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Peter Aldous – 2023 Parliamentary Question on National Resilience

The parliamentary question asked by Peter Aldous, the Conservative MP for Waveney, in the House of Commons on 2 February 2023.

Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)

What progress his Department has made in strengthening national resilience.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Oliver Dowden)

Resilience is a key priority across Government. My Department has already published the resilience framework, refreshed the national security risk assessment and established a risk sub-committee of the National Security Council, which I chair. We will soon publish a new national risk register, and this afternoon I will chair the UK resilience forum, which strengthens our links with partners across the country in collectively tackling the risks we face.

Peter Aldous

I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, as I am involved in family farms.

As the breadbasket of Britain and home to the all-energy coast, East Anglia has a key role to play in strengthening national resilience on food and energy security. Can my right hon. Friend outline the co-ordinating work his Department is doing with other Departments to ensure the east of England realises its full potential in both feeding the nation and keeping the lights on?

Oliver Dowden

My hon. Friend is right to highlight East Anglia’s increasing role in providing energy security through its massive offshore wind developments, which are helping to provide secure renewable energy. In addition, the Government food strategy, which was published last year, sets out plans to boost domestic production in sectors with the biggest opportunities, which will of course include East Anglia.

08/02/2023
Elliot Colburn – 2023 Parliamentary Question on Operation of Public Services During Industrial Action

The parliamentary question asked by Elliot Colburn, the Conservative MP for Carshalton and Wallington, in the House of Commons on 2 February 2023.

Elliot Colburn (Carshalton and Wallington) (Con)

What steps his Department is taking to support the operation of public services during industrial action.

Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con)

What steps his Department is taking to support the operation of public services during industrial action.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Oliver Dowden)

All Departments are responsible for their own business continuity plans and have well-established contingency arrangements. The Cabinet Office’s Cobra unit has supported Departments to develop those arrangements to minimise the impact on public services. Yesterday, for example, more than 600 military personnel undertook action to support a smooth flow at the border. I pay tribute to the work that they and others did.

Elliot Colburn

As if the ultra low emission zone were not bad enough, Carshalton and Wallington residents have had to deal with strikes affecting the transport network, despite the Mayor’s promise of zero strikes. There is a very important point to be made about safety as a result of the ongoing impact on the transport network. Bus stops and railway stations in London face dangerous overcrowding when strikes are on. Can my right hon. Friend assure me that the safety of the remainder of the transport network will be a key factor when minimum service levels are set?

Oliver Dowden

As a Member of Parliament whose constituency borders London, I share my hon. Friend’s deep frustration with the conduct of the Mayor and with the ULEZ, which is a tax on hard-working commuters and citizens in London. My hon. Friend rightly raises a point about minimum service levels, which are at the root of the Government’s legislation—the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which passed through this House in the face of opposition from the Labour party—to protect standards of service and safety on our transport network.

Edward Timpson

Ambulance response times, particularly in rural areas such as Eddisbury, are one of those issues on which I seem to have been campaigning since I first came to Parliament. Like others, I am perplexed by the contrarian and regressive turn that has been taken in the policy area by unions representing ambulance workers, which are refusing to agree to minimum service and safety levels during industrial action. Does my right hon. Friend agree that they should embrace those common- sense measures? Perhaps the public would then be more sympathetic in the subsequent collective bargaining.

Oliver Dowden

As ever, I agree with my hon. and learned Friend. The public expect a minimum safety level in core public services such as ambulance provision, as exists in comparable European countries. This is a sensible, straightforward measure to ensure patient safety at a time of most desperate need, which is why the Government are bringing it forward—again, in the teeth of opposition from the Labour party.

08/02/2023
PRESS RELEASE : Rishi Sunak meeting with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine [February 2023]

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 8 February 2023.

The Prime Minister hosted President Zelenskyy for a bilateral meeting during his visit to the UK today.

He paid tribute to President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people’s courage and sacrifice. The Prime Minister thanked the President for his visit and powerful address to Parliament.

President Zelenskyy thanked the Prime Minister for his and the UK’s enduring support, including today’s announcement that the UK will start training to put Ukraine on the path to NATO-standard air combat capability, and that the UK will provide long-range weapons.

