Category: Speeches

  • Volodymyr Zelenskyy – 2022 Statement on the Situation in Ukraine (09/12/2022)

    Volodymyr Zelenskyy – 2022 Statement on the Situation in Ukraine (09/12/2022)

    The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 9 December 2022.

    Dear Ukrainians, I wish you health!

    I had an important conversation with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today. We coordinated our positions ahead of the summit next week. In fact, this will be the final G7 summit this year, and it will determine the priorities for the next year. We are preparing as many as possible solutions that our countries need – for Ukraine and for the G7 states.

    I also thanked Mr. Prime Minister and the entire United Kingdom for the constant support of our state. They discussed the situation on the front line and winter prospects on the battlefield.

    The front-line situation remains very difficult in the key areas of Donbas – Bakhmut, Soledar, Maryinka, Kreminna… For a long time, there is no living place left on the land of these areas that has not been damaged by shells and fire. The occupiers actually destroyed Bakhmut, another Donbas city that the Russian army turned into burnt ruins.

    I thank all our heroes, all soldiers and commanders who hold the front in these directions, repulse attacks and inflict significant losses on the enemy in response to the hell that entered Ukraine under the Russian flag.

    Today, a conference was held in Kyiv, which continued the line of events in our country and in Europe that took place this week and last week, during which we work out solutions for the sake of justice, for the sake of holding Russia accountable, and for the sake of finding formats for the release of our people, who are held captive by the occupiers.

    We feel support from both states and international organizations and human rights institutions. We hope to be able to announce specific details in the near future.

    By the way, the results of the visit of the First Lady of Ukraine to London and her speech in the British Parliament were discussed with the British Prime Minister. On behalf of our country, Olena proposed that the United Kingdom shows leadership in the issue of justice – in the creation of a special tribunal to try the crime of Russian aggression. This is one of the points of the Ukrainian peace formula, and it is very important for me to see now in international communication that global leaders have really heard Ukrainian peace proposals.

    Let me remind you that the peace formula consists of ten points – from nuclear security to the restoration of the territorial integrity of our state, from energy security to the return of all prisoners of war and deportees held on the territory of Russia. This is now one of the key tasks for our state – to involve the world in concrete implementation of the points of the peace formula. We must return the Ukrainian flag to all cities and communities of Ukraine, we must ensure the real responsibility of the terrorist state for this war, and we must guarantee the safety of all generations of Ukrainians after the end of this war.

    Every day of the heroic resistance of our Defense Forces and all our people brings closer the day when the entire Ukraine will finally experience victory, victory and peace. Real, reliable.

    Today, I presented the Ukrainian vision of steps towards peace at the TRT World Forum in Istanbul. There I focused on food security – on Ukrainian initiatives that add global weight to our state. This is the grain export initiative and the Grain from Ukraine initiative.

    Using these transparent and useful examples for our people, for the Black Sea region and for the entire global community, we show that it is quite possible to restore security. The main thing is determination. I am sure that Mr. President Erdoğan, who was at the forum, heard our position.

    We are already preparing for a very important next week – there will be important international events. I held relevant meetings today. I believe: there will be powerful decisions for our country.

    Glory to everyone who fights for Ukraine!

    Thanks to everyone who works for our people!

    Eternal memory to all those who gave their lives for independence!

    Glory to Ukraine!

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 4 November (HL2885), what assessment they have made, if any, of the reach and impact of radio and television in North Korea.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) does not produce viewing or listening figures for domestic media. However, in 2012 the consultancy organisation, InterMedia, produced a report on the media environment in the DPRK based on a survey of North Korean refugees. The report, with some caveats from the authors, found that 74 per cent of those sampled were able to access television while resident in the DPRK, 42 per cent radio and 38 per cent a cassette player with a radio. The survey also found that 38 per cent of those surveyed considered domestic television to be their most important source of information while living in the DPRK, 21 per cent South Korean radio and 4 per cent domestic radio.

  • Lord Bradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the planning guidance for the NHS for 2016–17 will include a requirement for Clinical Commissioning Groups to achieve real term increases in mental health spending.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    As part of the mental health parity of esteem requirement for 2015-16, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were asked to plan for an increase in spend on mental health services at least in line with the increase in their overall funding allocation for the year, which set a higher bar than achieving a real terms increase in spending, though not all CCGs were able to achieve this target. 192 of the 209 CCGs achieved a real terms growth in mental health planned spend measured against the 1.4% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) deflator for 2015-16.

    The list attached shows which CCGs have achieved real terms increases in spending on mental health in 2015-16.

    The final data for CCGs’ spending on mental health in 2015-16 will be submitted to NHS England by commissioners in May 2016, and it is anticipated NHS England may be in a position to provide final spend information by around the end of the first quarter of 2016-17.

    NHS England has not yet published CCG planning guidance for 2016-17. Consideration will be given to holding commissioners to account for spending on mental health.

    CCG and NHS England mental health spending information is now routinely collected as party of NHS England’s monthly financial reporting regime. Monthly financial reports by CCGs are scrutinised and quality assessed by NHS England’s regional teams. The monthly reports also form part of the CCG assurance process. NHS England is also in the process of setting up the financial plan assurance process for 2016-17, which will incorporate the review of planned spending on mental health services for future years.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effect of the removal of eligibility for Renewables Obligations Certificates on businesses seeking to develop onshore wind farms.

