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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Employment Advertisements
Ms Perham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how often since 1992 his Department has been responsible for employment advertisements which contained age restrictions on those who could apply. [9499]
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Mr. Tony Lloyd:
Since 1992, this Department has been responsible for five employment advertisements which contained age restrictions and six others which gave preferred age ranges.
Mr. Shepherd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent actions have been taken to identify the Soviet spy at Bletchley Park codenamed Baron; and if he will make a statement.[9766]
Mr. Robin Cook:
It is long-standing practice not to disclose the detail of such operations by the security and intelligence agencies.
Mr. Shepherd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason the Venona intercept of 3 April 1941, recently released to the Public Record Office, has been redacted to eliminate annotations referring to the Soviet source codenamed Baron. [9765]
Mr. Cook:
There was no such redaction. When the decrypt in question was issued, the identity of Baron was unknown. Practice in such cases at the time was either to confirm in footnotes that an identity was unknown or simply to leave a cover name with no explanation; the latter course was taken in the case of the 3 April 1941 message.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is he will issue guidance to British holidaymakers going to the Cotentin peninsula in Normandy, following the announcement by the French Environment Minister on 10 July banning fishing and swimming near the La Hague nuclear reprocessing plant. [9932]
Mr. Fatchett:
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing this matter to my attention.
We have amended our travel advice notice to include a warning on the restrictions imposed by the French authorities.
Mr. Sheerman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to encourage the German Government to ensure that construction sites employing British labourers conform to the necessary safety standards. [9781]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
Building sites in Germany are covered by the requirements of EU health and safety directives. Detailed arrangements for enforcement of the directives are a matter for member states themselves. But both the UK and the Commission try to promote effective enforcement. In 1995, the Commission formalised a senior labour inspectors committee to look at these issues, and the UK has had some success in using this committee to promote the development of common principles of inspection.
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Mr. Streeter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what role the European Commission played in establishing an agreement on international financial stability at Denver; what discussions were held on economic and monetary union; and if he will make a statement. [9646]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
President Santer and Commissioner de Silguy took part in discussions of a range of economic subjects with Heads of State and Government and Finance Ministers at the Denver summit. I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 24 June, Official Report, columns 671-89.
Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the role of the UN Trusteeship Council. [8369]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
We believe that the UN Trusteeship Council has served a useful purpose, and has completed the task entrusted to it under the UN charter. We are considering the UN Secretary-General's proposals to reconstitute it as an environmental forum.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will convene a meeting of the Chief Ministers or representatives of elected members on the legislative councils of the dependencies during the forthcoming year. [8384]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
The Chief Ministers of the dependent territories met in London in 1995 and they will be coming to a conference here next year.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response the United Kingdom Government have made to the note verbale of the Secretary-General of the United Nations of 23 January 1996, pursuant to UNGA 49/75M of 15 December 1994, which sought the views of member states on effective ways and means of collecting weapons transferred illicitly. [8997]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
The then Government submitted their reply on 30 April 1996 to the Secretary-General's note verbale of 23 January 1996 which referred to UNGA 50/70J. This resolution, dated 12 December 1995, superseded resolution 49/75M of 15 December 1994.
We are fully committed to helping to tackle problems caused by illicit arms transfers. To this end, we strongly support the EU programme for the prevention and combating of illicit trafficking in conventional arms which was agreed on 26 June 1997 and intend to take it forward during our presidency of the EU in the first half of 1998.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he intends to report to
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the house the findings of his Department's internal investigation announced on 12 February into the use of British-supplied water cannon in Indonesia. [9115]
Mr. Fatchett:
One of our first acts on taking office was to call for an early report on the alleged use of UK-supplied water cannon in summer 1996. We are now studying the information available. No firm conclusions have yet been drawn.
Ann Clwyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library the legal opinion his Department obtained on the sale of Hawk aircraft to Indonesia and the possible cost of revoking licences previously given. [10259]
Mr. Fatchett:
No. It has not been the usual practice of successive Governments to make available to the House legal advice received in any area.
Ann Clwyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evidence he has evaluated on the use of Hawk aircraft in East Timor since 1994; and if he will make a statement. [10261]
Mr. Fatchett:
We are currently studying all the information available to us. No firm conclusions have yet been drawn.
Ann Clwyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received in respect of external legal opinions on the cost of revoking licences previously given for the export of Hawk aircraft to Indonesia; and if he will make a statement. [10263]
Mr. Fatchett:
We have received representations from hon. Members and non-governmental organisations about revocation which have included legal opinions. Any decision to revoke an export licence issued before 1 May would be announced to the House.
Ann Clwyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the compliance of the sale of Hawk aircraft to Indonesia with the Government's policy of taking account of human rights in respect of the export of arms and equipment. [10269]
Mr. Fatchett:
We have serious concerns about the human rights situation in both Indonesia and East Timor. We are currently studying all the information available to us in relation to allegations about the use of Hawk in East Timor. No firm conclusions have yet been drawn.
Mr. Mullin:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe mission to Bosnia regarding the registration of housebound and disabled citizens for the forthcoming municipal elections; and if he will make a statement. [9602]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
We discussed this issue with the OSCE mission in Sarajevo on 23 June, and subsequently wrote to it to ask that further thought be given to enabling housebound and disabled citizens to register during the appeals period, and to vote at home under international supervision.
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Mr. Casale:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to review the GCHQ nationality rules requiring parents, step-parents or guardians of applicants for employment to have been Commonwealth citizens or Irish citizens resident in the United Kingdom. [9824]
Mr. Robin Cook:
GCHQ is in the process of revising its nationality rules, including the rule dealing with the nationality of a prospective employee's parents, and will be submitting its proposals to Ministers shortly.
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