The leaders discussed the need to accelerate Ukraine’s counter-offensive, backed by support from the UK and other allies. That means providing the kind of advanced capabilities that the UK has announced today, and delivering the same level of equipment that was previously given in months in a matter of weeks.

They agreed that Ukraine’s counter-offensive against the Russian invasion can and will prevail, heralding in a more secure future for Ukraine.

08/02/2023
Rishi Sunak – 2023 Press Conference with Volodymyr Zelenskyy

The press conference with Rishi Sunak and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Dorset on 8 February 2023.

Volodymyr, it’s a privilege to stand here with you today, and to have you here in the United Kingdom.

The path from Ukraine to the UK has been well trodden over the past six months, with 10,000 of your soldiers making the journey for military training, and more arriving every week.

And just a few days ago, dozens arrived to learn how to operate our Challenger 2 tanks.

I am told they are already mastering the art of driving these sophisticated 62-ton weapons, which will soon be making a difference on the battlefields of your country.

All over the UK, Ukrainian men and women are learning how to command and control NATO-standard weapons, whether that is in drone warfare, tank operations or basic training. Their dedication, courage and determination is a credit to you and your country.

Volodymyr, now your visit here today underlines our two countries’ close and enduring friendship – we will always be by your side, our staunch and unwavering friends.

We both know the people of Ukraine’s incredible strength and inspiring bravery will ultimately defeat tyranny. That is why we are training and arming them with the equipment they need to push back Russian forces.

And as I said to you earlier today, we are also accelerating the delivery of our equipment, and the equipment of our allies, to ensure it reaches your frontline in the coming days and weeks, not months or years.

The Ukrainian crews who arrived last week will be using Challenger 2 tanks to defend Ukraine’s sovereign territory next month.

And I am pleased that today we have agreed that we will expand our training programme – a programme that has trained 10,000 troops in the last six months alone – to your marines and fighter jet pilots, ensuring the Armed Forces of Ukraine are able to defend their country for generations to come.

We must arm Ukraine in the short term, but we must bolster Ukraine for the long term. Your country cannot be left vulnerable to attack ever again.

Today we have signed the London Declaration, further deepening our cooperation, and in the coming days, we mark a year since the needless and unprovoked invasion, and Russia will see – more than ever – that their tactics are only solidifying western resolve. Only convincing us to go further, and faster, to help you, Volodymyr. And we will.

After all, you told me last week that collective, international unity is your greatest weapon, and you can be sure that we will deliver on that, not just now, but long into the future.

08/02/2023
NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 9 February 1923

9 FEBRUARY 1923

Liam Deasy, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the IRA, agreed to aid in the unconditional surrender of the Irregulars in exchange for his death sentence being commuted. The Irish Free State agreed to suspend all planned executions of members of the Irregulars pending political developments.

The result of the Whitechapel and St George’s by-election in London was announced, resulting in a Labour gain from the Liberals. It had been called following the death of Charles Mathew who had died after just 85 days as an MP, one of the shortest periods served in modern British political history. The result was:

Labour : Harry Gosling – 8,398 votes 57.0% +16.8%
Liberal : James Kiley – 6,198 votes 42.1% +4.7%
National Prohibition Party : S. M. Holden – 130 votes 0.9% New

Majority 2,200

08/02/2023
Volodymyr Zelenskyy – 2023 Speech to the UK Houses of Parliament

The speech made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, at the Houses of Parliament on 8 February 2023.

The people of the United Kingdom and their honorable representatives!

All the people of England and Scotland, of Wales and Northern Ireland!

Of all the lands which have been home to brave souls since Europe came into existence!

I have come here and stand before you on behalf of the Brave. On behalf of our warriors who are now in the trenches under enemy artillery fire. On behalf of our air gunners and every defender of the sky who protects Ukraine against enemy aircrafts and missiles. On behalf of our tank-men who fight to restore our Ukrainian border. On behalf of our conscripts who are being trained now, including here in Britain. Thank you, Britain! And who will be then deployed to the frontline – skilled, equipped and eager to win.

On behalf of every father and every mother who are waiting for their brave sons and brave daughters back home from the war.

Mister Speaker!

You may well remember as roughly more than two years ago we met with you here in the Parliament. It was a great honor for me. We enjoyed tea, we talked a lot about our people, our countries, the British and Ukrainian political traditions.

