Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Windsor Framework will allow freeports to be set up in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
We are committed to extending the benefits of our Freeports programme across the UK and to working with stakeholders from sectors and places across Northern Ireland on how best to do so. Of course we need to see a restored Northern Ireland Executive before those discussions can be progressed further, similar to our engagements with Scottish and Welsh governments on proposals there.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, in which circumstances the Windsor Framework permits the EU to revoke green lane procedures.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The new arrangements in this agreement set out concrete legal changes to remove red tape and checks for internal UK trade, as well as legally binding, permanent solutions to a wide range of practical problems raised by citizens, businesses and politicians in Northern Ireland.
To secure the smooth flow of internal UK trade, we have inserted new text into Article 6(2) of the Protocol to lock in a commitment by both sides to establish and maintain specific arrangements for internal UK trade - which is subject to arbitration, rather than the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Windsor Framework permits the EU to withdraw green lane flexibilities in the event of regulatory divergence between the EU and the UK.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The new arrangements in this agreement set out concrete legal changes to remove red tape and checks for internal UK trade, as well as legally binding, permanent solutions to a wide range of practical problems raised by citizens, businesses and politicians in Northern Ireland.
To secure the smooth flow of internal UK trade, we have inserted new text into Article 6(2) of the Protocol to lock in a commitment by both sides to establish and maintain specific arrangements for internal UK trade - which is subject to arbitration, rather than the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Windsor Framework, publish on 27 February 2023, what criteria the Government plan to apply to determined which elements of EU law will be retained in Northern Ireland and which will be disapplied.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Only the absolute minimum (less than 3%) of EU law continues to apply in Northern Ireland, to avoid a hard border and maintain Northern Ireland's unique access to the EU market, alongside its unfettered access to the UK internal market. The rules that are disapplied are set out in the legal instruments giving effect to the Windsor Framework.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to paragraph 66 of the Windsor Framework, published on 27 February 2023, CP 806, which items of EU law will continue to apply in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Only the absolute minimum (less than 3%) of EU law continues to apply in Northern Ireland, to avoid a hard border and maintain Northern Ireland's unique access to the EU market, alongside its unfettered access to the UK internal market. The rules that are disapplied are set out in the legal instruments giving effect to the Windsor Framework.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Windsor Framework, published on 27 February 2023, CP 806, which items of EU law will be disapplied following the removal of 1,700 pages of EU law in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Only the absolute minimum (less than 3%) of EU law continues to apply in Northern Ireland, to avoid a hard border and maintain Northern Ireland's unique access to the EU market, alongside its unfettered access to the UK internal market. The rules that are disapplied are set out in the legal instruments giving effect to the Windsor Framework.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to paragraph 66 of the Windsor Framework, published on 27 February 2023, CP 806, what is included within the appropriate remedial measures.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Remedial measures can be taken under international law. Any action the EU took in response to a decision not to add a rule to the Protocol could not involve the blanket removal of market access, for example, and a remedial measure should relate to the rule in question. And of course the UK would be able to challenge any disproportionate response through arbitration.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to apply Magnitsky sanctions to members of the Iranian Government implicated in human rights abuses.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to challenging the Iranian regime's violent response to recent protests. On 14 November, the UK sanctioned 24 individuals for violations of human rights in the repression of protests. This was on top of the sanctions of 10 October against the so-called 'morality police' and seven security officials. The UK is also working with international partners to hold Iran to account for its violent response to the protests. This includes through the full range of multilateral fora, including the Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Security Council, G7 and the UN General Assembly Third Committee.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
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 his Sri Lankan counterpart on implementation of the resolution on Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka adopted by UN Human Rights Council at its 51st session in October 2022.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We regularly engage with the Government of Sri Lanka on human rights concerns and stand ready to support implementation of UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution 51/1. The resolution renewed the mandate of the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to report on Sri Lanka and to protect and preserve evidence of past human rights abuses to use in future accountability processes.
The Minister for South Asia, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, met the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in September, raising the need to engage with UNHRC members and take forward repeated commitments to make progress.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Iranian counterpart on the police response to protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
On 3 October, the Foreign Secretary instructed the FCDO to summon Iran's most senior diplomat in the UK. It was made clear to him that the Iranian authorities should take responsibility for their actions, listening to the concerns of their people, instead of blaming external actors. We reiterated our call for Iran to respect the right to peaceful assembly, exercise restraint and release unfairly detained protesters. We continue to raise our concerns at every opportunity, with the Iranian Embassy in London and via our Ambassador in Tehran.