Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Defence and Security Organisation's key markets are for 2019-20; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for International Trade’s Defence and Security Organisation has identified the following key markets for 2019-20 with defence and security opportunities:
Africa
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belgium
Canada
Central European Network (Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria)
France
Germany
India
Indonesia
Italy
Japan
Kuwait
Latin America (Columbia, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Panama, Argentina, Mexico)
Malaysia
New Zealand
Netherlands
Nordic Baltic Network (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia)
Oman
Philippines
Portugal
Qatar
Republic of Korea
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Spain
Switzerland
Thailand
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
United States of America
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she had with international counterparts on the urgent need for increased pledged funding for humanitarian aid programmes in Yemen.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Over the last month the International Development Secretary and I have held several calls with our counterparts, including from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait, to stress the importance of donors providing funds to the humanitarian response in Yemen.
UK officials have also held similar discussions with their counterparts around the world.
The UK announced our new pledge of £160 million in humanitarian funding for Yemen in the 2020/21 financial year at the Yemen Pledging Conference on 2 June, taking our total commitment since the conflict began to £970 million.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrants have crossed the English Channel to enter the UK in (a) January, (b) February and (c) March 2020; and what the countries of origin were for those migrants.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The data showing the number of migrants intercepted crossing the English Channel to enter the UK for the months of January, February and March is shown in the table below, including the claimed nationalities for those migrants:
(a) January 2020 – 94; (b) February 2020 – 182 and (c) March 2020 – 187. |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
By nationality: | Jan | Feb | March |
Iran (Islamic Republic of) | 53 | 109 | 104 |
Iraq | 16 | 40 | 63 |
Syria Arab Republic | 16 | 18 | 13 |
Afghanistan | 5 | 3 | 5 |
Kuwait Bidoun |
|
| 1 |
Yemen |
| 5 | 1 |
Pakistan | 4 | 1 |
|
Mali |
| 2 |
|
Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) |
| 1 |
|
Senegal |
| 1 |
|
Egypt |
| 1 |
|
Guinea |
| 1 |
|
Grand Total | 94 | 182 | 187 |
The total number of migrants for the April period cannot yet be released as the figures have not passed through a data quality check and cannot be assured. The figures will be published at a later date, once they have been
verified.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of illegal migrants who have crossed the English Channel to enter the UK since 1 April 2020.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The data showing the number of migrants intercepted crossing the English Channel to enter the UK for the months of January, February and March is shown in the table below, including the claimed nationalities for those migrants:
(a) January 2020 – 94; (b) February 2020 – 182 and (c) March 2020 – 187. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By nationality: | Jan | Feb | March |
Iran (Islamic Republic of) | 53 | 109 | 104 |
Iraq | 16 | 40 | 63 |
Syria Arab Republic | 16 | 18 | 13 |
Afghanistan | 5 | 3 | 5 |
Kuwait Bidoun |
|
| 1 |
Yemen |
| 5 | 1 |
Pakistan | 4 | 1 |
|
Mali |
| 2 |
|
Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) |
| 1 |
|
Senegal |
| 1 |
|
Egypt |
| 1 |
|
Guinea |
| 1 |
|
Grand Total | 94 | 182 | 187 |
The total number of migrants for the April period cannot yet be released as the figures have not passed through a data quality check and cannot be assured. The figures will be published at a later date, once they have been
verified.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of UK nationals stranded in Kuwait; what discussions he has had with his Kuwaiti counterpart on allowing UK nationals to return home; what support the Government will provide to UK Nationals to return to the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
As Parliament rose earlier than planned and the first day for answer of this PQ was after the Easter recess, due to the pace of developments during the COVID-19 crisis, I submitted a response by email on 27 March, with the following response. The Table Office have agreed this approach.
We are working closely with local authorities, commercial airlines and other diplomatic missions to enable British people to get home. Our consular team is working around the clock to provide support, advice and information. We are working intensively with the Governments of those countries, including Kuwait, that have closed their borders to people travelling to and from the UK, to enable airlines to bring back British people to the UK, if that is what they want.
We have also published advice for British nationals who do not have immediate departure options available to them: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus#if-youre-abroad-and-you-want-to-return-to-the-uk.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs were imported using the Balai Directive in 2019; and from which countries those dogs were so imported.
Answered by George Eustice
The number of dogs that were imported to the UK using the Balai Directive in 2019 was 44,563.
