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Stuart McDonald – 2023 Speech on the Illegal Migration Bill

The speech made by Stuart McDonald, the SNP spokesperson on Home Affairs, in the House of Commons on 7 March 2023.

The SNP stands proudly behind the refugee convention and the European convention on human rights. We believe that all who seek asylum and refugee status deserve a fair hearing and we are 100% behind the clear statement from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that there is no such thing as an illegal asylum seeker.

Despite the dreary dog-whistle rhetoric, the Home Secretary’s Bill will not lay a solitary finger on people smugglers or people traffickers, but it will cause serious and devastating harm to those who have already endured incredible suffering. Afghans let down by the Government’s utterly failed relocation schemes will be locked up and offshored. People who have fled persecution in Syria, Eritrea or Iran will remain blocked from the asylum system. The policies that have seen hundreds of children go missing from hotels will be enshrined in her Bill. The world-leading modern slavery legislation piloted through by one of her predecessors is about to be ripped to pieces without a single shred of justification. That is what this appalling Bill looks set to deliver, and that is why we will oppose it every step of the way.

If every country followed the Home Secretary’s example, the whole system of refugee protection around the world would fall to pieces. It is not just that system that will be trashed by this Bill, however, but the UK’s reputation as a place of sanctuary. She spoke about an overwhelmed asylum system, but the only thing that has overwhelmed the asylum system is the Conservative party’s incompetence and mismanagement. One of her own ministerial colleagues described the Rwanda plan as

“ugly, likely to be counterproductive and of dubious legality”,

and that beautifully encapsulates what is in this Bill.

I have two questions for the Home Secretary. First, what happens if an Afghan arrival cannot be removed to Afghanistan, France, Rwanda or anywhere else? Will he or she eventually be admitted to the asylum system? If so, after how long? Secondly, when the Prime Minister meets President Macron, will he be telling him that the UK is prepared to leave the European convention on human rights?

Suella Braverman

A lot of passion and fury and fire—I only wish the Scottish Government would bring so much passion to their approach to accommodating asylum seekers, when Scotland currently takes one of the lowest numbers of asylum seekers in our United Kingdom. Our measures set out a comprehensive and coherent plan, combining fairness and compassion.

08/03/2023
Yvette Cooper – 2023 Speech on the Illegal Migration Bill

The speech made by Yvette Cooper, the Shadow Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 7 March 2023.

A record 45,000 people crossed the channel on dangerous small boats last year, up from just 280 four years ago. In that short time, the Government have allowed criminal gangs to take hold along the channel and along our border. At the same time, convictions of people smugglers have halved; Home Office asylum decisions have collapsed, down 40%; the backlog and costly, inappropriate hotel use have soared; removals of unsuccessful asylum seekers are down 80% on the last Labour Government; and legal family reunion visas for refugees are down 40%. That is deeply damaging chaos, and there is no point in Ministers trying to blame anyone else for it. They have been in power for 13 years. The asylum system is broken, and they broke it.

We need serious action to stop dangerous boat crossings, which are putting lives at risk and undermining border security. That is why Labour has put forward plans for a cross-border police unit, for fast-track decisions and returns to clear the backlog and end hotel use, and for a new agreement with France and other countries. Instead, today’s statement is groundhog day. The Home Secretary has said:

“Anyone who arrives illegally will be deemed inadmissible and either returned to the country they arrived from or a safe third country.”

[Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] Only that was not this Home Secretary: it was the last one. And that was not about this Bill: it was about the last one, passed only a year ago and which did not work. As part of last year’s Bill, the Home Office considered 18,000 people as inadmissible for the asylum system because they had travelled through safe third countries, but because it had no return agreements in place, just 21 of them were returned. That is 0.1%. The other 99.9% just carried on, often in hotels, at an extra cost of £500 million, and it did not deter anyone. Even more boats arrived.

What is different this time? The Government still do not have any return agreements in place. The Home Secretary has admitted that Rwanda is “failing”, and even if it gets going it will take only a few hundred people. What will happen to the other 99% under the Bill? She says that she will detain them all, perhaps for 28 days. Can she tell us how many detention centres the Government will need in total and how much they will cost? Even if she does that, what will happen when people leave 28-day detention? Will she make people destitute, so that they just wander the streets in total chaos? They will include torture victims, Afghan interpreters and families with children. Or will she put them into indefinite taxpayer-funded accommodation? Never returned anywhere because the Government do not have agreements with Europe in place, never given sanctuary, never having their case resolved—just forever in asylum accommodation and hotels. She may not call it the asylum system, but thousands of people are still going to be in it.

What will the Bill mean for the promises we made to the Afghan interpreters who served our country but who were too late to make the last flight out of Kabul as the tyranny was closing in upon them? The Government told them to flee and find another way here, and they told us to tell people that as well. But the resettlement scheme is not helping them and, if they finally arrive in this country this afternoon, perhaps by travelling through Ireland to get here, they will only ever be illegal in the eyes of a Government who relied on the sacrifices they made for us.

