The comments made by Diane Abbott, the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, on 18 November 2020.
Labour MPs lose the whip if suspended from the party automatically. De facto you can’t be a Labour MP if you’re not actually in the Labour Party. But removing the whip from Jeremy Corbyn now raises serious questions of due process.
The statement made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Labour Party, on 18 November 2020.
Since I was elected Labour leader, I have made it my mission to root out antisemitism from the Labour Party.
I know that I will be judged on my actions, not my words.
The disciplinary process does not have the confidence of the Jewish community. That became clear once again yesterday.
It is the task of my leadership to fix what I have inherited. That is what I am resolute in doing and I have asked for an independent process to be established as soon as possible.
I’m the Leader of the Labour Party, but I’m also the Leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Jeremy Corbyn’s actions in response to the EHRC report undermined and set back our work in restoring trust and confidence in the Labour Party’s ability to tackle antisemitism.
In those circumstances, I have taken the decision not to restore the whip to Jeremy Corbyn. I will keep this situation under review.
The statement made by Andrew Stephenson, the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, in the House of Commons on 17 November 2020.
High Speed Two (HS2) is at the heart of our plans to build back better from the covid-19 pandemic, creating thousands of skilled jobs, boosting connectivity between our towns and cities and helping to rebalance opportunity across the country for years to come.
However, as part of that commitment to build back better, it is crucial that we deliver HS2 in a way that is as considerate as possible of those disrupted by the project, who may face losing their homes and relocating their businesses.
In confirming HS2 would go ahead in February 2020, the Prime Minister also committed to a step change in HS2 Ltd’s performance and to drive improvements in transparency, accountability and value to the taxpayer. This included a renewed focus on placing people—the communities and individuals who will be impacted by HS2—at the heart of everything the Government do.
So following my appointment as the Minister for HS2, I initiated a review of the HS2 land and property acquisition programme, to ensure that those most directly affected were placed at its heart.
The review examined HS2 Ltd’s operational acquisition processes and, where the evidence demonstrated it, associated wider-Government policies. It focused on four areas:
How to deliver a step change in community engagement on the land and property acquisition programme;
How to protect the interests of those impacted;
How to improve process efficiency and delivery by HS2 Ltd;
And how to drive a better tone, showing conspicuous respect, courtesy and understanding.
Today, I am pleased to publish the findings of this review. Copies of the report have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
The Government are grateful for the contributions made by Members of the House and their constituents, external stakeholders, the HS2 Residents’ Commissioner and the HS2 Construction Commissioner. The review also considered lessons from Phase One of HS2 and examined compensation regimes employed on other UK infrastructure projects and abroad.
The review generated a number of proposals that are designed to speed up property valuations and disturbance payments, settle cases and disputes more quickly and build on the improvements HS2 Ltd have been introducing to engage more effectively with people.
The focus now will be on how the Government and HS2 Ltd turn these proposals into long-lasting changes that improve not only the delivery of HS2, but also the experience and wellbeing of individuals, businesses and communities impacted by them.
The Government want to ensure that those living near the route receive the right support at all stages of the project. Importantly, they remain committed to ensuring that those affected are properly compensated and treated with compassion, dignity and respect.
Attachments can be viewed online at: http://www. parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questionsanswers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2020-11-17/HCWS583/.
The statement made by Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, in the House of Commons on 17 November 2020.
I am today announcing the publication of the social housing White Paper. This White Paper will bring transformational change for social housing residents and the new approach and regulatory changes we set out will make a measurable difference to their lived experiences.
A home should always be more than just four walls and a roof. This country has a long tradition of providing homes for those most in need, going back many centuries. Today, the social housing sector provides homes to 4 million households. Many landlords provide a good service to their residents. They provide a decent, safe home. They support thriving neighbourhoods and communities. They are open with their residents, listen to them and treat them with respect. But this is not true of all landlords.
The tragedy at Grenfell Tower in June 2017 raised critical questions for everyone involved in social housing. The chair of the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, identified broader questions on social housing policy raised through the consultation on the inquiry terms of reference. It was agreed that these broader questions should not be within the scope of the inquiry itself.
Through the 2018 social housing Green Paper we sought views on a wide range of potential changes by talking to residents across the country as well as launching a call for evidence about how social housing is regulated. Many residents reported positive experiences, but others did not. We heard concerns about safety, and about complaints being handled slowly or poorly: that residents were not listened to or not treated with basic courtesy and respect. This is why today I am delivering on our manifesto commitment and publishing the social housing White Paper: “The Charter for Social Housing Residents”.
