Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proposal the Government plans to put to the second UN open-ended working group on nuclear disarmament.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK and the four other Non-Proliferation Treaty Nuclear Weapons States voted against the Resolution “Taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations” in the UN General Assembly First Committee which established an Open Ended Working Group. The Government believes that productive results can only be ensured through a consensus-based approach that takes into account the wider global security environment.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what conditions the Government considers need to be met for the UK to divest itself of nuclear weapons through international negotiations.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK has a strong record on nuclear disarmament. As The Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Mr Fallon) set out in his Written Ministerial Statement of 20 January 2015 (Official Report, column 4WS) the Government has met its commitment to implement the changes announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 to reduce the number of operationally available warheads from fewer than 160 to no more than 120.
As set out in the recent 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, we consider that our nuclear deterrent is the ultimate means to deter the most extreme threats. The UK will retain a credible, continuous and effective minimum nuclear deterrent for as long as the global security situation makes it necessary.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to support initiative to the create an independent regional centre for security dialogue in the Middle East.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
A stable and secure Middle East is a key UK priority. We are working with the international community to support those tackling short term conflict and promoting longer-term reform in the region. We believe that regional security initiatives can have an important role to play too.
We are not aware of any specific, new initiatives to create an independent regional centre for security dialogue in the Middle East, at the current time.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implementation to date of the Joint Comprehensive Plan for Action on the Iranian nuclear programme.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Following Adoption Day in October, Iran has been undertaking the nuclear actions required under the Joint Comprehensive Plan for Action, including recently shipping 12.5 tonnes of enriched uranium to Russia. Iran has almost completed removing the necessary 13,000 centrifuges and put plans in place to remove the core of the Arak plutonium reactor. The International Atomic Energy Agency will verify that Iran has undertaken all of the necessary steps to trigger Implementation Day.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether any Special Intelligence Service officers have been posted at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan since October 2001.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
There is no Special Intelligence Service. Should the question be referring to the Secret Intelligence Service, which does exist, then it is a long-standing policy of successive British governments not to comment on intelligence matters.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for the Government's nuclear non-proliferation strategy of the emergence of 3D printing technologies capable of constructing components for possible use in nuclear weapons.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Government keeps appraised of new technologies and their possible non-proliferation implications, both now and in the future. Although this technique could have some nuclear applications, currently there remain fundamental barriers to proliferation, such as the availability of fissile material.Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proposals the Government made aimed at making fully transparent the financial management practices in each member state participant in the Joint Ministerial Council of British Overseas Territories at its fourth meeting in December 2015.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Government and Overseas Territories committed at the Joint Ministerial Council to work in partnership as appropriate to support capacity building and the development of expertise in public financial management and economic planning. This includes maintaining sound public finances, building economic resilience and ensuring value for money in use of public funds, including through effective use of audit.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he expects that the trial will begin of Michael Misick, former Prime Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Answered by James Duddridge
We expect the trial to start this week.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to trace the sources of financial support for (a) ISIS and (b) other terrorist networks.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK has led efforts to create and enforce an international legal regime to cut off support, including financial support, for Daesh and other terrorist groups. This regime is underpinned by UN Security Council Resolutions 2178 (on foreign fighters), 2199 (on squeezing Daesh’s funding sources) and 1267 (which imposes sanctions on individuals and groups associated with Al-Qaida and its affiliates, including Daesh). We are actively involved with Global Coalition partners in identifying companies and individuals that breach any aspect of this regime, including the financial ones.
UK law enforcement agencies have a well established and sophisticated system for investigating and shutting off sources of finance for terrorists, including Daesh. The Government also works closely with the private sector to crack down on terrorist-related money laundering.