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Written Question
Elections: Subversion
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his international partners on taking steps to enhance resilience to hostile state threats to elections taking place in 2024.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The UK Government is committed to working with international partners to build our collective electoral resilience, including from hostile state actors. The Deputy Prime Minister, Oliver Dowden, discussed election resilience with international partners at the Summit for Democracy in Seoul on 18-20 March. At the Munich Security Conference attended by the Foreign Secretary in February, we issued a joint statement with Canada and the US to increase international coordination efforts to counter foreign state information manipulation that seeks to undermine our democracies. FCDO officials have engaged with 5EYES, G7 and European partners, including Austria, Romania, and Moldova to share best practice and identify opportunities for future collaboration on election resilience.


Written Question
Military Attachés
Thursday 14th March 2024

Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2023 to Question 1027 on Military Attachés, if he will publish an updated list of countries without a resident UK Defence Attache.

Answered by James Heappey

The Global Defence Network (GDN) utilises Resident and Non-Resident Defence Attachés (DA), who engage in Defence diplomacy in over three-quarters of the world’s nations. The table below has a list of countries covered on a Non-Residential Accreditations (NRA) basis, where a UK DA is not resident in country, but a DA elsewhere has the responsibility.

Country (NRA)

Location of DA

Angola

Mozambique - Maputo

Anguilla (British overseas territory)

Jamaica - Kingston

Antigua & Barbuda

Jamaica - Kingston

Armenia

Georgia – Tbilisi

Azerbaijan

Georgia – Tbilisi

Bahamas

Jamaica - Kingston

Barbados

Jamaica - Kingston

Belarus

Ukraine – Kyiv

Belize

Jamaica - Kingston

Benin

Accra - Ghana

Bermuda (British overseas territory)

USA – Washington DC

Botswana

Harare - Zimbabwe

British Virgin Islands (British overseas territory)

Jamaica - Kingston

Burkina Faso

Ghana - Accra

Burundi

Uganda – Kampala

Cambodia

(In process of transferring to) Vietnam - Hanoi

Cayman Islands (British overseas territory)

Jamaica – Kingston

Chad

Cameroon - Yaoundé

Cuba

Mexico – Mexico City

Djibouti

Ethiopia – Addis Ababa

Dominica

Jamaica - Kingston

Dominican Republic

Jamaica - Kingston

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kampala - Uganda

Eritrea

Sana’a - Yemen (temporarily relocated to Riyadh)

Ecuador

Bogota - Colombia

Grenada

Jamaica - Kingston

Guinea

Sierra Leone – Freetown

Guyana

Jamaica - Kingston

Guatemala

Mexico – Mexico City

Guinea-Bissau

Senegal - Dakar

Haiti

Jamaica - Kingston

Hungary

Croatia - Zagreb

Iceland

Norway - Oslo

Ivory Coast

Ghana – Accra

Khartoum

Egypt - Cairo

Kosovo

Macedonia - Skopje

Kyrgyzstan

Kazakhstan – Astana

Laos

(in process of transferring to) Vietnam - Hanoi

Lesotho

South Africa - Pretoria

Liberia

Sierra Leone - Freetown

Luxembourg

Belgium - Brussels

Malawi

Zimbabwe – Harare

Mali

Senegal - Dakar

Malta

Rome - Italy

Mauritania

Morocco – Rabat

Monaco

France – Paris

Mongolia

Japan – Tokyo

Myanmar

Thailand - Bangkok

Montserrat (British overseas territory)

Jamaica - Kingston

Namibia

South Africa – Pretoria

Niger

Cameroon – Yaoundé

Papua New Guinea

Australia – Canberra

Paraguay

Argentina – Buenos Aires

Peru

Colombia - Bogota

Rwanda

Uganda – Kampala

Seychelles

Kenya - Nairobi

St Kitts & Nevis

Jamaica - Kingston

St Lucia

Jamaica - Kingston

St Vincent

Jamaica - Kingston

Slovakia

Czech Rep - Prague

Slovenia

Austria – Vienna

South Sudan

Addis Ababa – Ethiopia

Switzerland

Vienna - Austria

Syria

Lebanon - Beirut

Tajikistan

Kazakhstan – Astana

Tanzania

Kenya – Nairobi

The Gambia

Senegal - Dakar

Timor-Leste (East Timor)