    Andrea Leadsom

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield to Question 22287 on Wind Power, on 18 January 2016:

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2016-01-13/22287/.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24142, how much is owed in child maintenance arrears by non-resident parents whose CSA liability has ended as a result of the proactive or reactive CSA case closure process.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested on case closure arrears is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Valerie Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Valerie Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment she has made of the effect of recent floods on small businesses.

    Anna Soubry

    The most recent available data indicated that 4,940 businesses across northern England had been flooded following this winter’s exceptional rainfall. The vast majority of these will be small and medium size businesses. Impacts included flooded property, loss of stock and equipment and interruption to trading.

    Our interventions, include business recovery grants (a total of £11 m from BIS, of which £4,572,000 has been paid out), business rate relief (£4.26 m from DCLG), and property level resilience scheme (£5,000 per household or business, to incorporate greater flood resilience into property repairs).

  • Lucy Allan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lucy Allan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Allan on 2016-04-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2016 to Question 30728, what plans HM Revenue and Customs has for the future of its staff currently working in Abbey House and Parkside Court after the expiration of the leases of those buildings.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) occupies Abbey House, Telford, under the terms of its STEPS PFI contract which runs to 2 April 2021. The Department has a rolling agreement with Land Registry to use part of their space at Parkside Court.

    In November 2015, HMRC announced its plans to create a Regional Centre in Birmingham and a Specialist Site in Telford as part of its UK wide Building our Future Locations Programme. HMRC will use flexibility provisions within its occupancy agreements at both Abbey House and Parkside Court to align their closure with the opening of its new facilities. Specialist roles will remain in Telford with others moving to the new Regional Centre.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) children under 18 years of age and (b) young people aged 18 to 24(i) applied for legal aid through the Exceptional Case Funding Scheme (ECF) and (ii) were granted ECF in immigration cases in (A) 2013-14, (B) 2014-15 and (C) 2015-16.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The purpose of the Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) scheme is to provide funding where it is legally needed. It does not provide a general power to fund cases which fall outside the scope of legal aid. Legal aid is a vital part of our justice system, but we cannot escape the continuing need to reduce the deficit. We still have a very generous system – last year we spent £1.6bn on legal aid, around a quarter of the department’s expenditure. Every ECF application is carefully considered by the Legal Aid Agency on an individual basis.

    Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme, by age of applicant, April 2013 to December 2015

    FY application received

    Under 18

    18-24

    Unknown

    Apr 2013 – Mar 2014

    55

    86

    6982

    Apr 2014 – Mar 2015

    27

    116

    67

    Apr 2015 – Dec 20151

    31

    82

    78


    1
    Statistics for Jan-Mar 2016 are exempt for future publication on 30 June 2016

    2 Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding were collected from October 2013 onwards, hence the greater proportion of unknowns in 2013-14 compared to the other years.

    Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme, which were granted3, by age of applicant, April 2013 to December 2015

    FY application received

    Under 18

    18-24

    Unknown

    Apr 2013 – Mar 2014

    1

    4

    132

    Apr 2014 – Mar 2015

    8

    20

    3

    Apr 2015 – Dec 20151

    12

    40

    23

    1 Statistics for Jan-Mar 2016 are exempt for future publication on 30 June 2016

    2 Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding were collected from October 2013 onwards, hence the greater proportion of unknowns in 2013-14 compared to the other years.

    3 Granted by 29 February 2016

    Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme for immigration cases, by age of applicant, April 2013 to December 2015

    FY application received

    Under 18

    18-24

    Unknown

    Apr 2013 – Mar 2014

    12

    1332

    Apr 2014 – Mar 2015

    14

    39

    16

    Apr 2015 – Dec 20151

    11

    33

    25

    1 Statistics for Jan-Mar 2016 are exempt for future publication on 30 June 2016

    2 Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding were collected from October 2013 onwards, hence the greater proportion of unknowns in 2013-14 compared to the other years.

    Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme for immigration cases, which were granted3, by age of applicant, April 2013 to December 2015

    FY application received

    Under 18

    18-24

    Unknown

    Apr 2013 – Mar 2014

    12

    Apr 2014 – Mar 2015

    4

    8

    1

    Apr 2015 – Dec 20151

    10

    22

    12

    1 Statistics for Jan-Mar 2016 are exempt for future publication on 30 June 2016

    2 Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding were collected from October 2013 onwards, hence the greater proportion of unknowns in 2013-14 compared to the other years.

    3 Granted by 29 February 2016

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on whether article 50 of the Treaty on the functioning of the EU enables the EU to negotiate separately with the Scottish Government towards a different agreement to that which applies to the rest of the UK.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    The legal and constitutional responsibility for the UK’s relationship with the EU lies at Westminster. The Government will fully involve the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Governments to ensure we get the best deal for the UK as a whole.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how the Government plans to include Ministers of the Scottish Government in its negotiations on fisheries with the EU.

    George Eustice

    We will be holding discussions with all devolved administrations to determine how we will approach negotiations on fisheries with the EU.