Mark Spencer: ...my hon. Friend for his question. We have the best armed forces in the world. It is hugely important that Parliament and the public should have confidence in how our armed forces conduct themselves overseas, so we need to reflect on how operations have taken place. Any allegations must be investigated and criminal behaviour held to account. He will understand that it has been the...
Boris Johnson: ...a paralysed government, we got Brexit done. We delivered on the decision the people of the United Kingdom made in 2016, and took our country out of the European Union, negotiating a new Trade and Cooperation Agreement that preserves zero tariff, zero quota trade. Since our exit, we have been seizing the opportunities that come with this new freedom. We have signed three major new trade...
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: ...Lords, Lord Collins and Lord Purvis, asked about alignment with the Crown dependencies and OTs. I confirm again on record that all UK sanctions regimes apply in all the UK Crown dependencies and overseas territories, either by Orders in Council or through each jurisdiction’s own legislation. The ones which apply their own legislation in this respect have been Jersey, Guernsey, Gibraltar...
Lord Benyon: ...relied on seasonal workers to bring home the harvest. After a series of annual pilots the government announced last December that the Seasonal Worker visa route has been extended to 2024 to allow overseas workers to come to the UK for up to six months to harvest both edible and ornamental crops. An initial allocation of 30,000 visas was made available for 2022, which will be increased to...
Lucy Frazer: ...and provides taxpayers with predictability over future tax policy changes. Alongside this, the Government is making announcements in a small number of technical areas of tax policy to support the operation of the tax system. Draft legislation is being published to seek stakeholder views at this stage. The final contents of Finance Bill 2022-23 will be a decision for the Chancellor at the...
Rupa Huq: ...Brennan) says, there is a danger of killing off the market for these schools, even though as recently as 2019, we had twice as many as any other English-speaking competitor country. The business operates on pretty tight margins. One school owner I spoke to said, “I’m paid the highest of everyone here, but I like doing this. I want to spread the English language. Money doesn’t matter...
James Morris: ...patients and their teams safe. From the beginning of July this year, NHS England has set the expectation that practices will return to delivering treatment at pre-pandemic levels. With NHS dentists operating at below 100% capacity for over 2 years, many people have not been able to regularly access a dental professional. We are taking action to address this, in a way which is fair for...
Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to establish a process whereby people from overseas with professional dentistry qualifications are able to shadow NHS dentists for the purposes of learning the (a) professional language and (b) operations of UK dentistry.
Simon Baynes: ..., who arrive in the UK through concealment in vehicles by tourist and freight transport routes, have had their entry illegally facilitated by organised criminal gangs. Despite extensive work with overseas partners to strengthen our shared borders and enhance our strategic partnerships, this method of entry continues and endangers the lives of those involved. In many cases, this is a result...
Ben Everitt: I understand that clause 23 seeks to address a specific operational challenge currently faced by the UK intelligence community and the armed forces. The clause removes criminal liability for the offences of encouraging or assisting crime, but only where that activity is “necessary for— (a) the proper exercise of any function of the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service or...
Jane Hunt: ...The UK’s National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines provides a non-judicial grievance mechanism to consider complaints against UK companies which may not have observed the Guidelines in their operations and supply chains overseas. The Government has no current plans to propose legislation to introduce corporate liability of UK companies for human rights or environmental violations...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: As we seek to keep the UK and our interests at home and overseas safe from the threat of terrorism, tackling Al-Shabaab is one of our top counter-terrorism priorities. With international allies, regional partners, and with the Federal Government of Somalia and our international partners, we are pursuing a comprehensive effort to address the Al-Shabaab threat and the conditions through which...
Jane Hunt: ...care and leisure, is part of an ecosystem, as my hon. Friend said, that underpins healthy local economies and communities. This ecosystem includes a symbiotic relationship between businesses operating during the day and evening, and businesses operating into the night. I have talked to the Department about the day-time, night-time and twilight economies and the connection between them. I...
Stephen McPartland: ...commits any of the existing electoral offences set out in the related schedule and the person’s conduct meets the requisite foreign power condition. That will help to create a more challenging operating environment for those who seek to do the UK harm, raising the cost to foreign states of carrying out interference activity by holding those responsible to account for their actions. We...
Stephen McPartland: ...criminal offence of foreign interference. It is and always will be an absolute priority to protect the UK against such interference. The principal aim of the clause is to create a more challenging operating environment for, and to deter and disrupt the activities of, foreign states who seek to undermine UK interests, our institutions, political system and our rights, and ultimately...
Stephen McPartland: ...base areas used for the purposes of the defence of a foreign country or territory. It is imperative that these provisions extend to and protect the sites and vehicles that the UK’s allies use and operate. For example, there are several military bases in the UK out of which our allies operate; those need to continue to be afforded the protection given by the prohibited places regime....
Stephen McPartland: .... Although the Government understand and appreciate the intention behind the amendment, we propose to reject it. The distinction between activities taking place inside the UK and those taking place overseas was deliberate. For activity taking place overseas, clause 3(4) requires the conduct to be “prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom.” That is to ensure that we...
Stephen McPartland: ...is a risk that creating a notably different test under the clause 1 offence would confuse the legal interpretation of the tests under those other offences and may have a significant impact on their operational utility. Finally, I reiterate that the test of a person conducting activity “prejudicial to the safety or interests” of the UK already exists and is understood in the courts....
Rachael Maskell: ...expect a property owner to visit the property every six months. A longer period would raise questions of whether they in fact reside there. I am aware of circumstances in which people have families overseas, for instance, and may make extended visits to see them. I would not want to penalise people because their life journey and responsibilities differ from mine, but if they do not visit a...
Victoria Prentis: As part of Defra’s Request for Information (RFI) process for the selection of the Seasonal Workers Scheme operators, the participants must confirm that they will not place any additional charges on participating migrants, beyond the administration of the Extended Pilot, and that they (and their agents) will not charge work-finding fees. The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA)...