Alongside the changes we are making to improve building safety, our package of measures will make a real change to residents. It will ensure that there will be action for those landlords whose services fall below expectations so that they can be brought up to the level of those that we know already deliver a good service.
Summary of proposals
The White Paper establishes a new charter for social housing residents, setting out what every social resident should be able to expect of their landlord:
1. To be safe in their home
We will reinforce the regulator of social housing’s consumer regulation objective to include safety explicitly. We will legislate to place an obligation on landlords to identify a nominated person responsible for ensuring compliance with health and safety requirements. We will consult on how we apply the stronger legal requirements on smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in the private rented sector to the social rented sector, followed by a consultation on how to ensure social tenants are protected from poor electrical safety. We will support residents to have a stronger voice on safety matters and promote best practice on safety engagement with landlords.
2. To know how their landlord is performing
We will establish tenant satisfaction measures for social landlords to report against on issues that matter to tenants. We will make sure landlords are reporting clearly on how they spend their income and introduce a new access to information scheme for housing association tenants. And, we will require landlords to identify a senior person in their organisation who is clearly identified as responsible for ensuring they comply with consumer standards.
3. To have their complaints dealt with promptly and fairly
We will build on the changes we have already implemented with the Housing Ombudsman Service to improve its performance and reduce its decision times, ensuring swift and effective resolution of complaints. We will raise awareness of how residents can make and escalate complaints. We will expect social landlords to take greater responsibility for upskilling their staff to serve residents better when they make a complaint or raise an issue.
4. To be treated with respect, backed by a strong consumer regulator for tenants
We will transform social housing regulation by creating a new, proactive consumer regulation regime for social housing, delivering robust oversight of all social landlords. This means establishing a new arm of the regulator of social housing to regulate proactively on consumer standards including quality of homes, repairs, engagement with tenants and complaints handling. The new approach will raise standards and include routine inspections of the largest landlords every four years, alongside risk-based reactive inspections to deliver scrutiny and investigation of landlords most at risk of failing residents. We will ensure residents can access information about their home and the services they receive, and can raise concerns about systemic failure to the regulator of social housing. We will maintain the robust economic regulation that is already working effectively to support a well-governed and financially viable sector, and make sure the whole system is cohesive and balanced.
5. To have their voice heard by their landlord.
We will empower residents by requiring landlords to improve tenant engagement. We will deliver a new opportunities and empowerment programme for social housing residents, to support them in engaging with landlords and holding them to account. We will review professional training and development to ensure residents are treated with courtesy and respect.
6. To have a good-quality home and neighbourhood to live in.
We will encourage investment in neighbourhood, place and decency. We will review the decent homes standard and boost the quality of, and access to, green spaces. We will tackle anti-social behaviour by enabling tenants to know who is responsible for action and who can support and assist them.
7. To be supported to take their first step to ownership.
We will enable delivery of good-quality, affordable homes including the investment of £11.5 billion in the new affordable homes programme to deliver up to 180,000 homes. The programme will unlock a further £38 billion in public and private investment in affordable housing. We are also introducing a new affordable homes guarantee scheme and implementing a new, fairer and more accessible model for shared ownership.
Alongside the social housing White Paper, I am publishing the analysis of the consultation responses to the social housing Green Paper 2018 and to the call for evidence on the Government’s review of regulation 2018. I am also publishing a consultation on mandating smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in social rented homes with the aim of ensuring the same legal protections for social housing tenants as for those in private rented homes.
This new charter with its focus on transforming social housing regulation, ensuring homes are decent and safe, offering residents swift and effective resolution of complaints and empowering residents will rebalance the relationship between landlords and tenants. This is a strong, coherent package that is going to make a real difference in people’s lives.
The statement made by Jeremy Quin, the Minister for Defence Procurement, in the House of Commons on 17 November 2020.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) continues to deliver on its 25-year strategy to modernise its estate.
As part of this work we wish to confirm programme changes to individual sites: The disposal of DSG Colchester can be brought forward one year to 2021; the disposal of Middlewick Ranges also in Colchester will however be delayed by one year to 2022; the disposal of Fort Blockhouse 1 in Gosport will be delayed by at least three years to not before 2023; and the disposal of the remainder of the Southwick Park site in Fareham will be delayed to 2031. These delays are to meet military requirements.
We are also exchanging two parcels of land as part of the Forthside Stirling disposal to create a more sensible proposition for future development and will be enclaving Napier Lines at Woolwich Barracks as the long-term home for the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery. The disposal of the remainder of both sites will continued as planned.
