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1-20 of 27 results for subject:"UN Special Committee on Decolonisation"

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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 8 July 2025 to Questions 64030 on Gibraltar: Sovereignty and 64027 on UN Special Committee on Decolonisation, if he will make it his policy to (a) reform and (b) abolish the UN Special...

Asked by
Priti Patel (Conservative)
Answering body
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Date
3 September 2025
Reference
69768
House
House of Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the UN on the (a) remit and (b) activities of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization.

Asked by
Priti Patel (Conservative)
Answering body
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Date
8 July 2025
Reference
64028
House
House of Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization’s 2025 session Resolution adopted in June 2025 (GA/COL/3394) on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

Asked by
Priti Patel (Conservative)
Answering body
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Date
8 July 2025
Reference
64029
House
House of Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the membership of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization on the decisions that it makes in respect of UK overseas territories.

Asked by
Priti Patel (Conservative)
Answering body
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Date
8 July 2025
Reference
64027
House
House of Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization’s 2025 session statement published in June 2025 (GA/COL/3393) on the sovereignty of Gibraltar.

Asked by
Priti Patel (Conservative)
Answering body
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Date
8 July 2025
Reference
64030
House
House of Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received on a referral of the Chinese Government to the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation in relation to human rights abuses in Tibet.

Asked by
Tim Loughton (Conservative)
Answering body
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Date
3 September 2019
Reference
280898
House
House of Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has invited the UN decolonisation committee to visit the Falkland Islands.

Asked by
Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party)
Answering body
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Date
21 November 2017
Reference
112783
House
House of Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his (a) French, (b) US and (c) New Zealand counterparts on winding up the United Nations Committee on Decolonisation.

Asked by
Andrew Rosindell (Conservative)
Answering body
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Date
4 September 2013
Reference
167480; 567 cc392-3W
House
House of Commons
I mentioned the difficulty of getting co-operation, which we certainly have on offer, over the two items that the noble Lord mentions. But on other things we are engaged. We are dealing with Argentina as an important country, which, incidentally, is a very beautiful country and is, potentially, a country of great wealth and prosperity. We are dealing with it on science, mining, education and energy. This is a very positive agenda, which we welcome. But on these difficult issues involving the Falkland Islands, we have seen the non-co-operation which we deplore and we would like to see it replaced by active co-operation.
Answered by
Lord Howell of Guildford (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 October 2010
Reference
721 c332
House
House of Lords
The noble Lord obviously has considerable experience on this issue. If he is talking about the decolonisation committee, I am not sure that we are even entitled to be on it. The two members of the Falkland Islands Government have a place on that committee and have made their views clear. I am not sure that those views prevail or are the majority view, but they have made them very clear indeed; namely, that Falkland Islanders do not wish to end their present status. They wish to remain as they are. That is the right approach. If the noble Lord is talking about another committee, perhaps I should have a word with him afterwards about that.
Answered by
Lord Howell of Guildford (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 October 2010
Reference
721 c332
House
House of Lords
It is always a pity when there is not full agreement, particularly among our fellow Commonwealth members with whom we operate closely on many issues. But they have their point of view, to which they are perfectly entitled. The debate goes on, but it is not a binding debate as no binding resolutions are involved. I expect that the debate will continue, particularly among not so much Commonwealth countries but other Latin American countries.
Answered by
Lord Howell of Guildford (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 October 2010
Reference
721 c332
House
House of Lords
I can confirm that the US position has not changed, regardless of the allusions to which the noble Lord has referred. The US recognises the UK’s administration of the Falkland Islands. We are in regular touch with the US on this issue, as on many other issues. We expect that dialogue to continue.
Answered by
Lord Howell of Guildford (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 October 2010
Reference
721 c331
House
House of Lords
My Lords, at the time of the Falklands invasion in 1982, the then US Administration were extremely supportive to us in terms of reconnaissance and so on. However, the current US Administration have latterly made some rather unhelpful remarks in respect of the Falklands. Have we made appropriate representations?
Asked by
Lord Anderson of Swansea (Labour)
Oral questions - Supplementary
Status
Answered
Date
11 October 2010
Reference
721 c331
House
House of Lords
Does the Minister agree that the UN decolonisation committee is normally concerned with the liberation of subjugated peoples rather than the transfer of ownership of islands that are largely uninhabited and are liable to uninhabitable for a long time to come? Surely the role of the British Government at this time, nearly 30 years after the cessation of hostilities, should be to try to achieve a decree of reconciliation between the megaphone diplomacy of the Kirchner Government and the obduracy of many of the islands’ elected councillors, who do not seem to realise that they live in a world in which their nearest neighbour could be a friend rather than a source of hostility?
Asked by
Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan (Labour)
Oral questions - Supplementary
Status
Answered
Date
11 October 2010
Reference
721 c331
House
House of Lords
My Lords, we regard Argentina as an important partner. We have a close and productive relationship on a range of bilateral and multilateral issues, but we will not discuss the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands with Argentina unless the Falkland Islanders so wish. The UK is not a member of the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation, but we regularly make clear within the UN our support for the right to self-determination of the Falkland Islanders.
Answered by
Lord Howell of Guildford (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 October 2010
Reference
721 c330
House
House of Lords
My Lords, I declare an interest as someone who appeared before the decolonisation committee many times in the 1970s, defending the World Bank’s position that it could not lend money to the PLO because it was not a sovereign state. Does the Minister agree that the empty-chair policy is not very enlightened? As we have heard, many Commonwealth countries are members of that committee. Would it not be appropriate for at least the United Kingdom to be present?
Asked by
Lord Grenfell (Labour)
Oral questions - Supplementary
Status
Answered
Date
11 October 2010
Reference
721 c332
House
House of Lords
My Lords, the Minister makes the point that Argentina is an important partner. When last did the Government seek to re-engage with Argentina, particularly on the outstanding fishery and oil issues, which clearly are of importance? When, equally, has the Foreign Office sought to ensure that our position as a country is understood throughout the rest of Latin America with our Latin American allies?
Asked by
Lord Brett (Labour)
Oral questions - Supplementary
Status
Answered
Date
11 October 2010
Reference
721 c332
House
House of Lords
My Lords, will my noble friend explain his views on why 12 Commonwealth countries supported the Argentines in the UN committee? Is that not a source of some regret to us?
Asked by
Baroness Falkner of Margravine (Liberal Democrat)
Oral questions - Supplementary
Status
Answered
Date
11 October 2010
Reference
721 c332
House
House of Lords
The noble Viscount is quite right that in 1995 Argentina withdrew from the hydrocarbons co-operation declaration and subsequently withdrew from the fisheries co-operation arrangements. We can say only that it is a pity. The benefits to Argentina would be there, were it ready to co-operate, but it has shown a determination not to do so. That is Argentina’s loss.
Answered by
Lord Howell of Guildford (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 October 2010
Reference
721 c331
House
House of Lords
Except on the question of the Falkland Islands and its right to self determination, which I am sure that the noble Lord would not be against, we wish with Argentina—an important country and a member of the G20—to establish better relationships. But it is very hard if all the time the counterpropositions and withdrawal of co-operation we have described occur. The noble Lord is touching on a relevant point as regards the decolonisation committee, which is rather outdated and full of language about colonies, British imperialism and so on. We have moved far away from that because the Falklands Islands is a self-governing overseas territory under the British Crown and that is what it remains.
Answered by
Lord Howell of Guildford (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
11 October 2010
Reference
721 c331
House
House of Lords