If the Government were serious, they would be working internationally to get a proper new agreement in place with France and Europe, including return agreements, properly controlled and managed legal routes such as family reunion, and reform of resettlement. Instead, this Bill makes that harder, unilaterally choosing to decide no asylum cases at all, but expecting every other country to carry on.

If the Government were serious, they would be working with Labour on our plan for a major new cross-border policing unit to go after the criminal gangs. Instead, the deputy chairman of the Conservative party, the hon. Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) said yesterday that we should not go after the gangs because they have existed for “thousands of years”. That is the disgraceful Tory attitude that has let the gangs off of the hook and let them take hold. One smuggler told Sky News yesterday that three quarters of the smugglers live in Britain, but barely any of them are being prosecuted and the Government still have not found the hundreds of children missing from asylum hotels who have been picked up by criminal gangs.

The Government could be setting out a serious plan today. We would work with them on it, and so would everyone across the country. Instead, it is just more chaos. The Government say “no ifs, no buts”, but we all know that they will spend the next year if-ing and but-ing and looking for someone else to blame when it all goes wrong. Enough is enough. We cannot afford any more of this—slogans and not solutions, government by gimmick, ramping up the rhetoric on refugees and picking fights simply to have someone else to blame when things go wrong. This Bill is not a solution. It is a con that risks making the chaos worse. Britain deserves better than this chaos. Britain is better than this.

Suella Braverman

I thank the right hon. Lady for her remarks, but—forgive me—after five minutes of hysteria, histrionics and criticism, I am still not clear: I have no idea what Labour’s plan is. I will assume that the shadow Home Secretary is still committed to scrapping our Rwanda partnership, as she said last year, and I will assume that the Leader of the Opposition still wants to close immigration removal centres, as he promised during his leadership campaign. The shadow Home Secretary talks about safe and legal routes; I wonder what number Labour would cap that at. Would it be 500,000? A million? Five million? She should be honest with the House and with the British people: what she really means is unlimited safe and legal routes—open borders by the back door.

The right hon. Lady says get serious, so let us look at the facts. The British people want to stop the boats. It is one of the five promises the Prime Minister made to the British people, but stopping the boats did not even feature in the Leader of the Opposition’s five big missions. Is it because he does not care or because he does not know what to do? We all know why, and I think the British people know why: it is because, deep down, the Leader of the Opposition does not want to stop the boats and he thinks it is bigoted to say we have got too much illegal migration abusing our system. It is because Labour MPs would prefer to write letters stopping the removal of foreign national offenders. It is because the Labour party would prefer to vote against our measures to penalise foreign national offenders and to streamline our asylum system.

Those are the facts. Labour is against deterring people who would come here illegally, against detaining people who come here illegally and against deporting people who are here illegally. That means that Labour is for this situation getting worse and worse. Perhaps that is fine for the Leader of the Opposition and most of those on the Labour Front Bench, but it is not their schools, their GPs or their public services, housing and hotels filling up with illegal migrants.

Perhaps that is why, even before seeing the Bill and engaging on the substance, Labour has already said it will not support its passage through Parliament. Is the Leader of the Opposition committing that the Labour Lords will block it? The British people want to stop the boats. The Conservative Government have a plan to stop the boats. This Prime Minister will stop the boats. If the people want closed minds and open borders, they can rely on Labour.

08/03/2023
Suella Braverman – 2023 Statement on the Illegal Migration Bill

The statement made by Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 7 March 2023.

With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement about the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill.

Two months ago, the Prime Minister made a promise to the British people that anyone entering this country illegally will be detained and swiftly removed—no half measures. The Illegal Migration Bill will fulfil that promise. It will allow us to stop the boats that are bringing tens of thousands to our shores in flagrant breach of both our laws and the will of the British people.

The United Kingdom must always support the world’s most vulnerable. Since 2015 we have given sanctuary to nearly half a million people, including 150,000 people from Hong Kong, 160,000 people from Ukraine and 25,000 Afghans fleeing the Taliban. Indeed, decades ago, my parents found security and opportunity in this country, for which my family are eternally grateful.

Crucially, these decisions are supported by the British people precisely because they are decisions made by the British people and their elected representatives, not by the people smugglers and other criminals who break into Britain on a daily basis. For a Government not to respond to the waves of illegal migrants breaching our borders would be to betray the will of the people we were elected to serve.

The small boats problem is part of a larger global migration crisis. In the coming years, developed countries will face unprecedented pressure from ever greater numbers of people leaving the developing world for places such as the United Kingdom. Unless we act today, the problem will be worse tomorrow, and the problem is already unsustainable.