Mister Prime Minister! Rishi!

When we had our meeting earlier today, I said to you I would tell a story in my address to the Parliament. A story about my feelings on my first visit to London as president in autumn 2020.

The programme was packed. Royal Highnesses William and Catherine. Buckingham Palace. The aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy. Westminster. Downing Street. And, of course, the War Rooms.

There is an armchair in the war room. The famous Churchill’s armchair. A guide smiled and offered me to sit down on the armchair from which war orders had been given. He asked me – how did I feel? And I said that I certainly felt something.

But it is only now that I know what the feeling was. And all Ukrainians know it perfectly well, too. It is the feeling of how bravery takes-you-through the most unimaginable hardships – to finally reward you with Victory.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

I thank you for your bravery. Thank you very much from all of us! This applause is for you!

London has stood with Kyiv since day one. From the first seconds and minutes of the full scale war.

Great Britain, you extended your helping-hand when the world had not yet come to understand how to react. Boris, you got others united when it seemed absolutely impossible. Thank you!

You all showed your grit and character back then. Strong British character.

You didn’t compromise Ukraine. And hence you didn’t compromise your ideals. And thus you didn’t compromise the spirit of these great Islands. Thank you very much!

Our countries knew different times. Our nations defended freedom in the Second World War. The iron curtain divided us. Our people went through crises and growth, inflation, and periods of social losses and social gains.

It was tough but we always found strength and stamina to move ahead and achieve results.

This is the bedrock of our and your traditions.

Ukrainians and Brits defeated the fear of war and had the time to enjoy peace.

No matter what we encountered on different stages of our and your formidable history, you and us and the whole mankind achieved similar result – evil lost.

We will always come out on top of evil. This lies at the core of our – but also your – traditions.

However, the horizon never stays clear for a while. Once the old evil is defeated, the new one is attempting to rise its head.

Do you have a feeling that the evil will crumble once again? I can see it in your eyes now. We think the same way as you do. We know freedom will win. We know Russia will lose. We know the Victory will change the world! And this will be a change that the world has long needed.

The United Kingdom is marching with us towards the most important victory of our lifetime. It will be a victory over the very idea of the war.

After we win together, any aggressor – big or small – will know what awaits him if he attacks international order.

Any aggressor who will try to push the boundaries by force. Who will inflict destruction and death on other peoples. Who will try to endure his dictatorship at the expense of other people’s blood in criminal and unprovoked wars, as the Kremlin does. Any aggressor is going to lose.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

We have already achieved remarkable results. And we must make every effort to turn our achievements into the foundations of the future global security architecture.

The world needs your leadership, Britain, just as it needs Ukrainian bravery.

When the full-scale invasion began, we, together with you and the US and other allies, formed a true coalition of friends. This is very important.

You were among those very few who had helped before the large-scale invasion began – exactly as it will be necessary every time in the future to prevent aggression from happening.

Your help was preventive.

We must take these principles of preventive aid to those, who are threatened with aggression, and preventive sanctions – against those, who threaten aggression – as basic principles of the world anti-war policy.

We created a coalition of NLAW and Javelin that stopped the advance of the Russian army from the first day of the invasion.

We built a coalition of artillery rounds and a coalition of air defense, which allow us to save the lives of civilians, our women, children and elderly, in our cities from Russian atrocious occupation and missile terror.

We put together a powerful sanctions coalition. Your leadership in protecting international legal order through sanctions against a terrorist state – cannot be questioned. And we have to steadily continue along this way until Russia is deprived of any possibility to finance the war.

Most importantly, together with the G7 we brought about a coalition of values. A coalition that protects the rule-based world order and human rights.

A coalition that will work in such a way, that over time there will simply be no gray areas in the world in which human life does not matter.

In order for it to be so, there must be justice. Anyone who invests in terror must be held accountable. Anyone who invests in violence must compensate those who have suffered from terror, aggression or other forms of state violence.

Our proposals for the creation of a Special Tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine and a Special Compensation Mechanism, which will compensate war losses at the expense of Russian assets, are based on such principles.

Justice is one of the ten elements of the Peace Formula proposed by Ukraine and supported by Britain. I thank you for your readiness to invoke the Formula!

