caused by Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a founding member and Chair of the Conference of Participants for the Register of Damage for Ukraine, which allows Ukrainians to record losses, injury, or damage suffered as a result of the war. In March, the Board took several steps to increase access to justice: they launched six new claims categories, concluded a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice to enable claimants to access legal support free of charge, and signed an agreement that sets a framework for the Register to access evidence gathered by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies.
The UK is also engaged in international efforts to establish a Claims Commission for Ukraine that would assess the claims submitted under the Register of Damage. On 24-26 March, we joined the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee as a next step towards agreeing the institutional structure and mandate of such a mechanism.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of sanctions in deterring further atrocities in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Working with partners, our Russia sanctions are restricting Putin's war machine and degrading his military. Sanctions have deprived Russia of at least $450 billion since February 2022. They are increasing equipment costs and delays and reducing equipment quality for Putin's war machine. The cost of components has risen by 30 per cent for the Russian defence sector over three years. Sanctions have prevented Russia expanding military supplies to the battlefield, despite extra investment and enormous military losses. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office regularly reviews the effectiveness and impact of UK sanctions on Russia and remains committed to continuing to impose and enforce sanctions, alongside our partners, to constrain Russia's remaining sources of revenue.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to support the (a) documentation and (b) investigation of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is actively involved in initiatives aimed at ensuring allegations of war crimes committed in Ukraine are fully and fairly investigated, by independent, effective, and robust legal mechanisms. This includes our work with the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, where the UK has provided £11.3 million to support Ukraine's domestic accountability efforts, including to document, investigate, and prosecute alleged atrocity crimes. The UK also continues to support the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in investigating allegations of international crimes committed in Ukraine, following the referral of the situation to the Court in February 2022.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans he has to review his Department's strategic approach to relations with China.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This Government is taking a consistent, long term and strategic approach to managing the UK's relations with China, rooted in UK and global interests. To help inform this, a team in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been conducting a full and comprehensive audit of the breadth of the UK's relationship with China. They have consulted widely across government and with a wide range of external stakeholders, which is already proving valuable in developing policies and planning engagement. We will continue to work hard to protect and pursue our interests with China, making sure that our engagement is delivering for the British people. That includes where we need to challenge and where we can identify potential areas of cooperation.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on establishing a special tribunal to prosecute crimes of aggression against Ukraine.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is fully behind efforts to establish a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, and UK officials have played an important role in this process so far. The Foreign Secretary has just returned from Lviv where, alongside representatives of the Core Group of at least 37 countries, he announced united and ardent support for the establishment of a Special Tribunal and endorsed the legal texts required for its establishment. The UK will be engaging through the Council of Europe to take this work forward.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of UK sanctions against (a) individuals and (b) entities connected to the Russian Federation; and what steps he is taking to ensure robust enforcement of those sanctions (i) domestically and (ii) in coordination with international partners.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Our sanctions have deprived Russia of at least $450 billion since February 2022. The Russian economy is battling high and rising inflation. High interest rates have made Russian government borrowing extremely costly. This Government is committed to ensuring robust sanctions enforcement. To this end, with the support of Ministerial colleagues, I launched the cross-government review of sanctions at the first Small Ministerial Group on enforcement in October. The review concluded in April and Parliament will shortly be updated on the review conclusions. The UK continues to work with our international partners to share best practice on sanctions enforcement and to ensure that a joined-up approach to enforcement is adopted internationally.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of global health crises on fragile states; and what steps he is taking to support these countries in (a) strengthening their healthcare systems and (b) mitigating the risks to stability and security.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government recognises that global health crises pose a major threat to the heath, stability, and economic prosperity of fragile states. Working in fragile states is complex and each setting has its own unique challenges, and where possible the UK works with national health systems. The UK is not prescriptive in terms of our approach to health system strengthening in fragile states, but we focus our funding and technical assistance to ensure our investments are coordinated, context-specific, integrated, adaptive and flexible as changes occur over time. A strong health system supports better mental and physical health for everyone, protects people from financial hardship due to the costs of care, and enhances resilience to threats including infectious disease outbreaks that can occur frequently in fragile states.