People are dying in the channel. The volume of illegal arrivals has overwhelmed our asylum system. The backlog has ballooned to over 160,000. The asylum system now costs the British taxpayer £3 billion a year. Since 2018, some 85,000 people have illegally entered the United Kingdom by small boat—45,000 of them in 2022 alone. All travelled through multiple safe countries in which they could and should have claimed asylum. Many came from safe countries, such as Albania, and almost all passed through France. The vast majority—74% in 2021—were adult males under the age of 40, rich enough to pay criminal gangs thousands of pounds for passage.

Upon arrival, most are accommodated in hotels across the country, costing the British taxpayer around £6 million a day. The risk remains that these individuals just disappear. And when we try to remove them, they turn our generous asylum laws against us to prevent removal. The need for reform is obvious and urgent.

This Government have not sat on their hands. Since this Prime Minister took office, recognising the necessity of joint solutions with France, we have signed a new deal that provides more technology and embeds British officers with French patrols. I hope Friday’s Anglo-French summit will further deepen that co-operation.

We have created a new small boats operational command, with more than 700 new staff; doubled National Crime Agency funding to tackle smuggling gangs; increased enforcement raids by 50%; signed a deal with Albania, which has already enabled the return of hundreds of illegal arrivals; and are procuring accommodation, including on military land, to end the farce of accommodating migrants in hotels.

But let us be honest: it is still not enough. In the face of today’s global migration crisis, yesterday’s laws are simply not fit for purpose. So to anyone proposing de facto open borders through unlimited safe and legal routes as the alternative, let us be honest: there are 100 million people around the world who could qualify for protection under our current laws. Let us be clear: they are coming here. We have seen a 500% increase in small boat crossings in two years. This is the crucial point of this Bill. They will not stop coming here until the world knows that if you enter Britain illegally, you will be detained and swiftly removed—back to your country if it is safe, or to a safe third country, such as Rwanda.

That is precisely what this Bill will do. That is how we will stop the boats. This Bill enables the detention of illegal arrivals, without bail or judicial review within the first 28 days of detention, until they can be removed. It puts a duty on the Home Secretary to remove illegal entrants and will radically narrow the number of challenges and appeals that can suspend removal. Only those under 18, medically unfit to fly or at real risk of serious and irreversible harm in the country we are removing them to—that is an exceedingly high bar—will be able to delay their removal. Any other claims will be heard remotely, after removal.

When our Modern Slavery Act 2015 passed, the impact assessment envisaged 3,500 referrals a year. Last year, 17,000 referrals took on average 543 days to consider. Modern slavery laws are being abused to block removals. That is why we granted more than 50% of asylum requests from citizens of a safe European country and NATO ally, Albania. That is why this Bill disqualifies illegal entrants from using modern slavery rules to prevent removal.

I will not address the Bill’s full legal complexities today. [Interruption.] Some of the nation’s finest legal minds have been and continue to be involved in its development. But I must say this: rule 39 and the process that enabled the Strasbourg Court to block, at the last minute, flights to Rwanda, after our courts had refused injunctions, was deeply flawed. Our ability to control our borders cannot be held back by an opaque process, conducted late at night, with no chance to make our case or even appeal decisions. That is why we have initiated discussions in Strasbourg to ensure that its blocking orders meet a basic natural justice standard, one that prevents abuse of rule 39 to thwart removal; and it is why the Bill will set out the conditions for the UK’s future compliance with such orders.

Other countries share our dilemma and will understand the justice of our position. Our approach is robust and novel, which is why we cannot make a definitive statement of compatibility under section 19(1)(a) of the Human Rights Act 1998. Of course, the UK will always seek to uphold international law, and I am confident that this Bill is compatible with international law. When we have stopped the boats, the Bill will introduce an annual cap, to be determined by Parliament, on the number of refugees the UK will resettle via safe and legal routes. This will ensure an orderly system, considering local authority capacity for housing, public services and support.

The British people are famously a fair and patient people. But their sense of fair play has been tested beyond its limits as they have seen the country taken for a ride. Their patience has run out. The law-abiding patriotic majority have said, “Enough is enough.” This cannot and will not continue. Their Government—this Government—must act decisively, must act with determination, must act with compassion, and must act with proportion. Make no mistake: this Conservative Government—this Conservative Prime Minister—will act now to stop the boats. I commend the statement to the House.

08/03/2023
NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 8 March 1923

8 MARCH 1923

Marquis Curzon said in the House of Lords that the Government fully intended to introduce the legislation suggested by the Royal Commission on Honours.

Neville Chamberlain was appointed as the Minister of Health.

Sir William Joynson-Hicks was appointed as the Postmaster General.

The death of Robert George Windsor-Clive, 1st Earl of Plymouth was announced.

08/03/2023
PRESS RELEASE : School sports given huge boost to level the playing field for next generation of Lionesses [March 2023]
The press release issued by the Department for Education on 8 March 2023.

New standard for school sports will see girls and boys offered the same sports.

