Suella Braverman: ...at that time required applicants to be able to demonstrate they had access to £1 million of available funds to invest in UK government bonds and shares or loan funds to UK companies. The UK had operated some form of investor visa programme for high-net-worth personal investment since 1994. The Tier 1 (Investor) visa route was ultimately closed on 17th February 2022. I can confirm that...
Lord Sharpe of Epsom: ...with intelligence sharing often forming a key part of such efforts. The Armed Forces also work closely with the UK intelligence and security community, helping to protect the UK from myriad threats overseas. The protection provided for in Clause 28 seeks to ensure that where our Armed Forces collaborate and provide authorised operational support with international partners, as with UKIC,...
Baroness Penn: ...will need to balance those objectives and consider them in a way which respects that hierarchy. The PRA’s existing secondary competition objective provides the model for how that hierarchy operates: the regulators must advance their secondary objectives in so far as that is compatible with their primary objective. However, with the introduction of the secondary objective, the Government...
Lord Purvis of Tweed: ...who is more attracted to getting access to a bigger market. But from that 81 billion Australian dollars, you deduct 10 billion for thresholds differences, 12 billion for things already procured by overseas interests and another 11 billion for defence. You are therefore left with a total market of £27 billion, which is already governed by the GPA. So I simply do not know where this extra...
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: ...(PSBs) face challenges from structural changes in the broadcasting landscape. Channel 4, along with all other PSBs, is facing unprecedented competition for viewers, programmes and talent from overseas as well as new, rapidly-growing streaming platforms. It is important for the UK’s thriving creative industries and the wider economy that we support our PSBs to grow, compete and to make...
Michelle Donelan: ...(PSBs) face challenges from structural changes in the broadcasting landscape. Channel 4, along with all other PSBs, is facing unprecedented competition for viewers, programmes and talent from overseas as well as new, rapidly-growing streaming platforms. It is important for the UK’s thriving creative industries and the wider economy that we support our PSBs to grow, compete and to make...
Neil O'Brien: ...GDC, as an independent regulator, to decide how best to use the flexibility that these proposals allow. Following the legislative changes, we understand the GDC will consult on changes to how its Overseas Registration Exam operates, which would enable it to increase the number of dentists it can assess, potentially allowing overseas dentists to join its register more quickly.
Lord Murray of Blidworth: This information is not published. TLS Contact and VFS Global operate the network of overseas Visa Application Centres (VACs) on behalf of UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). Customers are notified that their visa decision is ready for collection as soon as the decision is received at the VAC. Decisions on visa applications are made by Home Office officials. The length of time it takes for a...
John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel were assigned to a MACA tasking within six months of returning from operational service overseas in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) 2022.
Thomas Tugendhat: We do not routinely comment on operational or intelligence matters, however the UK will always stand up to threats from foreign nations. As we set out in the Integrated Review in 2021, we are committed to addressing growing threats from Iran, as well as other states. Since January, there have been at least ten threats to kidnap or even kill UK-based individuals. Iran has established a pattern...
Lord Coaker: ...this decision to have the independent inquiry. Can the Minister outline the relationship between these judicial reviews and the inquiry? The Minister’s Statement says that the MoD accepts that Operation Northmoor should have started earlier and that there may be further lessons to learn from the incidents, despite there being insufficient evidence for any prosecution. The terms of...
Leo Docherty: The Joint Afghanistan Casework Unit (JACU) was established during Operation PITTING and has effectively co-ordinated case-working on the Afghan resettlement schemes across the Home Office, Ministry of Defence and FCDO, and helped to support eligible individuals overseas. We do not collect comprehensive data on the profession or minority status of those relocated. Since April 2021, over 22,800...
Nigel Huddleston: The National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) spend was to purchase additional conference and exhibition passes purchased for the UK delegation attending the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) 2022 exhibition in Tampa, USA. The exhibition space came with 16 complimentary passes, but a further 14 were required to meet the needs of the delegation attending. The spend...
Grahame Morris: ...as a proud member of the RMT parliamentary group, and I support the maritime sector and our seafarers, as well as those involved in the dispute in the rail sector with Network Rail and the train operating companies. I was present in the House when the actions of P&O became apparent on St Patrick’s day. Those actions represent the lowest point in industrial relations in this country for...
Lord Murray of Blidworth: ...by the prohibited places provisions. I will address Amendments 27, 28 and 30 together, given they all seek to extend the prohibited places provisions to the Crown dependencies and the wider British Overseas Territories. The Crown dependencies and British Overseas Territories are not a part of the United Kingdom, of course, but self-governing territories with democratic Assemblies able to...
Lord Murray of Blidworth: ...Clause 3, but need more information about that hypothetical situation. Who would counsel be advising and when? For example, is he advising a foreign intelligence service which has an agreement to operate in the UK? In those circumstances, the prosecutor’s options would of course be very different. On Amendment 16, the existing distinction between activities taking place inside the UK and...
Khalid Mahmood: Does the Minister accept that no production lines in UK pharmaceutical suppliers are operating, because we have contracted out all our supplies to China and India, which manufacture all the drugs? Both countries have not signed up to the pharmaceutical inspection and co-operation scheme, which ensures homogenisation of good manufacturing practices. The UK manufacturers have to apply that...
Suella Braverman: Today I am updating Parliament on Home Office delivery since the previous Written Ministerial Statement of 5th September 2022. In the face of an increasingly complex operational context, the Home Office continues to make a significant positive impact. We have faced substantial external pressures which have continued over the last three months, including the ongoing arrival of small boats and...
Thomas Tugendhat: We do not routinely comment on operational or intelligence matters, however the UK will always stand up to threats from foreign nations. As we set out in the Integrated Review in 2021, we are committed to addressing growing threats from Iran, as well as other states. The UK Government has long been clear about its concerns over the continued destabilising activity of the Islamic Revolutionary...
Thomas Tugendhat: We do not routinely comment on operational or intelligence matters, however the UK will always stand up to threats from foreign nations. As we set out in the Integrated Review in 2021, we are committed to addressing growing threats from Iran, as well as other states. The UK Government has long been clear about its concerns over the continued destabilising activity of the Islamic Revolutionary...