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SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Roger Sylvester
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Solicitor-General when the Crown Prosecution Service will make a decision on prosecutions in respect of the death of Mr. Roger Sylvester; and if he will make a statement. [101407]
The Solicitor-General: The investigation report of the Essex Police is being carefully considered by the Crown Prosecution Service in accordance with the tests set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. The CPS has met with the investigating officers from Essex Police and with the Police Complaints Authority to discuss the case. The CPS has requested the police to undertake additional inquiries and a further meeting with the police is arranged for later this month. The advice of Treasury Counsel will be sought. In the meantime, the CPS has kept in touch with the family's solicitors. A decision on whether or not any criminal charges should be brought will be taken as soon as possible after the evidence has been fully reviewed.
Lenient Sentences
Mr. Cox: To ask the Solicitor-General how many sentences have been referred to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient and which have resulted in an increase in the sentences. [101604]
The Solicitor-General: In 1998, the Law Officers referred the sentences imposed on 95 offenders to the Court of Appeal for their sentences to be reviewed under the provisions of section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. Of the References that have been heard, sentences have been increased in respect of 68 offenders. Ten References were withdraw. Three References are yet to be heard.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Echelon System
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to answer parliamentary questions on the Echelon system; and if he will make a statement. [100839]
Mr. Robin Cook:
As my hon. Friend is aware, it is long-standing practice not to respond to speculation on alleged intelligence operations.
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Mr. Colman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to implement his Department's pledge to support the DETR/DTI Joint Environmental Markets Unit on behalf of UK exporters. [101645]
Mr. Hain:
The Foreign Office is providing direct support to the work of the Joint Environmental Markets (JEMU) through the training on global environment issues now offered to all staff across the Foreign Office. Support is also available through the FCO environmental programmes to enable posts to work with local governments and NGOs in promoting good environmental practice.
Exporters from all sectors also benefit from the establishment of the joint FCO/DTI British Trade International. They include those promoting UK environmental products and services as part of their company portfolio. British Trade International maintains a close liaison with sector specific bodies such as JEMU. Ministerial support for the sector was most recently evident in the JEMU trade mission to the Czech Republic from 18-19 October, led by the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, West (Mr. Battle), and supported by British Trade International.
Mr. Alan Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what location fee was paid to (a) the British Embassy in Istanbul and (b) MI6 by the producers of the film, "The World is not Enough". [101648]
Mr. Robin Cook:
No filming of "The World is not Enough" took place on either the premises of the British Consulate-General in Istanbul or the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service. The question of a location fee did not therefore arise.
Mr. Wigley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the policy of Her Majesty's Government on the decommissioning of Soviet-designed nuclear reactors in the countries of eastern Europe as part of the negotiations relating to those countries' applications for membership of the European Union. [101890]
Mr. Hain:
We strongly support G7 and EU efforts to improve nuclear safety in Central and Eastern Europe. The EU accession process provides an important opportunity to achieve early closure of reactors which cannot be upgraded to international safety standards. At the (EU) Vienna European Council in December 1998 the EU agreed to use the accession process as a lever to encourage nuclear safety and, in particular, the early closure of the oldest Soviet design reactors which safety experts assess cannot be upgraded to international standards. We fully support the Commission's efforts to persuade the applicant countries concerned--Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovakia--to put in place credible closure plans for the relevant reactors.
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We welcome the recent announcements by the Bulgarian, Lithuanian, and Slovak authorities and the commitments they contain on closure timetables for the non-upgradable reactors at respectively, the Kozloduy, Ignalina and Bohunice nuclear power plants.
We strongly support invitations for these three countries (as well as Latvia, Malta, and Romania) to open accession negotiations. We expect the Helsinki European Council on 10-11 December to decide to extend invitations to all six. Once negotiations begin, progress on nuclear safety objectives will continue to be part of the accession process as it is now.
Mr. Blunt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many of the (a) Kosovo Albanians and (b) Serbs reported murdered between KFOR's deployment on 12 June and mid-October are believed to be murdered by (i) Kosovo Albanians, (ii) Kosovo Serbs and (iii) others. [101415]
Mr. Vaz
[holding answer 7 December 1999]: There are no statistics available giving the ethnic background of the persons responsible for the reported murders of Kosovo Albanians and Serbs since KFOR's deployment on 12 June.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action KFOR is taking in Kosovo to prevent ethnic cleansing of Serbs and the destruction of their monasteries. [99857]
Mr. Vaz
[holding answer 7 December 1999]: Protection of the Kosovo Serbs and other minorities is a top priority for KFOR and UNMIK. KFOR devotes around half of its resources at present to maintaining a presence in minority areas. In the UK-led sector, there are KFOR soldiers present in every Serb town or village, as well as soldiers deployed to protect individual homes and farms. KFOR conducts patrols and escorts individuals to school and to work.
Protection of patrimonial sites (monasteries, cathedrals and Orthodox churches) is also a priority. In the British sector alone almost 300 troops are on permanent guard of 35 churches and other patrimonial sites.