Indonesia - Jakarta

Togo

Ghana – Accra

Tonga

Fiji – Suva

Trinidad & Tobago

Jamaica - Kingston

Turkmenistan

Uzbekistan - Tashkent

Turks & Caicos Islands (British overseas territory)

Jamaica - Kingston

Uruguay

Argentina - Buenos Aires

Vanuatu

Fiji – Suva

Venezuela

Bogota - Colombia

Zambia

Zimbabwe - Harare

Supported by MOD from in the UK

Cape Verdi Islands

Congo

Gabon

Panama

Puerto Rica


Written Question
Army: Vehicles
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's News story entitled 500 trucks rapidly procured for British Army operations, published on 3 February 2024, what variants of HX truck are being procured under the contract.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The HX2 8x8 trucks were procured at pace, to support military activity. There was no UK-made option that could have been delivered as quickly. As such, these vehicles, made by Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) in Austria, have only a nominal amount of UK content, related to operational configuration work in Doncaster. Support will be provided in the UK by RMVV UK.


Written Question
Army: Vehicles
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's News story entitled 500 trucks rapidly procured for British Army operations, published on 3 February 2024, what the proportion is of UK content in the new trucks.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The HX2 8x8 trucks were procured at pace, to support military activity. There was no UK-made option that could have been delivered as quickly. As such, these vehicles, made by Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) in Austria, have only a nominal amount of UK content, related to operational configuration work in Doncaster. Support will be provided in the UK by RMVV UK.


Written Question
Army: Vehicles
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's News story entitled 500 trucks rapidly procured for British Army operations, published on 3 February 2024, where the new trucks are being built.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The HX2 8x8 trucks were procured at pace, to support military activity. There was no UK-made option that could have been delivered as quickly. As such, these vehicles, made by Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) in Austria, have only a nominal amount of UK content, related to operational configuration work in Doncaster. Support will be provided in the UK by RMVV UK.


Written Question
Prisoners: Repatriation
Tuesday 19th December 2023

Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national offenders were removed from the country through a prison transfer agreement each year since 2010; and if he will list which countries were they removed to.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Any foreign national who is convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence is considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity. Where appropriate, the Government will also seek to permanently remove foreign criminals from the UK via the Early Removal Scheme once they have served the minimum required of their sentence. This is our best performing removal scheme with 5,262 Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) having been removed between January 2019 and June 2022.

The Home Office removed 16,676 foreign national offenders since January 2019 to September 2023. Published figures show that FNO returns have increased in the latest 12-month period (ending September 2023) by 19% when compared to previous 12-month period.

Our new Prisoner Transfer Agreement with Albania entered into force in May 2023 and we have signed a new Prisoner Transfer Agreement with the Philippines. We are looking to negotiate new Prisoner Transfer Agreements with key EU Member States and wider-world countries

Foreign national offender removals via Prisoner Transfer Agreements since 2010:

Year:

Removals:

2010

46

2011

33

2012

41

2013

44

2014

34

2015

57

2016

99

2017

107

2018

111

2019

136

2020

81

2021

73

2022

50

2023

33

Countries or Territories we have removed foreign national offenders to via Prisoner Transfer Agreements since 2010:

Albania

Denmark

Latvia

Slovakia

Austria

Ecuador

Lithuania

Slovenia

Belgium

Estonia

Macedonia

Spain

Bermuda

France

Malta

Sri Lanka

Bolivia

Germany

Montenegro

St Helena

Brazil

Ghana

Netherlands

Sweden

Bulgaria

Gibraltar

Nigeria

Switzerland

Canada

Greece

Norway

Turkey

Cayman

Hungary

Pakistan

Ukraine

Chile

India

Poland

Vietnam

Croatia

Ireland

Portugal

Iraq

Cyprus

Israel

Romania

Czech Republic

Italy

Saudi


Written Question
Gender Recognition Certificates
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she had discussions with her counterpart in Austria before laying the Gender Recognition (Approved Countries and Territories and Saving Provision) Order 2023 on the removal of that country from the list of approved countries and territories to qualify applicants for the overseas route to apply for gender recognition certificates.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

We conducted thorough research in collaboration with the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office to verify our understanding of each overseas system in question, to then measure against the UK’s standard route to obtain gender recognition.