On International Women’s Day (Wednesday 8 March) the Government is setting out new standards for equal access to sports, making it clear that girls and boys should be offered the same sports during PE and extracurricular time in schools.

Today’s package will help to boost equal opportunities in school sport both inside and outside the classroom, delivering on promises made by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Education Secretary Gillian Keegan to the Women’s Euro 22 winners the Lionesses.

This follows on from the success of the Football Association’s (FA) #LetGirlsPlay campaign which is working to change perceptions and make sure girls get the chance to play football within the school curriculum, as well as at breaktime, after school and at local clubs.

The campaign was launched by the Lionesses squad and the FA after the England Women’s team’s success at the Euro 22 tournament last year.

Schools that successfully deliver equal opportunities for girls and boys will be rewarded through the School Games Mark, which will assess parity of provision in PE and extracurricular sport.

Schools are also being asked to offer a minimum of two hours curriculum PE time and Government will provide support to schools on how to do this through the upcoming refresh of the School Sport Action Plan.

Alongside this work, Ofsted will be publishing a report into PE in the coming months, which will inform future inspections and set out what they believe is possible in terms of offering high quality PE and equal access to sports.

This is backed by a package of cross-government funding to help boost sport and activities both inside and outside school hours including the confirmation of over £600 million in funding over the next two academic years for the PE and Sport Premium and £22 million for the School Games Organisers (SGO) network.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

Last year the Lionesses’ victory changed the game. Young girls know when they take to the pitch that football is for them and, thanks to the Lionesses, they too could be a part of the next generation to bring it home for their country.

We want schools to build on this legacy and give every girl the opportunity to do the same sports as boys, as well as provide a minimum of two hours of PE. This means every child can benefit from regular exercise and we are proud to provide them with the support needed to do so.

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, said:

As someone who grew up in Liverpool, a city dominated by its love for football, I know first-hand the power of sport in bringing people together – whether on or off the pitch.

Every child – girl or boy – should have access to high quality sport and activities. Not only are these opportunities great for both physical and mental health – but also for all those other skills young people will need throughout their life like teamwork and communication.

Today, on International Women’s Day, we are breaking down the barriers some children face to access sport and building on the Lionesses’ legacy to ensure girls have the same access to all their favourite sports as boys.

England women’s captain, Leah Williamson, said:

The success of the summer has inspired so many young girls to pursue their passion for football.

We see it as our responsibility to open the doors for them to do so and this announcement makes that possible.

This is the legacy that we want to live much longer than us as a team. On behalf of all the Lionesses players, we’d like to thank our teammate Lotte Wubben-Moy as a driving force behind this transformational change.

We couldn’t be prouder to stand alongside her and we all look forward to seeing the impact this legacy creates.

The FA’s Chief Executive, Mark Bullingham, said:

The magic of last summer’s Euros victory can now live on with a legacy that has the ability to change the future of women’s football and positively impact society.

Equal access for girls is one of The FA’s strategic ambitions and for such progress to be made is a very proud day. We’re all extremely grateful to the players for using their voice to deliver change and would like to place on record our thanks to Government for the positive measures announced today.

Andy Taylor, Chief Executive for Active Partnerships National Team said:

We are delighted that schools across England will receive a share of this new three-year investment to help them open up their sporting facilities outside of the normal school day.

Working with our consortia partners StreetGames, ukactive and the Youth Sport Trust, our network of 43 Active Partnerships will support schools to develop and deliver their plans, working together to identify those local communities facing the greatest inequalities and help give them access to more varied opportunities to be physically active.

We aim to engage with 1,350 schools throughout the funding programme.

The full package being announced today includes:
- equal access to sports in school – setting out that offering girls and boys the same sports, where it is wanted is the new standard.
- delivering a minimum 2 hours of curriculum PE –with more support being offered through a refreshed School Sport Action Plan.
- expansion of the Schools Games Mark – to reward parity of provision for girls – this kitemark scheme, delivered by the Youth Sport Trust, recognises schools that create positive sporting experiences across all sports for young people, supporting them to be active for 60 minutes a day.
- over £600 million across the next two years for the PE and Sport Premium – a funding commitment to improve the quality of PE and sports in primary schools to help children benefit from regular activity.
- a new digital tool for PE and Sport Premium – to support schools in using the funding to the best advantage of their pupils.
- £22 million for two years of further funding for the School Games Organiser network (SGO) – Annually the 450 strong SGO workforce supports 2.2m participation opportunities for children including 28,000 competitive school sport events.
- up to £57 million funding for the opening school facilities programme – to open up more school sport facilities outside of school hours especially targeted at girls, disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs.
Being active in childhood is vital to long-term wellbeing and physical and mental health. This major investment will help more children to keep fit, have a healthy start to life and will help save the NHS money in the years ahead.