Gillian Merron:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the imposition of UN sanctions in relation to Afghanistan. [102230]
Mr. Hain:
On 15 October, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 1267 which demanded that the Taliban turn over Usama Bin Laden, indicted in the US for the 1998 bombings of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, to appropriate authorities in order for him to be brought to justice and decided that, unless that demand was met by 14 November, UN member states would impose a flight ban and freeze on funds in relation to the Taliban.
The demand has not been met. The measures came into force on 14 November. A UN Sanctions Committee will be established to designate the aircraft and funds or other financial resources to which the measures will apply. Humanitarian exemptions are provided for, in respect of
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both measures. The Sanctions Committee is tasked to decide on the granting of a further exemption in respect of the payment by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to the aeronautical authority of Afghanistan on behalf of international airlines for air traffic control services.
Orders in Council under the United Nations Act 1946 came into force on 26 November to implement the measures in the UK, Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories.
EU member states have agreed to implement the Security Council resolution collectively. On 15 November, the Council of the European Union adopted a Common Position (1999/727/CFSP) concerning restrictive measures against the Taliban.
Joan Ruddock:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will put measures in place to ensure that honey produced around the farm-scale trials for genetically modified crops will not contain genetically modified pollen. [99535]
Mr. Mullin:
The crops in the farm-scale evaluations are being grown in the open and will be visited by bees from nearby hives. Traces of GM pollen may therefore occur in honey from such hives, although in any event honey only contains very small amounts of pollen. The Government, as advised by ACRE and the ACNFP, do not consider the presence in honey of pollen from GM crops to pose a risk to health. Therefore no special measures are being put in place to prevent bees from visiting crops.
Mr. Alan Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the compensatory payments to which GM consent holders and national list maintainers may be entitled upon revocation of their consents and licences after the farm-scale evaluations. [100001]
Mr. Mullin:
No estimate has been made of whether compensatory payments would be payable to GM consent holders on revocation of a consent. There are no genetically modified plant varieties on the UK National List at present, therefore the question is not relevant to national list maintainers.
Mr. Alan Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will publish the advice he has received from the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment in response to applications for marketing consent under EU Directive 90/220 for (a) Plant Genetics Systems oil seed rape C/BE/96/01, (b) LF Trifolium A/S, Monsanto Europe, SA Danisco Seed fodder beet C/DK/97/01 and (c) Hoechst Schering, AgrEvo GmbH oilseed rape C/DE/96/5; and when the final decision will be made by the EU. [100000]
Mr. Mullin:
The advice of the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) for these applications, and on all applications to release GMOs, is
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contained in the statutory public register held in the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.
A decision on whether or not to approve these products is scheduled to be taken at the next meeting of the Regulatory Committee for Directive 90/220/EEC to be held on 9 March 2000.
Mr. Alan Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the effect the horizontal spread of antibiotic resistant marker genes from GM crops will have on the treatment of life-threatening infectious diseases. [100165]
Mr. Mullin:
Although there is little evidence that antibiotic resistant marker genes can escape from crop plants under field conditions; the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE), and the Advisory Committee for Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP), always consider the likely consequences of the horizontal spread of antibiotic resistant marker genes from genetically modified (GM) crops, were it to be possible. If horizontal gene transfer from a particular GM plant is judged to be harmful to human health or the environment, then the release would not be allowed.
The Committees consider that the use of antibiotic resistance markers should be discouraged and that their use will become unnecessary as genetic modification techniques are developed further. Their use should therefore be phased out.
Mr. Alan Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the specific restrictions placed on the cultivation of GM crops. [99916]
Mr. Mullin:
No GM crops may be released in England without specific approval from the Secretary of State for the Environment, acting jointly with the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, or from the devolved Administrations for releases in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Each consent lists the specific limitations and conditions applying to the release. This information is available on the statutory public register held in the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.
Mr. Alan Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will explain the difference between GM farm-scale evaluations and other GM field-scale plantings. [99904]
Mr. Mullin:
The farm-scale evaluations of GM crops are part of a programme designed primarily to assess the effect of the management of particular GM herbicide tolerant crops, together with the relevant herbicide, on the abundance and diversity of farmland wildlife compared with conventionally managed equivalent non-GM crops.
The evaluations are funded by Government, with the industry group SCIMAC providing and managing the crops. Proposals by SCIMAC for any other large areas or field-scale plantings of these GM crops, would be outside the farm-scale evaluation programme and will be decided by the Scientific Steering Committee, taking into account the relevance of the proposals to biodiversity. This
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arrangement is part of the agreement between the Government and SCIMAC, announced in November 1999.
Jackie Ballard:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the locations in the UK where Class C Consent for GM crop planting has been given. [100226]
Mr. Mullin:
A Part C consent for cultivation of a GM crop, issued under EU Directive 90/220, permits growing anywhere within the geographical region specified in the consent. The regulatory authorities do not have to be notified of the locations where the crop is grown.
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