The Minister for Women and Equalities has been in conversations with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office throughout this entire process and is monitoring the international reaction to this legislation. Diplomatic posts have been consulted on and notified of the changes, and we have provided them with comprehensive question and answer documents that address any potential misconceptions of what this Order does. We have benefited greatly from this collaboration and I am confident that our international counterparts are well informed about this piece of legislation and its outcomes.


Written Question
Corporation Tax: International Cooperation
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department holds information on the countries that will implement the OECD Pillar 2 minimum corporation tax measures from 31 December 2023; and what discussions he has had with (a) the OECD and (b) his counterparts in other countries on the implementation of that measure.

Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Countries that have committed to apply Pillar 2 from 31 December 2023 or 1 January 2024 include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Vietnam. Japan are implementing for 1 April 2024.

Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Hong-Kong and Singapore have committed to implement for 1 January 2025.

There are many other jurisdictions that have taken steps towards Pillar 2 implementation.

There are regular multilateral discussions at Ministerial level, including at the level of the G20, on how to ensure swift and coordinated implementation of Pillar 2, as well as the support that can be provided to developing countries in that regard.


Written Question
Trade Fairs
Wednesday 29th November 2023

Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will publish a list of global trade shows which her Department has encouraged businesses to attend in each of the last two years.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Over the last two financial years (including 2023-24), the Department for Business and Trade has organised international activations for UK export-ready small and medium sized enterprises at over 90 international trade shows listed below.

2022-23

Trade show

Country

Cannes Lion

France

Aero India

India

Arab Health

UAE

BETT Asia

Malaysia

Bio Convention - San Diego

USA

Chemspec Europe

Germany

DSEI Japan

Japan

ExpoNaval

Chile

Fruit Attraction

Spain

Gulfood (February 2023)

UAE

IACP

USA

IDEX

UAE

Indo Defence

Indonesia

Indo Pacific

Australia

Innotrans

Germany

International Atomic Energy Agency General Conf

Austria

Intersec

UAE

Investing in Africa Mining, Indaba

South Africa

JP Morgan Healthcare conf

USA

Kidscreen

USA

Medica

Germany

Middle East Beauty

France

Mobile World Congress (MWC)

Spain

Money 2020

USA

International Defence Industry Exhibition MSPO

Poland

Pitti Uomo

Italy

Posidonia 2022

Greece

Sial

France

Singapore Fintech Week

Singapore

SMM Hamburg

Germany

SOFIC

USA

South By South West (SXSW)

USA

Web Summit 2022

Portugal

2023-24

Trade show

Country

AAHAR

India

Agritechnica

Germany

Anuga

Germany

Arab Health

UAE

Asia Pacific Maritime

Singapore

Australia Space Policy Forum

Australia

Bengalaru Tech Summit

India

BETT Asia

Malaysia

Big 5 Construction

UAE

BIO International

USA

Cannes Lions

France

Chemspec

Germany

CPHI

Spain

Defense & Security

Thailand

DIMDEX

Qatar

Dubai Airshow

UAE

DUPHAT

UAE

FoodEx

Japan

GCC Beauty World ME

Dubai

Global Health Expo

Saudi Arabia

Global Space & Technology Convention

Singapore

GULFOOD 2024

UAE

IACP

USA

Indo Pacific

Australia

InFlavour

Saudi Arabia

Intersec

UAE

Investing in Africa Mining Indaba

South Africa

International Defence Industry Exhibition (MSPO)

Poland

International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF)

Turkey

Intersec

UAE

Intersec KSA

Saudi Arabia

JP Morgan Health Tech

USA

Kidscreen 2024

USA

Kormarine

ROK

Medica

Germany

METSTRADE

Netherlands

Middle East Rail

UAE

Mobile World Congress

Spain

Money 2020

USA

NorShipping

Norway

Paris Air Show

France

PCHI (Personal Care and Homecare Ingredients)

China

Photonics West

USA

Pitti Uomo

Italy

Prowein

Germany

ReBuild Ukraine

Poland

Seafood Expo

USA

Singapore Fintech Week

Singapore

Singapore Maritime Week

Singapore

SOF Week

USA

Space Tech Expo

Germany

SXSW

USA

Web Summit

Portugal

Wind Europe

Denmark

Wind Europe 2024

Spain

World Defense Show

Saudi Arabia

World New Energy Vehicle Congress

China

World Nuclear Exhibition

Paris


Written Question
Military Attachés
Friday 17th November 2023

Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which countries do not have a resident UK Defence Attache.

