Tag: Stewart Malcolm McDonald

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps at the Anti-Corruption Summit being held in London in May 2016 to press for an international agreement on stricter rules concerning tax havens and beneficial owners.

Mr Hugo Swire

The Summit will address a range of measures to tackle corruption, including promoting transparency around beneficial ownership. Further information about the London Anti-Corruption Summit can be found on the summit web pages of the GOV.UK website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-05-26.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to improve tax transparency.

Mr David Gauke

I refer the Hon Member to the my earlier response to question 14 during Oral Questions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions has he had with Volkswagen on the timeframe that has been agreed to complete software and technical fixes for all its UK consumers.

Andrew Jones

The Secretary of State has met with the Chief Executive of Volkswagen UK to press him to ensure that the technical fixes are completed as quickly as possible for UK consumers.

The UK’s Vehicle Certification Agency issued the type approval for some Volkswagen Group vehicles. For these the agency is working with the manufacturer to review and approve the proposed fixes. They are carrying out tests to ensure that after the fix is applied the vehicles do not have an illegal defeat device, that they meet all the legal requirements including emissions, and that other vehicles characteristics are unchanged, including fuel consumption and engine noise.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assurances he has received from Vauxhall that all owners of Zafira B models were informed about the changes to the vehicle safety recall relating to those cars.

Andrew Jones

To address the latest reported fires, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency told Vauxhall that a secondary safety recall (R/2016/104) was needed on Vauxhall Zafira B models equipped with manual control heating and ventilation systems. Under the requirements of the Code of Practice on vehicle safety defects and the General Product Safety Regulations, manufacturers are required to inform owners/keepers of vehicles that are affected by a vehicle safety recall of the risk and what action they are conducting to address the issue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel from Royal Navy 43 Commando Fleet Protection Group were involved in training Bahraini defence force personnel in January 2016; and what such training consisted of.

Penny Mordaunt

The UK enjoys close links with Bahrain, spanning 200 years, that reinforce our commitment to the Gulf region. While on a visit to the region with HMS ST ALBANS, in suppport of this relationship, two personnel from 43 Commando Royal Marines undertook weapon training with the Bahraini Defence Forces.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the independent testing of Vauxhall Zafiras meets the aims set out for that independent testing.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working closely with Vauxhall to ensure it discharges its responsibility to conduct investigations into the cause of any vehicle safety defects, as set out in the Code of Practice on Vehicle Safety Defects.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what (a) immediate and (b) long-term support the Government is giving to the government of Pakistan in response to the most recent attacks in that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

I utterly condemn the attack which took place on Easter Sunday in Lahore, Pakistan.

The UK continues to stand with Pakistan in tackling terrorism, and the extremism that sustains it. In the immediate and long term, we are working with Pakistan to increase its ability to detect and disrupt improvised explosive devices, and to support capacity building and reform of the civilian criminal justice system so that those responsible for attacks are held to account in line with international standards on human rights. We also support Pakistan to confront extremist narratives and address the root causes of extremism and terrorism.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has asked Vauxhall to reclassify the root cause of the risk of fire in Zafira B models that have been subject to vehicle safety recalls to include premature corrosion of the blower motor.

Andrew Jones

Vauxhall has not been requested to reclassify the cause of the fires on the Vauxhall Zafira B models that have been subject to vehicle safety recalls, to include premature corrosion of the blower motor. The investigations into the cause of these fires has determined that the fires are occurring as a result of a manipulated heater motor resistor, or under very specific circumstances, the degradation of the heater motor resistor, which can affect the effectiveness of the unit.

Vauxhall has, however, included the replacement of the heater blower motor as part of its action to remove the risk to those using Zafiras.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will seek assurances from Volkswagen that software and technical fixes made in response to problems with emissions testing will not change engine output, fuel consumption and performance data.

Andrew Jones

The UK’s Vehicle Certification Agency issued the type approval for some Volkswagen Group vehicles. For these the agency is working with the manufacturer to review and approve the proposed fixes. They are carrying out tests to ensure that after the fix is applied the vehicles meet all the legal requirements including emissions, and that other vehicle characteristics are unchanged, including power output, fuel consumption and engine noise.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to stop the shipment of UK nuclear waste to Andnyamantha homelands in Australia up to 2020.

Jesse Norman

There is a very small quantity of Australian owned radioactive waste currently stored in the UK. We anticipate that this will be returned to Australia in due course in line with contractual commitments. The location of any storage and disposal facilities for this waste will be a matter for the Australian authorities.

Any shipment of radioactive material out of the UK will comply with all relevant international laws and use ships which meet national and international requirements.