Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when officials in her Department last communicated with the office of the Lord Provost of Glasgow in relation to Taiwan; and if she will publish a minute of those discussions.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
An official from Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office communicated with the office of the Lord Provost of Glasgow on Friday 12th November. As this was an informal discussion no minute was taken of the conversation.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department plans to take to support the independence of the press in Ukraine following the recent closure of the English language newspaper The Kyiv Post.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The FCDO is committed to supporting freedom of the media, and preserving media plurality, in Ukraine. We do this through targeted project interventions and advocating on media freedom issues in our political messaging, both in public and in private. We are currently providing support to the Ukrainian Public Broadcaster, working with BBC Media Action, and have previously funded projects assisting a number of independent media channels.
The FCDO remains committed to the Global Media Freedom campaign launched in 2018. Through the UK's co-chairing of the Media Freedom Coalition we are working to improve media freedom domestically and internationally. We support, and encourage our European partners to support, the Global Media Defence Fund, managed by UNESCO, to which we have pledged £3 million over five years. The Fund has already supported over 1600 journalists globally, including in Ukraine.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, on what dates during the month of August 2021 he spoke to HM Ambassadors to Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Answered by Nigel Adams
As set out in the Foreign Secretary's statement to Parliament on September 6th, he visited Qatar and Pakistan from 1-3 September and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon visited Uzbekistan and Tajikistan from 1-3 September. The Foreign Secretary has also had telephone conversations with the Uzbek Foreign Minister on 6 September, the Tajik Foreign Minister, on 2 September, and with the Foreign Minister of Pakistan on 27 August. Lord Ahmad has additionally called the Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan, on 3 September, the Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan on 25 August and Deputy Foreign Minister of Tajikistan on the same day. They held discussions with counterparts on securing safe passage for those fleeing Afghanistan and advancing the government's international priorities. Throughout this crisis the Foreign Secretary had received advice that draws on a range of inputs from HM Ambassadors to Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will provide a full copy of his call logs for 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th of August 2021.
Answered by Nigel Adams
As set out in the Foreign Secretary's statement to Parliament on September 6th, he visited Qatar and Pakistan from 1-3 September and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon visited Uzbekistan and Tajikistan from 1-3 September. The Foreign Secretary has also had telephone conversations with the Uzbek Foreign Minister on 6 September, the Tajik Foreign Minister, on 2 September, and with the Foreign Minister of Pakistan on 27 and 25 August. Lord Ahmad has additionally called the Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan, on 3 September, the Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan on 25 August and Deputy Foreign Minister of Tajikistan on the same day. They held discussions with counterparts on securing safe passage for those fleeing Afghanistan and advancing the government's international priorities.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will provide a copy of the FCDO ministerial rota for each day in August 2021.
Answered by Nigel Adams
There is a well-established system across Whitehall of Duty Ministers which ensures that all decisions are made in a timely fashion.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, on what dates during the month of August 2021 he spoke with (a) US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, (b) NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg and (c) High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Our immediate focus is on ensuring safe passage for anyone remaining in Afghanistan who needs to leave, supporting the thousands of new arrivals in the UK, and continuing to provide assistance to the Afghan people. The Foreign Secretary told the FAC that he understands the importance of learning the lessons from this response.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what date his 2021 summer holiday commenced.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Foreign Secretary has been overseeing the FCDO's response to the situation in Afghanistan throughout, including engaging with international partners and directing the FCDO's crisis response.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to run subsequent Belarus-UK seasons following the 2020 event in Minsk.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Prior to the crackdown on human rights in Belarus following last year's fraudulent Presidential elections, our Embassy in Minsk helped to facilitate a UK-Belarus season in conjunction with the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce in order to promote the UK's trade and investment interests. There are no current plans to run a subsequent event.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many financial investigations on Belarussian assets in the UK (a) the Government has undertaken and (b) have led to asset freezes or other repercussions.
Answered by Wendy Morton
We are considering all appropriate and effective means of constraining the finances of the Lukashenko regime. We have already imposed over 90 designations in response to the fraudulent elections and subsequent human rights violations in Belarus and are currently examining the evidence for further designation. We have taken decisive action to tackle economic crime - introducing a range of powers in recent years including account freezing orders and unexplained wealth orders, establishing a new global anti-corruption sanctions regime, and strengthening anti-money laundering requirements on relevant businesses. We will consider all further appropriate and effective measures to prevent the Belarusian regime from making money in the UK.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has planned any ODA spending in Belarus in 2021-22.
Answered by Wendy Morton
For FY2021 - 22, final funding amounts are still to be confirmed for programme spends but we have allocated £1.8 million for the support non-state and other non-government actors, who are working on behalf of the people of Belarus and we are actively looking at ways to increase this.