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2 Mar 2007 : Column 1606Wcontinued
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to tackle Islamic extremism. [124501]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 1 March 2007]: The Government remain strongly committed to working with Muslim communities to tackle violent extremism. A security response alone however will not be sufficient to win hearts and minds. We have made it clear that it is not good enough to merely sit on the sidelines or pay lip service to fighting extremism. We are working with those organisations that are taking a proactive leadership role in tackling extremism and defending our shared values, such as the British Muslim Forum and Sufi Muslim Council and others.
On Monday 26 February 2007, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government set out in more detail our approach towards preventing extremism in her speech to the British Muslim Forum. The text of this speech can be found at
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=l508163
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions the Government have had with (a) China and (b) Russia on the political and human rights situation in Burma. [124102]
Mr. McCartney: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Cotswold (Mr. Clifton-Brown) on 24 January 2007, Official Report, column 1840W.
In addition, officials raised Burma at the UK/Russia Human Rights Consultation in London on 22-23 January.
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Government will bring pressure to bear on the military regime in Burma to (a) engage in dialogue with democratic and ethnic groups in the country and (b) move towards a transition to federal democracy. [124103]
Mr. McCartney: We have repeatedly called for the restoration of democracy in Burma. I reiterated this call in my meeting with the Burmese ambassador on 15 June 2006 and my letter to the Burmese Foreign Minister of 5 July 2006. In my statements of 2 June 2006, 2 October 2006, 19 October 2006 and 15 February 2007 I called for the release of political prisoners in order to allow a genuine and inclusive national reconciliation process to begin. We have worked in the United Nations Security Council, with our EU partners and in our contacts with key partners in the region to keep up the pressure for peaceful transition to democracy. We have consistently maintained that it is for the people of Burma to decide on their most appropriate form of democratic government.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many complaints from the public were received by (a) the (i) corporate affairs, (ii) consular services, (iii) protocol, (iv) defence and intelligence, (v) globalisation and (vi) political sections of her Department, (b) UK Trade and Investment, (c) UK Visas, (d) each embassy overseas and (e) each consulate overseas in (A) 1997-98, (B) 2001-02 and (C) 2005-06; and how many have been received by each in 2006-07. [124460]
Mr. Hoon: This information is not held centrally and would be disproportionately costly to compile.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in which 50 countries the most work permit visas were issued from an overseas mission in 2005-06. [122400]
Dr. Howells: I refer the hon. Member to the following table:
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