The breakdown of this figure by country is as follows:
Country of Origin | Dogs | Country of Origin | Dogs |
Antigua and Barbuda | 2 | Latvia | 1 |
Argentina | 32 | Lebanon | 7 |
Australia | 275 | Lithuania | 5 |
Austria | 1 | Macao | 50 |
Azerbaijan | 2 | Malaysia | 29 |
Bahrain | 7 | Malta | 12 |
Barbados | 1 | Mauritius | 17 |
Bermuda | 9 | Mexico | 16 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 174 | Namibia | 7 |
Brazil | 201 | Netherlands | 70 |
Bulgaria | 220 | New Zealand | 73 |
Canada | 82 | Nigeria | 1 |
Cayman Islands | 15 | Norway | 1 |
Chile | 1 | Oman | 1 |
China | 29 | Peru | 7 |
Colombia | 17 | Philippines | 2 |
Costa Rica | 6 | Poland | 1160 |
Croatia | 153 | Portugal | 47 |
Cyprus | 3457 | Puerto Rico | 2 |
Czech Republic | 73 | Qatar | 22 |
Denmark | 2 | Romania | 19487 |
Egypt | 68 | Russia | 70 |
Estonia | 1 | Saudi Arabia | 5 |
Falkland Islands | 1 | Serbia | 2 |
Fiji | 1 | Singapore | 42 |
Finland | 1 | Slovakia | 27 |
France | 78 | Slovenia | 2 |
French Polynesia | 1 | South Africa | 529 |
Germany | 31 | Spain | 4891 |
Greece | 294 | Sweden | 18 |
Hong Kong | 50 | Switzerland | 1 |
Hungary | 2145 | Taiwan | 7 |
India | 35 | Tanzania | 2 |
Iran | 14 | Thailand | 4 |
Ireland (Rep. of) | 7368 | Turkey | 76 |
Israel | 8 | Turks and Caicos | 2 |
Italy | 20 | UAE | 292 |
Japan | 5 | Uganda | 2 |
Jordan | 3 | Ukraine | 1 |
Kazakhstan | 3 | Uruguay | 3 |
Kenya | 12 | USA | 2604 |
Korea (North) | 1 | Vietnam | 16 |
Korea (South) | 30 | Zimbabwe | 16 |
Kuwait | 5 |
The data for commercial imports covers the number of animals imported to the UK and was extracted from the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) through the Qlikview facility by searching for imports of Canis familiaris in 2019 to the United Kingdom. These figures cover all commercially imported dogs, including commercial puppies, rescue dogs, research dogs and unaccompanied pets.
The information that the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) have provided is a true reflection of the information that is held. The APHA cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data, as the information that has been entered into TRACES by a third party.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much money from the public purse was allocated to the Integrated Activity Fund in the financial year 2018-19; and how much did that fund allocate to Bahrain in 2018-19.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Overall spend from the Integrated Activity Fund (IAF) in 2018/19 financial year was £17.08 million. The IAF funded activity in all six Gulf Cooperation Council states: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Many of the projects and programme activities were delivered regionally, so it is not possible to provide a breakdown by beneficiary state.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with which countries the UK has (a) trade working groups, (b) trade policy dialogues and (c) trade and investment working groups that (i) are currently operating and (ii) have concluded since the finalisation of a continuity trade agreement.
Answered by Conor Burns
We are working with countries across the world to develop our current trade relationships and ensure that Britain becomes a global free trade leader once we leave the EU.
The UK regularly engages with partners through dialogues, visits and events. These are led by ministerial discussions and visits, our network of Posts, HM Trade Commissioners, discussions with embassies in London, and the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys.
In addition to the ongoing engagement in the Trade Agreement Continuity Programme, we have established Working Groups with the USA, Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Japan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what advice his Department has provided to (a) UK civilian airlines and (b) airlines operating in and out of UK airports on flying over (i) Iran, (ii) Iraq, (iii) the United Arab Emirates, (iv) Quatar, (v) Kuwait, (vi) Oman, (vii) Lebanon, (viii) Israel, (ix) Turkey and (x) Egypt.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are closely monitoring the developing situation in the region and have been keeping our advice to UK carriers under constant review. Both UK and foreign carriers continue to make their own routing decisions based on Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) and internal risk assessments.
Last week, the Department for Transport issued NOTAMs requesting that UK carriers avoid operating in Iranian and Iraqi airspace. This is in line with similar advice provided by international partners including the US, Canada, France and Germany.
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether there are trade working groups or equivalents with all the countries that his Department is or has been negotiating trade continuity agreements; and with which other countries there are trade working groups or equivalents.
Answered by Conor Burns
We are working with countries across the world to develop our current trade relationships and ensure that Britain becomes a global free trade leader once we leave the EU.
Working groups are one means of engagement with our trading partners. Others include informal contact through our network of Posts, discussions with embassies in London, ministerial discussions and visits, the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys, and HM Trade Commissioners.
In addition to the ongoing engagement in the Trade Agreement Continuity Programme, we have established Working Groups with the USA, Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Japan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE.