Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office written question – answered am ar 17 Mai 2024.
Baroness Mobarik
Ceidwadwyr
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the comments made in 2004 by the then Prime Minister on the need to “end the isolation of northern Cyprus”; and what progress they have made towards lifting sanctions on trade and travel to that region.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In accordance with the rest of the international community, with the sole exception of Turkey, the UK does not recognise the self-declared "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" as an independent state. Several UN Security Council Resolutions also limit links between UK and the north of Cyprus. Within these constraints we support measures to reduce the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community and regularly engage the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce on this issue. We continue to support a just and lasting Cyprus Settlement as the best means of resolving the difficulties caused by the Division of the island.
Yes8 people think so
No4 people think not
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The House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