As I already mentioned, Ukrainian soldiers are being trained in Britain. In particular, to operate “Challengers”, your main battle tanks. It’s a tank coalition in action, and I thank you, Rishi, for this powerful defensive step – for tank assistance.

The coalition of long-range missiles is the latest of all. It will allow us to make the evil completely retreat from our country by destroying its hideaways deep in the occupied territories.

And it’s not just about weapons. We proved together that the world truly helps those who are brave in defending freedom. And thus, paves the way for a new history. A history of a world that knows how to be quick in help. Who knows how to be effective in defense. Who knows how to remain principled in dark hours. Who implements its treaties and arrangements in good faith. Who does not allow perpetrators to enjoy impunity. Who knows how to overcome veto when it is abused. Who knows no fear. And who knows how to win.

This shall be the new reality of the free world! I’m sure of that.

However, evil is still around today and the battle continues. Yes, we know how it is going to end and how we are going to feel on the day victory comes.

Everyday we continue to pay with lives, pain and tears for bringing the victory closer. With the lives of our heroes, whom we lose in battles. With the lives of our heroes who take life and death risks every day to save as many of our soldiers and civilians as possible.

Today, I will have the honor to be received by His Majesty the King. It will be a truly special moment for me. In particular, because I will convey to him from all the Ukrainians the words of gratitude for the support His Majesty showed to them when he was still the Prince of Wales.

I also intend to tell him something that is very important not only for the future of Ukraine but also for the future of Europe. In Britain, the King is an air force pilot. And in Ukraine today, every air force pilot is the king for us, for our families.

Because they are so few, they are so precious that we, the servants of our kings, do everything possible and impossible to make the world provide us with modern planes to empower and protect pilots who will be protecting us.

I am proud of our air force. And I brought a present from them to you, Great Britain. Open, please. I will explain. It’s the helmet of a real Ukrainian pilot. He is one of our most successful aces. He is one of our kings. And the writing on the helmet reads: “We have freedom. Give us wings to protect it.”

I trust this symbol will help us form our next coalition – coalition of the planes.

I appeal to you and the world with simple and yet most important words: Combat aircrafts – for Ukraine! Wings – for freedom!

Great Britain!

You and us both struggle for peace, but instead we are forced to face the rage that seeks to deprive us of peace and everything else that is valuable in life.

Unfortunately, it is in human nature to allow evil mature. It then stands up against humanity. It then destroys and kills. It launches aggressions and breaks people’s lives.

You and us have already fought together against such evil. You and us already have the experience of defeating the evil that is generated by human nature.

I am not saying there will be no more wars after this war ends. It is impossible to completely erase evil from human nature. Yet, it is in our power to guarantee with words and deeds that the light side of human nature will prevail. The side you and us share. And this stands above anything else.

Thank you for your attention! Thank you for your support!

Leaving the British Parliament two years ago, I thanked you for delicious English tea. I will be leaving the parliament today thanking all of you in advance – for powerful English planes.

By the way, it’s almost five o’clock.

God bless Great Britain and long live the King!

Слава Україні!

08/02/2023
OBITUARY : Robert Key (1945-2023)

OBITUARY : Robert Key (1945-2023)

Robert Key was born on 22 April 1945, the son of Maurice Key who went on to become the Bishop of Truro and Joan Dence. As a child he was educated at Salisbury Cathedral School and then Sherborne School before going to Clare College at Cambridge University. As a youngster he was walking with a group of friends when a wartime mine was detonated, killing five of the group. He told the Commons in his final Parliamentary speech in 2009:

“On Friday 13 May 1955, when I was 10 years old, I was on Swanage beach in Dorset with some 20 other children of about the same age. We were doing what children on a beach on a Friday afternoon in May do-building sandcastles, digging holes in the sand, making dams and so on. I was building my castle with a chap called Richard Dunstan: five of my friends were digging holes, and then one of them found a tin. He thought that it was Spam, or something really exotic-yes, Spam was exotic in 1955. He was wrestling to move it, because it was lodged between two rocks. He got out a shoehorn but could not break the tin open. The boys stood back, and were seen throwing things at it.