Up to £57 million in funding will be used to allow selected schools around England to keep their sport facilities open for longer for after-school activities, especially targeted at girls, disadvantaged children and those with special educational needs.

This work will be led by Active Partnerships who are leading a consortium, which includes Youth Sport Trust, ukactive and StreetGames, and will benefit up to 1,350 schools across.

The PE and Sport Premium is designed to help children get an active start in life by improving the quality of PE and sports in primary schools. Headteachers can choose how best to spend this funding including on teacher training, offering more opportunities for pupils to take part in competition and widening the range of sports for both boys and girls including football, tennis, cricket and hockey.

Schools will receive updated guidance this summer setting out how to use the funding to the best advantage of their pupils. A new digital tool will be introduced for schools to report on their spending of the PE and Sport Premium and allow the Government to understand where further guidance is needed.

The Government is also providing security for the School Games Organisers (SGO) network, with the commitment of funding until the end of the summer term 2025. The programme delivers on the Government’s ambition to ensure that all children and young people, no matter their background, can be active.

This is part of the Government’s commitment to improve access to sport for everyone. £300 million is being used to build or improve thousands of grassroots football and multi-sport facilities across the UK by 2025.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said:

I will do all I can to help address inequality in sport and today’s announcement is a huge boost that will help give girls greater opportunities in schools across England. The Lionesses have undoubtedly inspired the next generation and it is vital that we make sure we have the structures in place at schools and the grassroots to capitalise on that and drive up participation for all the positive life benefits it brings.

Having made £1 billion available to ensure the survival of the sport and leisure sector during the pandemic, we are now setting a new standard for ensuring children and young people have the opportunity to enjoy healthy and active lives both inside and outside of school.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:

Funding PE in schools can help inspire the next generation to build on the international sporting successes of the Lionesses at the Euros, the Red Roses and the England Women’s Cricket Team.

This International Women’s Day, we’re supporting schools to improve the quality of their PE provision including equal access to sports. This will help to level up opportunities for girls across the country so they can play sports such as football and cricket, alongside after school activities targeted at girls and other disadvantaged children.

We want young people to develop healthy habits whilst having fun at the same time, regardless of gender or background.
08/03/2023
PRESS RELEASE : UK launches new global Women and Girls Strategy on International Women’s Day [March 2023]
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 8 March 2023.

Women and girls will be at heart of UK’s international work as Foreign Secretary launches new strategy to tackle gender inequality around the world.
- Foreign Secretary James Cleverly launches new Women and Girls Strategy during a visit to his mother’s hometown in Sierra Leone
- strategy aims to tackle increasing threats to gender equality from climate change, humanitarian crises, conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, and recent attempts to roll back women’s rights, including in countries like Iran and Afghanistan
- the Foreign Secretary also announces a new emphasis on supporting grassroots women’s rights organisations, and funding for a Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights programme that will support an estimated 10 million women
Women and girls will be put at the heart of the UK’s international work, with a new strategy that will tackle gender inequality across the globe.

Launching on International Women’s Day, the new strategy will set out how the UK will work to tackle global gender inequality at every opportunity, including combatting attempts to roll back women’s rights, and work with partners around the world to do the same. For the first time, this strategy commits the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to more than 80% of its bilateral aid programmes including a focus on gender equality by 2030.

Progress towards gender equality is increasingly under threat. Climate change and humanitarian crises continue to disproportionately affect women and girls, there are attempts to row back on women’s rights including in countries like Iran and Afghanistan, sexual violence is happening in conflicts in Ukraine and elsewhere and violence against women is growing online.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

Advancing gender equality and challenging discrimination is obviously the right thing to do, but it also brings freedom, boosts prosperity and trade, and strengthens security – it is the fundamental building block of all healthy democracies.

Our investment to date has improved lives around the world, with more girls in school, fewer forced into early marriage and more women in top political and leadership roles.

But these hard-won gains are now under increasing threat. We’re ramping up our work to tackle the inequalities which remain, at every opportunity.

The Foreign Secretary will launch the new strategy in Sierra Leone, where he is visiting a school and a hospital in his mother’s hometown of Bo, to see how UK-funded projects are having a positive impact on women and girls.

In the hospital, he will see how UK support is improving blood banks and equipment, increasing electricity access and saving the lives of pregnant women. In the school he will hear about girls’ aspirations for the future. The UK is supporting students there to talk about preventing violence.

The strategy puts a continued focus on educating girls, empowering women and girls, championing their health and rights and ending gender-based violence – the challenges the UK believes are most acute.

It commits the FCDO to involving its entire network of high commissions and embassies around the world to deliver the strategy. This will include UK heads of mission developing plans and commitments specific to their host country and raising the most pressing issues with their host governments. The UK will also develop an ambitious new research offer to help the UK and its partners make investment decisions.

Alongside the strategy, the Foreign Secretary will announce a new women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights programme, focused on sub-Saharan Africa, which has some of the highest rates of child marriage and maternal mortality in the world.