Answered by James Heappey

The table below has a list of countries covered on a Non-Residential Accreditations (NRA) basis, where a UK Defence Attaché (DA) is not resident in country, but a DA elsewhere has the responsibility. This ensures that we have coverage across the world’s regions.

Country (NRA)

Location of DA

Angola

Pretoria – South Africa

Anguilla

Jamaica - Kingston

Antigua & Barbua

Jamaica - Kingston

Armenia

Georgia – Tbilisi

Azerbaijan

Georgia – Tbilisi

Bahamas

Jamaica - Kingston

Barbados

Jamaica - Kingston

Belarus

Ukraine – Kyiv

Belize

Jamaica - Kingston

Benin

Accra - Ghana

Bermuda

USA – Washington DC

Bolivia

UK – London

Botswana

Harare - Zimbabwe

British Virgin Islands

Jamaica - Kingston

Burkina Faso

Ghana - Accra

Burundi

Uganda – Kampala

Cambodia

Singapore

Cape Verde Islands

UK-London

Cayman Islands

Jamaica – Kingston

Congo

UK - London

Cuba

Mexico – Mexico City

Djibouti

Ethiopia – Addis Ababa

Dominica Dominican Republic

Jamaica - Kingston

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kampala - Uganda

Eritrea

Sana’a - Yemen

Ecuador

Bogota - Colombia

Gabon

London

Grenada

Jamaica - Kingston

Guinea

Sierra Leone – Freetown

Guyana

Jamaica - Kingston

Guatemala

Mexico – Mexico City

Guinea-Bissau

Senegal - Dakar

Haiti

Jamaica - Kingston

Hungary

Croatia - Zagreb

Iceland

Norway - Oslo

Ivory Coast

Ghana – Accra

Khartoum

Egypt - Cairo

Kosovo

Macedonia - Skopje

Kyrgyzstan

Kazakhstan – Astana

Lesotho

South Africa - Pretoria

Liberia

Sierra Leone - Freetown

Libya

Libya - Tripoli

Malawi

Zimbabwe – Harare

Malta

Rome

Mauritania

Morocco – Rabat

Monaco

France – Paris

Mongolia

Japan – Tokyo

Montenegro

Tirana – Albania

Myanmar

Singapore (BDS SEA)

Montserrat

Jamaica - Kingston

Mozambique

South Africa – Pretoria

Panama City

Puerto Rico

Namibia

South Africa – Pretoria

Niger

Mali - Bamako

Papua New Guinea

Australia – Canberra

Paraguay

Argentina – Buenos Aires

Peru

Colombia - Bogota

Rwanda

Uganda – Kampala

Seychelles

Kenya - Nairobi

St Kitts & Nevis

Jamaica - Kingston

St Lucia

Jamaica - Kingston

St Vincent

Jamaica - Kingston

Slovakia

Czech Rep - Prague

Slovenia

Austria – Vienna

South Sudan

Addis Ababa – Ethiopia

Switzerland

Vienna - Austria

Syria

Lebanon

Tajikistan

Kazakhstan – Astana

Tanzania

Kenya – Nairobi

The Gambia

Senegal - Dakar

Timor-Leste (East Timor)

Indonesia - Jakarta

Togo

Ghana – Accra

Tonga

Fiji – Suva

Trinidad & Tobago

Jamaica - Kingston

Turkmenistan

Uzbekistan - Tashkent

Turks & Caicos Islands

Jamaica - Kingston

Uruguay

Argentina - Buenos Aires

Vanuatu

Fiji – Suva

Venezuela

Bogota - Colombia

Zambia

Zimbabwe - Harare