My friend and I got bored. We turned round. We had our backs to our friends, and were about the same distance from them as I am from you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, when there was a huge explosion. We were blown into the sea, and lived. Five of my friends died. Five British children were blown up by a British mine on a British beach, within my living memory, and the living memory of many other people. It was an extraordinary thing. It happened in the middle of the 1955 general election. The front page of the following day’s edition of The Daily Telegraph carried a story with the headline, “4 Boys Die, One Missing in Explosion”. Below that, smaller headlines stated, “Big Crater Torn in Beach” and “Wartime Mine Theory”. There was not much theory involved for the five who were killed, or for the two of us who were the luckiest people alive. I still think that I am the luckiest person alive in this House.”

Key went on to teach economics at Harrow School between 1969 and 1983, although contested the Parliamentary constituency of Holborn and St Pancras South in 1979. He won the constituency of Salisbury in 1983 and he remained the MP until his retirement at the 2010 General Election. He made his maiden speech on 30 June 1983 focusing on technology.

Whilst at Westminster he was supportive of those who were suffering from AIDS, becoming the chair of the all-party Aids group. He served for some years as a PPS to firstly Alick Buchanan-Smith and then to Chris Patten, becoming a Government Minister for the first time in October 1990 when he took on the role of Minister for Local Government and Inner Cities. He supported Margaret Thatcher in the leadership election that took place a few weeks after his appointment but was kept on by John Major following his election victory. Major appointed Key to become Minister of State at the Department of National Heritage following the 1992 General Election, then he was moved to the Department of Transport the following year. He left Ministerial office in June 1994, but was appointed by William Hague as a frontbench spokesperson on defence following the 1997 General Election. Although selected to stand again at the 2010 General Election, problems with osteoarthritis meant that he decided to stand down.

Key married Susan Irvine in 1968 and they had four children, one of whom died in infancy. Robert Key died on 3 February 2023 at the age of 77.

08/02/2023
Robert Key – 1983 Maiden Speech in the House of Commons

The maiden speech made by Robert Key, the then Conservative MP for Salisbury, in the House of Commons on 30 June 1983.

In the year 1275, Salisbury first sent Members to Parliament. Thus, 708 years on, it is with some humility that I address the House for the first time.

It is not irrelevant that in this debate on high technology wideband cablecasting we should glance back in time for a moment. Those first Members of Parliament were, like us, concerned with communication between people. As a former schoolmaster, I might even be allowed to indulge my belief that the written word has lost some of its beauty and authority in the age of electronic communication.

During the recent general election, I dare say that many prospective hon. Members, like me, were occasionally assassinated in the press. In just a couple of sentences of election fever my personal history was rewritten on the back page of The Times. My origins were removed from Wiltshire to the home counties, by some journalistic miracle my profession changed from teacher to chartered accountant, and I was remarried to someone called Fiona. It was perhaps not surprising that the same newspaper claimed in its first list of new Members of Parliament that I had “no biography available”. I know not why, but, as I learnt subsequently, the South China Morning Post carried a more accurate account of the goings on in Salisbury than The Times.

So it is with relief that I can now rely on the unerring accuracy of Hansard and my local newspapers to report my efforts on behalf of the electors of Salisbury. I thank them for their confidence, and, even though I received an absolute majority of the votes cast, I consider it my duty and a privilege to represent also the interests of the minorities who did not vote for me, or who chose, sadly, not to vote for anyone.

To my 1,100 or so active workers who on polling day turned the wheels of democracy on my behalf, I express my heartfelt thanks. I salute my immediate predecessor, Sir Michael Hamilton. A man of the greatest courtesy and sensibility, he will be hard to follow and he is much missed by his many friends here and in Salisbury.

The people of Salisbury have always been stouthearted and forward-looking. They have always understood the meaning of good communications, and taken advantage of it. The Romans focused a network of roads on Old Sarum, but the Norman bishops moved away and founded the city of New Sarum on the valley trade routes. Grateful, of course, for its episcopal innovators, Salisbury also has a long tradition of disagreement with its bishops, usually over local taxation, but more recently over the defence of the realm. But I would not wish on our current gentle pastor the fate of his predecessor, who in 1450 was pursued by a mob and murdered on Salisbury plain. Nor would I wish on the gentle vet who is our mayor the fate of his predecessor, John Halle, who was committed to the Tower of London for using violent language.