Reaching up to 10.4 million women, the programme will receive up to £200 million and is expected to prevent up to 30,600 maternal deaths, 3.4 million unsafe abortions and 9.5 million unintended pregnancies.

Separately, the UK is also increasing support for women’s rights organisations and movements, recognising their critical role in advancing gender equality and protecting rights, and amplifying grassroots women’s and girls’ voices. Most of this £38 million programme will be delivered through a new partnership with the Equality Fund.

Jess Tomlin, co-CEO of the Equality Fund said:

We’re really excited about this partnership because it shows that every sector can come together – with boldness and urgency – to deliver resources to women’s rights organisations everywhere. A just, sustainable, thriving future depends on the solutions of feminist movements, and it’s time for all of us to trust and robustly resource their leadership at scale all across the world.
08/03/2023
PRESS RELEASE : UK Youth Parliament Grant awarded to the British Youth Council [March 2023]

The press release issued by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on 8 March 2023.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has awarded the British Youth Council the UK Youth Parliament Grant for 2023-25.

About the award

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) provides funding for the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) which is made up of approximately 300 elected Members of Youth Parliament aged between 11 and 18 years. Young people are elected to represent the views of young people in their local areas to government and national and local youth service providers. They are elected on the basis of their manifestos rather than on a party political basis and meet regularly to hold debates and plan campaigns on a local and national level, which includes an annual debate in the House of Commons.

DCMS has relaunched the UK Youth Parliament programme to increase engagement with young people from across the UK, including with more marginalised young people and those that may not normally take part in a youth voice programme.

The re-launch also brings together the successful elements of the previous DCMS Youth Engagement Grant, under the banner of the UK Youth Parliament. The new programme aims to build the UK Youth Parliament into an established part of the policymaking and parliamentary process, with direct access to decision makers, and improve feedback and recognition to young people.

DCMS remains committed to funding this important opportunity, enabling young people to express their voices and be heard on issues that matter to them.

DCMS ran an open grant competition to deliver the re-launched UK Youth Parliament for April 2023 until March 2025, and invited organisations in England to apply for the funding.

Grant award

Following a competitive application process, we are pleased to announce that the grant has been awarded to the British Youth Council (BYC), who previously held the grant to deliver the UK Youth Parliament.

The British Youth Council was created to empower young people aged 25 and under to influence and inform the decisions that affect their lives. They support young people to get involved in their communities and democracy locally, nationally and internationally, making a difference as volunteers, campaigners, decision-makers and leaders. The UK Youth Parliament remains their key programme for supporting young people to be involved in democratic processes and to have their voices heard in policy and decision making.

Minister for Civil Society and Youth Stuart Andrew said:

We’re looking forward to working with the British Youth Council once again to deliver the UK Youth Parliament. Youth Parliament is an incredible platform which enables young people to have their voices heard to represent the views of young people across the country.

We value young people’s contribution to decision making at the highest levels and understand this leads to impactful policy locally, regionally and nationally. This government remains committed to supporting meaningful youth engagement via this grant.

Jo Hobbs MBE, Chief Executive of the British Youth Council said:

We are delighted to be continuing to work with DCMS and UK Parliament on the delivery of the UK Youth Parliament programme. At the British Youth Council we are proud of our history in developing and delivering this work with and for young people across the UK. Young people being heard and engaged at the heart of decision making is crucial to ensuring that no young person is left behind.

08/03/2023
PRESS RELEASE : Minister David Rutley concludes visit to Paraguay [March 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 March 2023.

The Minister for the Americas reinforced the shared commitment of the UK and Paraguay to strengthen ties after marking 170 years of bilateral relations.

The British Embassy in Asunción received the visit of MP David Rutley, the Parliament Under Secretary of State for the Americas and the Caribbean on 2 to 3 March 2023. The visit occurred on the 170-anniversary of relations between the 2 countries, almost to the day. Among his visit priorities were climate change, business, energy and education.

The visit began with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Finance. This MoU will allow for continued support to the Chevening scholarship programme, a key pillar of collaboration in education between Paraguay and the UK.

Minister Rutley also held meetings with the business sector, civil society and with presidential and vice presidential candidates for the general elections in April 2023. A highlight of his visit was a tour of the Itaipú hydroelectric dam and technological park, during which he learned more about Itaipú’s provision for the future use of its clean energy production, including its great potential in green hydrogen and ammonia.

As part of the visit, Minister Rutley also participated in the signing of an MoU with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for increased bilateral exchange. During the signing, participants could appreciate the original 1853 Treaty on Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between UK and Paraguay.

The visit concluded with a commemoration event at the Asunción Train Station, a joint event with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The train station is a symbol of historical bilateral relations between Paraguay and the UK. During the event, Paraguay’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Julio Arriola and Minister Rutley unveiled a commemorative plaque. The minister was also able to enjoy some traditional Paraguayan music, dance and food.

