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Departmental Assets

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs further to his answer of 5 November 2001, Official Report, column 1W, on departmental assets, if he will make a statement on what (a) quantities, (b) countries of origin and (c) maximum bottle price of fine wines are available for use at home; and what was the cost by Department for the last year. [19799]

Mr. MacShane: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 14 November 2001, Official Report, columns 746–47W.

Wines from many different countries of origin are represented in the Government Cellar including, England, Wales, Portugal, United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, Spain, Italy and France.

It is not possible to give a detailed break-down of wine costs by Department; such a breakdown would incur disproportionate cost.

Nuclear Reprocessing

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the basis of the criticisms of the competence of the authors of the report prepared for the European Parliament's Scientific and

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Technological Option Assessment Programme on possible toxic effects from nuclear reprocessing plants at Sellafield, that the Attorney General put before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on 19–20 November. [19880]

Mr. Straw: The Government, in their submissions before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in the MOX plant case, drew attention to criticisms that had been made of the Wise report regarding its possible lack of objectivity. As these statements were made in the context of legal proceedings, I would not wish to paraphrase them. I refer my hon. Friend to the full verbatim transcripts of the statements made by the Government to the Tribunal during the hearings on 19 and 20 November. These are available on the website of the Tribunal at http://www.itlos.org.

The relevant sections from the transcripts are as follows:










Alternatively, these transcripts may be accessed by starting from the home page of the Tribunal's website (http://www.itlos.org) and making the following selections:


The above page and line references are to the uncorrected versions of the transcripts which are currently displayed on the Tribunal's website. When the Tribunal replaces these with the corrected versions, there might be some slight changes in the line numberings of the relevant text. If these are material I will write to my hon. Friend to inform him.

Overseas Territories Consultative Council

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which Government Ministers attended the Overseas Territories Consultative Council meeting in September; on what basis and for how long on each occasion each Minister attended; what subjects were discussed; and if he will make a statement. [20243]

Mr. Bradshaw: The third meeting of the Overseas Territories Consultative Council took place on 24 to 26 September 2001. Baroness Amos chaired the Council. Ministers from DFID, the Home Office, HM Treasury,

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DTLR, DFES and DEFRA also participated. In all, seven UK Ministers represented HMG at sessions on subjects for which their Department had lead responsibility. The duration of each session was approximately 90 minutes. The topics discussed included; constitutional and governance issues, immigration and nationality, financial issues, aviation safety and security, education, strategic development planning, realisation of human rights and environmental issues.

Catherine Meyer

Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to assist Catherine Meyer to be reunited with her sons. [20255]

Mr. Bradshaw: Catherine Meyer is currently pursuing legal proceedings before the German Constitutional Court to be reunited with her sons. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has provided consular support and assistance to Catherine Meyer with her case in the past and, as with any such case, we continue to provide consular assistance whenever we properly can.

Andorra

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with Andorran (a) parliamentarians and (b) officials in the last three years. [20878]

Peter Hain: The British Ambassador to Spain, in his capacity as non-resident Ambassador to Andorra, has visited Andorra three times within the last three years. The most recent trip was on 15 October 2001, when he met separately with the Andorran Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. In addition, the Ambassador has also had separate meetings with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in both Madrid and Paris during this period.

HM Consul-General in Barcelona, in his capacity as Consul-General to Andorra, has made three trips to Andorra in the last two years, the most recent in June 2001.

The previous (non-resident) Andorran Ambassador to the Court of St. James made occasional visits to the United Kingdom for discussions with Foreign Office officials. The last visit was on 9 April 2001. The new Andorran Ambassador has yet to present his credentials and has not therefore visited officially.

At all meetings, discussions focused on issues relating to the bilateral relationship.

Azerbaijan

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Azerbaijan on journalists' freedom. [20884]

Peter Hain: We continue to raise the issue of media freedom in Azerbaijan through a number of channels; most recently on 4 December in London with senior Azeri Foreign Ministry officials. The Ambassador in Baku has also raised specific issues of concern with Azeri Ministers and Presidential advisers; the UK has participated in joint EU representations in Baku.

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Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Azerbaijan on their compliance with the founding principles of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. [20883]

Peter Hain: We raise compliance with Council of Europe founding principles regularly with the Azeris, including with the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Azeri Parliament (the deputy leader of the PACE delegation). These matters have also been raised with President Aliev's legal adviser bilaterally and through the Council of Europe monitoring group. The Government have pledged £50,000 to help Azerbaijan with compliance issues.

Gibraltar

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the responsibilities of the Governor of Gibraltar concerning the policing of Gibraltar. [21366]

Peter Hain: Under the 1969 Gibraltar Constitution the Governor is responsible for the internal security of Gibraltar, including the Royal Gibraltar Police.

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many inquiries his Department has received concerning the future of Gibraltar since 7 June. [21370]

Peter Hain: Since 7 June, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received some 224 items of correspondence concerning the future of Gibraltar. These include letters from Members of Parliament, and e-mails, faxes and letters from members of the public. In addition the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received the outcome of a write-in campaign on Gibraltar organised by a national newspaper—an estimated 11,000 coupons.

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Governor of Gibraltar about delays in crossing the border with Spain. [21367]

Peter Hain: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not recently discussed with the Governor of Gibraltar the issue of delays in crossing the border with Spain. However, my most recent discussion of this issue with the Governor took place on 29 November.

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had about the dual use of Gibraltar's airport. [21369]

Mr. Bradshaw: Discussions under the Brussels Process are aimed at overcoming all the differences between the UK and Spain over Gibraltar and at promoting co-operation on a mutually beneficial basis, including on aviation matters.

My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs discussed issues of co-operation when they met under the Brussels Process in Barcelona on 20 November.

Copies of the joint press communique have been placed in the Libraries of the House. The Government remain keen to see progress on the development of Gibraltar

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airport and believe that this would bring economic and commercial benefit to the people of Gibraltar and the neighbouring region in Spain.

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Governor of Gibraltar on Spain's access to the airport in Gibraltar. [21368]

Peter Hain: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not discussed with the Governor of Gibraltar the issue of Spain's access to the airport in Gibraltar.

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