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TREASURY
Transport Companies (Millennium Insurance)
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on the ability of transport companies to obtain insurance cover to operate services on 1 January 2000; and if he will make a statement. [65217]
Paymaster General
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the changes made to the responsibilities of the Paymaster General since publication of the list of Ministerial Responsibilities in October 1998. [64490]
Mr. Gordon Brown: The Paymaster General, my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, South (Dawn Primarolo) has a portfolio with responsibilities which include the Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise, tax and the Finance Bill.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
United Kingdom Overseas Territories
Mr. Colvin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to publish his White Paper on the United Kingdom overseas territories; and if he will make a statement. [66625]
Mr. John M. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he intends to publish the White Paper on British Overseas Territories. [66697]
Mr. Tony Lloyd: We expect that the White Paper will be published soon.
Yemen
Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) when a representative of the British Embassy in Yemen first met with a member of the Yemeni Government to discuss the five detained British citizens; [66686]
- (2) what representations were made to the Yemeni Government between the kidnapping of the hostages on 28 December and their death on 29 December; and what response was received from the Yemeni Government. [66688]
Mr. Fatchett: I refer my hon. Friend to the statement given to the House by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on 11 January 1999, Official Report, columns 21-34.
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when (a) he and (b) a Foreign and Commonwealth Office minister first spoke to a member of the Yemeni Government to discuss the situation in Yemen. [66687]
21 Jan 1999 : Column: 536
Mr. Fatchett:
(a) My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary first discussed events in Yemen by phone with the Yemeni Prime Minister, Dr. Iriyani, on 9 January. (b) The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Gateshead, East and Washington, West (Ms Quin), called on the Yemeni Ambassador on 1 January.
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of Yemen's application to join the Commonwealth. [66689]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
At their meeting in Edinburgh in October 1997, Commonwealth Heads of Government decided to keep Yemen's application to join the Commonwealth under review.
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans his Department's ministers have to visit Yemen. [66690]
Mr. Fatchett:
We have no current plans to visit Yemen.
Dr. Marek:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to send a fisheries protection vessel to Gibraltar to reinforce the protection of British waters from unlawful incursions by Spanish fishing boats. [66246]
Ms Quin
[holding answer 19 January 1999]: This situation remains under review. The deployment of a fisheries protection vessel, to aid in calming the situation in British waters around Gibraltar, remains one of a number of options we are considering.
Mrs. Browning:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) when the British Embassy in Moscow learnt of the Interfax report of 6 December 1998 that a rescue attempt was to be made to release the hostages in Chechnya, employed by Granger Telecom; [66958]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
On 7 December 1998, HM Embassy Moscow saw the Interfax news agency dispatch reporting Chechen assertions that the men were being held outside Chechnya and that Russian law-enforcement agencies might try to rescue the hostages.
Mrs. Browning:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the advice he has placed in the Library in respect of people travelling to Chechnya was issued to individual visa applicants employed by Granger Telecom or was issued to the company that employed them. [66960]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
The FCO travel advice for Russia, now in the Library, was shown to Granger Telecom management at a meeting with FCO officials on 21 August 1998. Granger Telecom have confirmed to FCO officials that, as a result of that meeting and the
21 Jan 1999 : Column: 537
advice given, Granger management re-consulted their staff about their willingness to work in Chechnya. The FCO was not made aware of individual visa applications to the Russian Embassy.
Mrs. Browning:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the advice given to travellers visiting Chechnya is the same as that given to people intending to work there. [66961]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
Since 7 December 1994, we have advised British nationals not to travel to Chechnya. The travel advice is the same for visiting travellers and for British people intending to work there.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what requests he has received from the Government of Iran for compensation for a stray missile which landed in or near the Iranian city of Khorramshahr. [65400]
Mr. Fatchett:
We have received a request for compensation from the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran in respect of a stray missile that landed in or near the town of Khorramshahr.
No missiles were fired by UK forces in the course of Operation Desert Fox. Questions relating to the circumstances of individual missile attacks and any subsequent claims for compensation are therefore a question for the US authorities.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many reports were submitted by European Communities working groups during the United Kingdom presidency; and if he will list them. [66374]
Ms Quin:
During the UK Presidency approximately 6,700 documents with official document numbers were submitted by working groups. As agreed during our Presidency, from 1 January 1999, details of all documents will be listed on the Council's website, at http://ue.eu.int.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many working groups have been established at European Community level; what is the average number of meetings held each year; if he will list the 20 groups which met most frequently over 1998; and if he will indicate the level of United Kingdom participation at each of them. [66364]
Ms Quin:
In 1998, 262 working groups met in Brussels, and a total of 2,138 meetings were held. The level of UK participation at each working group varied according to the subject discussed. According to the Council Secretariat, the twenty working groups which met most frequently were:
21 Jan 1999 : Column: 538
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the age of the target audience for the European Commission booklet, "The Raspberry Ice Cream War"; what was the aim of the booklet; how many copies have been distributed in the EU; and if he will make a statement. [66393]
Ms Quin:
The European Commission booklet "The Raspberry Ice-Cream War" was written for young people. The aim of the booklet was to explain the advantages of European co-operation in the form of an adventure story. Information on how many copies have been distributed in the EU is not available.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the implications for the United Kingdom of the resolution at the Franco-German meeting at Potsdam to establish a binational working group on national sovereignty. [66344]
Ms Quin:
We are not aware of any such resolution at the Franco-German Summit in Potsdam. The joint declaration issued at the end made no reference to it.
(2) when his Department in London learned of the BBC World Service report from the Caversham Monitoring Service that Interfax had reported that a rescue attempt was to be made to release the hostages in Chechnya employed by Granger Telecom. [66959]
Enlargement, Orient and Central Asia, Central Europe, Mashrak/Maghreb, Development, Oceania, Latin America, Balkans, CFSP Counsellors, Friends of the Presidency, Budgetary, Structural Actions, Financial Questions, Jurist Linguists, Environment, Social Questions, Telecoms, Research, Agriculture, Vetinary.
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