Minister for the Americas David Rutley said:

Paraguay is a natural ally to the UK in values, education and climate change. A clean-energy powerhouse, it shows potential to become a major player in green hydrogen.

I look forward to continued UK investment in Paraguay, and to increase trade both ways.

08/03/2023
PRESS RELEASE : Statement at the open debate on women, peace and security [March 2023]

The press release issued by Foreign Office on 7 March 2023.

Statement by Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon at the UN Security Council open debate on women, peace and security.

May I begin by first thanking you Madam President, and thanking Mozambique for taking the lead in our important and vital discussions today and setting our sights on the 25th anniversary of Resolution 1325. And in doing so, I join others in recognising the insightful, valuable and expert contributions of Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women; Mirjana Egger of the ICRC; my dear friend who I see on screen, Madame Diop, it’s always great to see you and hear from you as well; and of course, the inspirational Leymah Gbowee for their contributions.

Madam President, colleagues, your Excellencies. Peace and security mechanisms must be built upon the needs of everyone, of all people, everywhere. And they must be shaped by the voices of all people. Indeed, those were the founding principles of the very organisation in which we sit today, the United Nations.

This Council, this Security Council, knows that mediation, conflict prevention and resolution have proven more successful time and time again when they are inclusive. They work better. They last longer when women are central to peace and building progressive societies. The evidence is there staring us in the face. Yet it is an undeniable fact. Here we sit in 2023 and we are seeing tragically, a stagnation of the women, peace and security agenda and a regression in women’s rights around the world. As we were most notably reminded, it’s not just through the barrel of a gun, but as Ms. Lema Govey reminded us, it is a shared denial of women’s rights, be they economic, social or educational.

We are seeing concerted efforts to weaponise gender and attempts to weaken the international system and destabilise the principles and fundamentals of democracies around the world. For our part, the United Kingdom resolves to not just protect, but to strengthen gender equality. And this should remain an absolute commitment for us all. I therefore call upon colleagues and nations here to stand together against the rollback of fundamental human rights, when the rights of women and girls are pivotal and central to a society’s and country’s progress and prosper.

The United Kingdom is therefore committed and we are passionate to see and ensure progress on women, peace and security in all its aspects. I was delighted that only last month we launched our fifth National Action Plan, which sets out how we will ensure that we put women at the centre of conflict resolution peacebuilding programmes over the next five years. It is a new plan, a reinvigorated plan for a new global context. Colleagues have listed the tragedies of conflicts around the world – from the suppression of the rights of women in Iran and the tragedy of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, where we’ve seen the Taliban’s suppression of the rights of women and girls using the false narrative and the erroneous narrative of trying to justify their abhorrent actions through religion and culture.

Let us be absolutely clear in what we say.

There is no religion, no culture which calls for the suppression of women’s rights.

The Taliban should realise this – face up to the reality – that it is only their country’s progress will be guaranteed when the rights of women and girls are secured in all their elements.

We also see the suppression through conflict of the rights, through the tragedy of war. The rights of women. The weaponising of rape as a weapon of war in conflict such as Ukraine. The war on Ukraine continues.

The rights of women continue to be suppressed in other areas, such as Tigray and Yemen, where conflicts continue. We also see the regression of women’s rights, but therefore it is important. We also recognise, as we are doing at this CSW, that these threats are not just limited in country.

There are transnational threats such as climate and cyber as well. But it is not only our commitment overseas, we are embedding the same principles of ensuring women are central and pivotal to all the solution, every facet of society in our democratic domestic systems, military cooperation and international diplomacy.

Frankly, every country that talks this narrative together, we need to walk the walk if we want to make genuine progress by 2025. One of the key objectives of our new plan is to prevent gender based violence, including conflict related sexual violence, and importantly, to support incredible, courageous survivors to recover and seek justice to rebuild their lives.

As the UK Prime Minister’s Special Representative Representative for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, I was honoured and humbled to host our recent conference back in November, which demonstrated a sustained international resolve to end these heinous crimes.

We saw 53 countries come together and the Special Representative of the Secretary General, Pramila Patten, signed the political declaration. 40 countries made tangible national commitments on steps they intended to take. The truth is, it’s a fundamental fact, a tragic fact, that in 2023, sexual violence in conflict is real. It is happening. Therefore, I was delighted my dear friend and colleague, the UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced a new three year PSVI (Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict) Strategy backed by over £12 million of new funding to build accountability and justice around the world. And looking ahead, it is important that we hold ourselves to account through the new International Alliance, which I’m delighted to announce on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, which will bring together leading Member States.

And I’m delighted that we are also joined at the Security Council by my dear friend, the Deputy Minister from Colombia, who again, as we were reminded by the Minister from Ecuador, had made great strides on this important agenda.

