Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

FCODFID Merger

Tuesday 13 October 2020 · 4 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The UK is committed to promoting human rights, democracy, and the rule of law internationally.
  • The Minister agrees to meet Tony Lloyd to discuss concerns about Colombia.
  • Stephen Doughty raises concerns that UK actions may undermine the country's position on human rights and the rule of law.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Tony Lloyd Lab
Democracy & Elections Foreign Affairs
Context

The question addresses concerns following the merger of departments and seeks to understand the government's commitment to promoting human rights, democracy, and the rule of law globally.

Question

What is the Government's policy on promoting human rights, democracy building, and the rule of law internationally, given that this inquiry follows a departmental merger?

Answer from Nigel Adams

The UK is committed to promoting human rights, democracy and the rule of law acting as a force for good in the world. The UK aims to maintain its record at today's Human Rights Council election and recently defended human rights in China at the UN.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The response did not address the specific implications of the departmental merger on policy implementation.

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Q2 Tony Lloyd Lab
Foreign Affairs
Context

Since the signing of a peace deal in 2016, hundreds of human rights defenders, civic leaders, trade unionists, and former FARC members have been murdered in Colombia. The fragile democratic process has also seen challenges.

Question

Given the situation in Colombia with ongoing violence against human rights defenders since the peace deal and challenges to democracy, will the Minister make Colombia a priority for this Government? Will he or one of his colleagues meet a delegation of MPs concerned about Colombia?

Answer from Nigel Adams

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. He is absolutely right to raise this matter. Democracy, human rights and the rule of law are the foundations on which societies thrive. I am happy to commit to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss Colombia.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer did not provide specific actions or timelines for addressing the issues in Colombia beyond committing to a meeting.

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Q3 Sarah Champion Lab Rotherham
Safeguarding & DBS Foreign Affairs
Context

The International Development Committee is investigating sexual abuse and exploitation by aid workers towards beneficiaries. The FCDO's terms and conditions discourage sexual relations with beneficiaries but do not classify it as gross misconduct.

Question

Given that the FCDO's terms and conditions for staff say 'Sexual relations with beneficiaries are strongly discouraged', why is this not classified as gross misconduct considering the power imbalance? What will be done to remedy this immediately?

Answer from Nigel Adams

I thank the hon. Lady for raising an important issue. I do not have those terms and conditions in front of me, but I am more than happy to meet her to discuss this serious point.

Not addressed: The Minister did not address whether sexual relations with beneficiaries are classified as gross misconduct or provide immediate remedial measures.

How: Meeting Requested

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Q4 Stephen Doughty Labour (Co-op) Cardiff South and Penarth
Northern Ireland Foreign Affairs Standards & Ethics
Context

The UK has a historic low number of representatives in main committees of UN human rights treaty bodies and failed to get elected to the International Court of Justice. Amal Clooney resigned as a UK envoy citing the UK's failure to respect international obligations.

Question

Does the Minister accept that we undermine our position when fellow Ministers fail to uphold rule of law and commitment to human rights, given recent actions undermining these principles?

Answer from Nigel Adams

No, I do not accept that whatsoever. We have set out reasons for introducing measures related to the Northern Ireland protocol. The UK Internal Market Bill is a defensive measure to safeguard the integrity of the United Kingdom's internal market and obligations.

Not addressed: The Minister did not address whether UK actions undermine its position on human rights but instead defended domestic measures.

How: Defending Protocol Measures

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)