Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the criteria are for the Government deciding to review the sanctions which the UK imposes on North Korea.
Answered by Mark Field
The UN Security Council (UNSC) has imposed ten resolutions on North Korea in response to its illegal pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile programmes since 2006 (most recently UNSCR 2397 on 23 December 2017). The EU has introduced its own additional autonomous measures. The sanctions contained within these measures, together with a strategy of maximum pressure, are designed to bring North Korea to the negotiating table with the aim of achieving the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of North Korea. Until North Korea takes concrete steps to bring this about we will continue working with our international partners to keep up pressure and strictly enforce existing sanctions. Any sanctions the UK imposes on North Korea result from UNSC and EU decisions and we would review them within the UNSC and EU frameworks.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2018 to Question 124805, what organisations the Government maintains relations with which include factions actively involved in terrorist activity.
Answered by Alistair Burt
It is the long-standing policy of the Government not to comment on matters relating to national security.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions the Government has had with the governments of Ukraine and Russia on the implications for security in that region of the Ukrainian Parliament’s declaration of 18 January 2018 that Russia is an aggressor state.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Russia's territorial aggression in the Donbas and Crimea, and its broader efforts to undermine and destabilise Ukraine, represent a fundamental challenge to the rules-based international order and a threat to regional security. We make this clear in discussions with both Ukrainian and Russian interlocutors. It is for the Ukrainian government to determine how it organises its response to this aggression.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s policy is on Turkish military action against the YPG in northern Syria.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The UK recognises Turkey's legitimate interest in the security of its borders. We are closely following developments in Afrin in north-western Syria. Both the Foreign Secretary and Minister Burt have been in contact with Turkish Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu over the past days to urge them to avoid any escalation in violence and to seek to protect civilians. It remains in our shared interest to focus on achieving a political settlement that ends the war and suffering, and provides stability for all Syrians and the wider region.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made representations to the Government of Uganda on that government’s possible reintroduction of the death penalty; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The death penalty was never abolished in Uganda and it remains on the statute books for 28 crimes. However, no civilian executions have been carried out since 1999 and none under court martial since 2002. The British Government continues to urge the Government of Uganda not to implement death sentences and to move towards a formal moratorium. We have taken note of President Museveni's comments and will monitor developments in country.
Asked by: Paul Masterton (Conservative - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on Hezbollah’s weapons arsenal.
Answered by Alistair Burt
We are aware of reports that Hizballah continues to amass an arsenal of weapons in Lebanon. The UK remains concerned about the threat that this poses to regional stability and the direct contravention of UN Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1701.