And therefore, I call upon all nations here, present and colleagues join us, join us together in strengthening this alliance to ensure that those incredible courageous survivors of sexual violence are not just given a voice, but are pivotal and central in building our international strategy to ensure that we prevent sexual violence in conflict.

We ensure that accountability is inherent and that we fully engage with survivor voices.

I ask governments to embed survivor voices in their own peacebuilding systems. We’ll be glad to share our experiences. And for me personally, through working with these incredible survivors, it has demonstrated that through their direct input, their direct action, our policies and programmes are directly impacted in a most positive way, enriched by their experience and their valuable advice and courage in speaking out.

Colleagues, Madam President.

23 years on from Resolution 1325, we must not resolve just to stabilise and strengthen rights. We should work to ensure that we put women at the heart of every conflict resolution. We put women at the heart of building stability and security around the world.

Let us not look back in another 23 years to say that we squandered the opportunity. Indeed, I know we will not. We owe it to those who have suffered in the past, to those women and girls who are suffering today.

We must not let this incredible opportunity pass us by.

And to all the incredible women and girls around the world who suffer at the hands of repressive, regressive regimes, we must act. We must act now.

Simply put, it is our duty. It is our obligation. Thank you, Madam President.

08/03/2023
Rishi Sunak – 2023 Speech on Asylum and Migration Changes

The speech made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, at Downing Street in London on 7 March 2023.

Today we are introducing new legislation to keep my promise to you – to stop the boats.

My policy is very simple, it is this country—and your government—who should decide who comes here, not criminal gangs.

The first step is understanding the nature—and scale—of what we are dealing with.

The number of people entering the UK illegally in small boats has more than quadrupled in the last two years.

Those illegally crossing the Channel are not directly fleeing a war-torn country… or persecution… or an imminent threat to life.

They have travelled through safe, European countries.

They are paying people smugglers huge sums to make this dangerous, and sometimes tragic, journey.

The reason that criminal gangs continue to bring small boats over here is because they know that our system can be exploited…

….that once here…illegal migrants can make a multitude of asylum, modern slavery and spurious human rights claims to frustrate their removal.

And the risk remains that those individuals just disappear into the black economy.

That is the reality we must deal with…

And with 100 million people displaced around the world…

….if we do not deal with it now, the situation will just get worse and worse.

People must know that if they come here illegally it will result in their detention and swift removal.

Once this happens – and they know it will happen – they will not come, and the boats will stop.

That is why today we are introducing legislation to make clear that if you come here illegally you can’t claim asylum…

…you can’t benefit from our modern slavery protections…

….you can’t make spurious human rights claims

…and you can’t stay.

We will detain those who come here illegally and then remove them in weeks, either to their own country if it is safe to do so, or to a safe third country like Rwanda.

And once you are removed, you will be banned—as you are in America and Australia—from ever re-entering our country.

This is how we will break the business model of the people smugglers; this is how we will take back control of our borders.

Now, this Bill provides the legal framework needed to deliver this in a way that no other legislation has done before.

This is tough but it is necessary and it is fair.

This legislation will be retrospective.

If you come on a small boat today, the measures in this bill will apply to you.

And this is just part of what we are doing.

I’ve always been clear this is a complex problem that can’t be solved overnight and will require us to use every tool at our disposal.

That’s why I’ve already secured the largest ever small boats deal with France.

And patrols on French beaches are already up 40 per cent.

I also promised progress on enforcement and we’ve increased raids on illegal working by 50 per cent.

I’ve also negotiated a new deal with Albania, which accounted for a third of all small boats arrivals.

And that’s already delivering. We’ve returned 500 illegal migrants to Albania and we are seeing far fewer come as a result.

This shows that there is nothing inevitable about illegal migration.

Deterrence works, and with will and determination, the government can get on top of it—and we will.

Now, this will always be a compassionate and generous country.

It is something that we’re all rightly proud of.

Just look at how we have welcomed Ukrainians, Syrians from refugee camps, and embraced Hong Kongers fleeing the Chinese clampdown.

But the current situation is neither moral nor sustainable. It cannot go on.

It’s completely unfair on the British people…

….who have opened their homes to genuine refugees…

….but are now having to spend nearly £6 million a day to put up illegal migrants in hotels.

It’s unfair on the people who have come to this country legally to see others skipping the queue.

And it’s devastatingly unfair on those who most need our help but can’t get it as our asylum system is being overwhelmed by those travelling illegally across the Channel.

If we can’t stop the boats, our ability to help genuine refugees in future will be constrained.

Full control of our borders will allow us to decide who to help, and to provide safe and legal routes for those most in need.

I understand there will be debate about the toughness of these measures… all I can say is that we have tried it every other way… and it has not worked.

So I say again: my policy is very simple, it is this country—and your government—who should decide who comes here, not criminal gangs.

And I will do whatever is necessary to achieve that.

08/03/2023