Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she plans to have with the President of Chile during his visit to Glasgow for COP26.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Foreign Secretary's meetings during COP26, and the agendas for those meetings, will be finalised in due course.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 7 September 2021, Official Report, column 31, which states that are not ordinarily classified as friends of the UK the Government plans to engage with on Afghanistan.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK Government will engage with all countries, either bilaterally or through the multilateral system, where there is a shared interest in Afghanistan.Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the report by the Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIPER), published on 9 April 2021 alleging that the Chilean army has monitored journalists covering corruption and human rights abuses, what recent assessment his Department has made of the level of media and press freedom in that country.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Chile's legal and constitutional framework provides for freedom of expression, including for the press. The Chilean media provides a high level of scrutiny of the government and politics, and continues to play an important role in national political life as the country continues its constitutional reform process.
In February, Chile became the 44th member of the Media Freedom Coalition, which the UK helped establish in order to defend and advocate for media freedom, and the safety of journalists where under threat. Members of the Coalition have all signed a written commitment to improving media freedom domestically, and working together internationally.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has raised with (a) his Chilean counterpart and (b) the Chilean Ambassador in the UK the matter of media and press freedom in Chile following findings in the 9 report by the Centre for Investigative Journalism, published on 9 April 2021 alleging that the Chilean army has monitored journalists covering corruption and human rights abuses.
Answered by Wendy Morton
We understand that this issue is under investigation by Chile's judiciary.
On the wider issue of media and press interest in Chile, I refer the Honourable Member to my answer of 27 April to question 187278.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much his Department spent on (a) communications, (b) advertising and (c) marketing in (i) the UK, (ii) England, (iii) Northern Ireland, (iv) Scotland and (v) Wales in each month from August 2020 to December 2020.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The majority of the FCDO's communication activity is delivered by our team in the United Kingdom and at Embassies worldwide through low or no-cost activity rather than advertising or marketing.
From August to December 2020 we helped to deliver cross-government Cabinet Office EU Exit Transition and COVID-19 public information communication campaigns, specifically focusing on those likely to travel or UK nationals living overseas. Cabinet Office publishes expenditure on COVID-19 and other national campaigns on a rolling monthly basis at www.gov.uk/government/collections/cabinet-office-spend-data as part of routine government transparency arrangements.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
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 the Chinese Government on the persecution of followers and practitioners of Falun Gong.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We remain deeply concerned about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and others on the grounds of their religion or belief in China. The freedom to practise, change or share ones faith or belief without discrimination or violent opposition is a human right that all people should enjoy. We regularly raise our concerns about the human rights situation with the Chinese authorities, and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that low-income countries have access to adequate supplies of the Oxford-AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK is committed to rapid equitable access to safe and effective vaccines. The UK has committed up to £548 million to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), an international initiative that will support global equitable access to vaccines, including the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, in up to 92 low and middle-income countries. The AMC will supply 1 billion doses in 2021, vaccinating up to 500 million people.
COVAX has an advance purchase agreement with AstraZeneca for 170 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford candidate at non-profit pricing. This is in addition to an existing agreement with the Serum Institute of India (SII) for 200 million doses - with options for up to 900 million doses more - of either the AstraZeneca/Oxford or Novavax vaccines (the latter is yet to complete phase 3 trials). The agreement with SII will see any combination of these vaccines be available at a price no greater than US$3 a dose.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
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 effect of the reduction in the Official Development Assistance budget (a) from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent and (b) as a result of the UK’s decreased GDP on Government support for programmes to end violence against women.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Due to the severe impact that the pandemic has had on our economy, we are taking the tough decision to spend 0.5 per cent of our national income next year on Official Development Assistance, rather than the usual 0.7 per cent. Despite these fiscal pressures, we remain firmly committed to helping the world's poorest people and we will retain our position as a leader in the global fight against poverty. The Government intends to return to the 0.7 per cent target when the fiscal situation allows. The new strategic framework for our aid announced by the Foreign Secretary will ensure we can deliver UK aid better, even if our budget is smaller, by combining aid with diplomacy and focusing our efforts where the UK can make a world-leading difference.
It is not possible at this stage to go into the specifics of programme cuts. Amended programmes and projects are reflected on?DevTracker and will continue to change in the normal way. Tackling violence against women and girls is a core part of this Government's mission and we remain steadfast in our commitment to this agenda.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
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 effect of the reduction in the Official Development Assistance budget (a) from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent and (b) as a result of the UK’s decreased GDP on the Government’s support for humanitarian assistance programmes.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The seismic impact of the pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take tough but necessary decisions. We have concluded after extensive consideration, and with regret, that we cannot for the moment meet our target of spending 0.7% of Gross National Income on ODA. However, the Foreign Secretary has been clear, we will remain a world leading aid donor spending 0.5% of GNI and continue to respond humanitarian crises and protecting those in need. By combining aid with diplomacy and ensuing a coherent approach across Government departments, we will be focusing our efforts where the UK can make a world-leading difference to deliver maximum impact for every pound we spend.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
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 effect of the reduction in the Official Development Assistance budget (a) from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent and (b) as a result of the UK’s decreased GDP on Government support for programmes supporting people to raise their incomes or maintain or gain a better job or livelihood.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We remain firmly committed to helping the world's poorest people and we will retain our position as a leader in the global fight against poverty. The FCDO is now conducting a rigorous internal prioritisation process that will establish our portfolio in 2021. As outlined in the Foreign Secretary's previous statement to Parliament, promoting trade and job-creating investment will remain one of our core priorities for ODA. Programmes that support people to raise their incomes or maintain or gain a better job or livelihood will be critical to poverty reduction efforts and our role as a force for good in the world.