That we know such facts is a tribute to the accuracy of language and records. In Salisbury, education and the enriching of our cultural life are taken very seriously indeed. Our citizens may be employed in agriculture, engineering—much of it based on high technology—and the commercial and professional services on which they depend, or in tourism, transport, the armed services, defence establishments and our over-criticised, often under-valued Civil Service, but what they all have in common is the will and the skill to seize on new technology and use it sensibly.

Salisbury is not particularly well served by local radio or television—it is peripheral to many stations. There must be many towns and cities in a similar position—dwarfed numerically by larger neighbours, but founts of unique benefit to the life of wider regions.

In supporting the introduction of cable systems, I should like to draw to the attention of the House paragraph 58 of the White Paper, which deals with franchise areas. The Government must be held to their proposal to give the cable authority the duty to take into account natural community groupings. Cable operators should do more than cream profits from limited services in densely populated areas. They should assume wider responsibilities in developing all the opportunities offered by inter-active systems, both geographically and in the variety of services offered. Local business and industry should benefit, but so should our schools, colleges, theatres, concert halls and sports facilities and last, but by no means least, our families in their homes.

In a recent survey, 71 per cent. of people said that they wanted more choice on television and 59 per cent. wanted channels for local news and local features. The demand is there and should be met. The White Paper strikes the right balance between over-regulation, which would kill the project, and a free-for-all, which would damage the high quality of much of the existing BBC and ITV output.

British television, both technically and artistically, enjoys an unrivalled international reputation for creativity and we are poised to capture a world lead in a new generation of direct broadcasting by satellite and interactive wideband cable systems. We must not miss our chance. Whatever else my constituents may or may not wish me to say on their behalf, they did not send me to this place to impede progress. Nor will I.

08/02/2023
PRESS RELEASE : Regulators urge safe giving to support Turkey-Syria earthquake relief effort [February 2023]
The press release issued by the Charity Commission on 8 February 2023.

Regulators urge public to ‘give safely’ when looking to support international aid efforts in response to earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

As many people across Britain look to support international aid efforts in response to earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, the Charity Commission for England and Wales and the Fundraising Regulator are urging the public to ‘give safely’.

This comes as the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launches a Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal. The DEC brings together 15 leading UK aid charities to raise funds quickly and efficiently in times of crisis overseas.

Launched today (Wednesday 8th February), the Appeal aims to secure urgent funding and support for people across Turkey and Syria who need immediate help to survive after disastrous earthquakes have had widespread impact across both countries since the 6th February 2023.

Both regulators are reminding people to check charities are registered and legitimate as people make generous donations to causes helping to support people affected by the earthquakes.

DEC members and other registered charities are providing vital life-saving aid like food, water and healthcare to those affected. Many are also supplying cold weather kits to help people stay warm. By supporting registered charities, including through the DEC, the public can be assured that their donations will be regulated and accounted for in line with charity law.

Helen Stephenson, Chief Executive of the Charity Commission said:

The impacts of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria are shocking and devastating. Charities are once again stepping in to support those in need. I know that so many people across the UK will want to contribute and so I want to ensure every donation reaches its intended cause. This is why we are reminding everyone to give through the DEC or follow our simple steps, such as checking our online register, to make sure they’re giving safely.

Gerald Oppenheim, Chief Executive of the Fundraising Regulator said:

The situation following the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria is horrifying to witness, and thousands have lost their lives or have been injured.

The British public are generous and will be eager to support the relief work led by the DEC and its member charities where they can. Please carry out our recommended checks before donating money or goods to make sure you are giving to a genuine cause and that your generously donated money reaches its intended destination.

Established charities with experience of responding to disasters are usually best placed to reach people on the ground. Giving financial aid through humanitarian aid organisations, rather than sending donated goods directly to regions, is also often more practical and sustainable.

While most fundraising is genuine, the Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator warn that fraudsters and criminals can take advantage of public generosity at times of increased giving. This includes using various methods such as fake appeal websites, email appeals that falsely use the name of genuine charities, or appeals from groups claiming to be charities.

