Written Question
Thursday 7th December 2023
Asked by:
Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question
to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the response of the Ethiopian Government to the joint statement by the UK, US, Australia, Japan and New Zealand of 11 August 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
Our statement called for the immediate de-escalation of violence and for the protection of civilians; we continue to monitor the situation. The Minister for Africa subsequently raised the issue in his meeting with Ethiopian National Security Adviser and the Ambassador raises the issue in all his meetings in Addis Ababa. We urge the Government of Ethiopia to find a political solution to end the violence in the country. We continue to monitor the situation, in concert with others, while maintaining life-saving humanitarian assistance, and the provision of basic services to the people in Amhara affected by conflict.
Written Question
Monday 27th February 2023
Asked by:
Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question
to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his polices of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Amendment Bill for democracy and human rights in Zimbabawe.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK is monitoring the progress through [Zimbabwe's] parliament of so-called "patriotic" amendments to Zimbabwe's criminal code, which could be used to target critics of the state, if passed into law. We regularly raise human rights issues, including freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, with the Government of Zimbabwe, in concert with other embassies. The former Minister for Africa [Vicky Ford MP] discussed these issues with Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister [Frederick Shava] last June and our Ambassador publicly underlined the UK's commitment to the right to peaceful assembly and association on 2 October.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 06 Sep 2022
Oral Answers to Questions
"13. What steps she is taking to support flood relief efforts in Pakistan. ..."Paul Blomfield - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 06 Sep 2022
Oral Answers to Questions
"The Minister is certainly right about expressing the feelings of the whole House, but she will recognise that, in April, the International Development Committee reported that UK aid to Pakistan had been “reduced dramatically” after the Government’s overall reduction from 0.7% to 0.5% and has been cut by much more …..."Paul Blomfield - View Speech
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Written Question
Friday 22nd July 2022
Asked by:
Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question
to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made representations to the Zimbabwean Government on the detention of (a) Job Sikhala and (b) Godfrey Sithole.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK is monitoring the ongoing detention of opposition Members of Parliament Job Sikhala and Godfrey Sithole in Zimbabwe. I met with the Foreign Minister of Zimbabwe on 30 June and reiterated the need for all political parties to respect the rule of law, refrain from violence and respect the right of others' to campaign freely ahead of upcoming elections in 2023.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 27 Jun 2022
Northern Ireland Protocol Bill
"This Bill says everything about the sorry state of this Government. It is not about solving the problems of the protocol, which of course the Government themselves created, but, like the Rwanda plan, the human rights proposals and the handling of the rail strike, it is another wedge issue. As …..."Paul Blomfield - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 17 May 2022
Northern Ireland Protocol
"The Foreign Secretary knows that there were only three ways of protecting Northern Ireland’s special position after Brexit: a land border on the island of Ireland, which we all reject; closer alignment between the UK and the EU, which business wanted but the Government rejected; and a sea border. The …..."Paul Blomfield - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 18 Jan 2022
UK Government Recognition of Somaliland
"I congratulate the right hon. Member on securing this debate, which has demonstrated an exceptional degree of unity across the House in support of his proposal. He makes a good point about the debt of honour that we owe to the people of Somaliland. My hon. Friend the Member for …..."Paul Blomfield - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 12 Jan 2022
Afghanistan: Humanitarian Crisis
"I have to say that the Minister’s response to the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra) was unfortunate, because there is real cross-party concern on this issue. The Minister was right in her opening remarks to highlight the generosity of the British people, …..."Paul Blomfield - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 30 Nov 2021
Oral Answers to Questions
"As well as the Prime Minister’s promise to bring vulnerable Afghans to refuge in this country, other Ministers suggested that they travel to neighbouring countries as the first step. I have constituents who took those Ministers at their word, but the Afghanistan resettlement scheme is not open, as we have …..."Paul Blomfield - View Speech
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