The regulators therefore encourage people to ensure they support genuine relief efforts by following a few simple steps before giving:
- check the charity’s name and registration number on the Charity Register at www.gov.uk/checkcharity – most charities with an annual income of £5,000 or more must be registered.
- make sure the charity is genuine before giving any financial information.
- be careful when responding to emails or clicking on links within them.
- contact or find out more online about the charity that you’re seeking to donate to or work with to understand how they are spending their funds
- look out for the Fundraising Badge – the logo that says ‘registered with Fundraising Regulator’ – and check the Fundraising Regulator’s Directory of organisations which have committed to fundraise in line with the Code of Fundraising Practice.
In 2021, 307 registered charities reported working in Turkey and/or Syria, spending over £220 million on charitable activity.

After making these checks:
- If you think that a collection or appeal is not legitimate, report it to the police. If you think the collection is fraudulent report it to Action Fraud over the phone at 0300 123 2040 or online.
- If you think a collector does not have a licence – report it to the relevant Local Authority Licensing Team or the Metropolitan Police (if in Greater London). Also let the charity know if you can.
Members of the public initiating their own informal fundraising appeals that are not linked to established registered charities should be aware of the ongoing responsibilities associated with overseeing and managing funds and ensuring they are applied in line with donors’ wishes.

You can also complain about a charity to the Charity Commission if you have concerns about a charity’s governance and the Fundraising Regulator if you have concerns about its fundraising.
08/02/2023
PRESS RELEASE : Bereavement benefits extended to unmarried cohabiting parents [February 2023]

The press release issued by the Department for Work and Pensions on 8 February 2023.

Cohabiting parents with dependent children who need support following the death of their partner can apply for bereavement benefits from tomorrow (9 February 2023).

The government has extended the eligibility criteria for Bereavement Support Payment and Widowed Parent’s Allowance, helping thousands more grieving parents to access this support.

The benefits are designed to help parents with the financial impact of losing a partner. Previously it was only available to eligible bereaved parents who were married or in a civil partnership.

The law change will ensure more children in bereaved families are equally supported, regardless of their parent’s legal relationship status.

DWP Minister Viscount Younger of Leckie said:

Losing a partner is tragic and this change will mean more bereaved parents can access this support through a profoundly difficult time for them and their children.

It has been our priority to get this legislation right, so it is fairer to bereaved children with parents who were not married or in a civil partnership, and I am very pleased this is now confirmed in law.

Minister for Social Mobility, Youth and Progression Mims Davies MP said:

We have made this important change to help thousands more grieving parents access the financial support they need and deserve.

We know so many lone parents are doing their best to support their families through such a difficult time and our bereavement benefits offer a lifeline to help them adjust to the impact of this.

I would urge anyone who thinks they may be eligible to make an application, as crucially, some bereaved parents will also be able to receive backdated payments to ensure they don’t miss out.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has opened a special 12-month application window for bereaved parents with dependent children whose partner died before 9 February 2023. The bereavement benefit and amount they are entitled to will depend on when they lost their partner.

To qualify, claimants must have met the eligibility criteria for either Bereavement Support Payment or Widowed Parent’s Allowance on or after 30 August 2018.

This means those who lost their partner before 6 April 2017 might be able to receive the legacy benefit Widowed Parent’s Allowance, should they be found to have been eligible for this on 30 August 2018.

Similarly, a surviving parent who lost their partner on or after 6 April 2017 may be eligible for its replacement, Bereavement Support Payment, should they have been qualified for this on 30 August 2018.

Alison Penny MBE, Director of the Childhood Bereavement Network said:

We are relieved that at last, cohabiting families who have suffered the devastating loss of their mum or dad will now have the same access to bereavement benefits as married and civil partnered families.

These benefits are a lifeline for grieving families, helping parents and carers put their children’s needs first as they begin to adjust to a life that has changed forever.

Our charity estimates that thousands of families, some bereaved as far back as 2001, may be in line for a retrospective payment of the benefits they have missed out on, paid from August 2018. The 12-month window for claiming a retrospective payment will help Government and support organisations to raise awareness and give families time to understand the effect that a back payment could have on their wider tax and social security entitlements.

Claims for Bereavement Support Payment can be made online via gov.uk, over the phone or through a paper application form. Claims for Widowed Parent’s Allowance will be processed by paper. Paper applications can be downloaded from gov.uk or requested over the Bereavement Service helpline.

More details on the full eligibility criteria and claims process will be available on GOV UK from 9 February 2023.

08/02/2023