There is the potential for adjustment to other site disposal dates as we continue to evaluate the movement of personnel and refine the portfolio timeline to meet military capability requirements. Any changes will be reflected in updates to the defence disposal database on the www.gov.uk website. This maintains a complete list of all MOD disposals including those that are part of defence estate optimisation. It is routinely updated throughout the year to provide the most accurate and current information as the Department continues to rationalise and enhance its estate.
The MOD remains committed to making the right decisions to support defence capabilities and offer best value for money for the taxpayer, balanced with our commitment to working with communities over the future use of sites released for disposal as part of the portfolio.
The speech made by Liz Truss, the Secretary of State for International Trade, at TheCityUK Conference on 16 November 2020.
Good afternoon everybody. It’s a great pleasure to be here at TheCityUK conference today to talk about how we can make the UK a hub for digital and services in trade.
Now we all recognise Covid is a very difficult time, not just for Britain but right all around the world. But the way we are going to recover from this crisis is through trade.
And what is particularly important is trade in services, and trade in digital. We have seen how over the course of the pandemic there has been an acceleration of the use of technology, and of course Britain is incredibly well placed to benefit from the future growth in areas like digital, services, and technology.
From robotics to fintechs, to computer games, to green finance, we are the second largest exporter in the world, totalling £318bn, and we export nearly as many services from Scotland and the North West of England as the entirety of France does.
We are the top FDI destination in Europe, with more investment in technology than Germany and France put together, totalling more than £10bn. Our computer games industry is growing faster than ever, and in terms of “tech unicorns,” billion-dollar tech companies, we have more than any other country apart from the United States and China. Fintechs firms like Revolut, Monzo and Transferwise, so we really are leaders in the area of services and technology.
What I think we can do with our own independent trading policy is we can help shape the future of the global rules in areas like digital, in areas like services, that haven’t seen the level of reform that they need to at the World Trade Organisation.
We can work with like-minded partners, other countries that believe in free enterprise, democracy, and the global rules-based system, to actually promote those new areas like digital and data trade.
We are prioritising our services in digital industry, alongside our other key interests like advanced manufacturing, and like the food and drink industry.
In all of the trade negotiations we are currently engaged in we are looking for advanced services chapters with our negotiating partners in areas like data and digital, in areas like financial services, mutual recognition of professional qualifications, and mobility.
Because we know that all of those specific chapters, specific areas, deliver real benefits not just for London and the South East, but right across the United Kingdom.
We also have just announced our new Office for Investment, bringing together a crack team across Government, under the leadership of Lord Gerry Grimstone, which will deal with the bureaucratic barriers that investors face when they’re seeking to invest in the United Kingdom.
We are also boosting our exports in areas like digital and services, we have just launched for example a digital and trade network across Asia Pacific to support companies out in that region, with people on the ground that understand the details of those businesses. And what is really important is that as we negotiate these new trade deals, we are drawing on the strong expertise of the industry that we have in the country.
So this is why we’ve established new Trade Advisory Groups, and on them sit organisations like CityUK, and other professional services, financial services, and legal services organisations – making sure that as we negotiate the deals we are getting the specific advice, the technical advice, that is going to give us the best possible deal for the United Kingdom.
We also make sure that leading professional service providers sit on our Strategic Trade Advisory Group, like KPMG. And we have also got the Board of Trade, which leads on our broader trade strategy and new ideas. We have got the founder and Chief Executive of Starling Bank, Anne Boden, on the Board of Trade, as well as the Lord Mayor of the City of London, because our trade policy is designed to benefit businesses across the UK. We can only make sure that it does that if we are involving and engaging you as we work on these trade negotiations.
We do see an opportunity to lead the world in areas like digital and data trade, and services trade.
Next year we will have the Presidency of the G7, and trade will be one of the key issues we are discussing. We will be looking at green trade; we will be looking at trade against pandemics; we will be looking at reforming the WTO to update the rules for the modern age; and we will also be looking at digital and data trade. And again, we will be involving organisations like TheCityUK in the work we’re doing to promote those initiatives.
We launched the UK Global Tariff earlier this year, it is a simpler lower tariff than the common external tariff. What it also does is reduce tariffs on a hundred green products, an idea we are very keen to promote across the world to encourage other countries to adopt it.
Because as we seek to move forward on the green agenda, as we are hosting COP26 next year, the UK has already become the first country in the world to make robust environmental disclosure standards mandatory, and we are doubling our international climate finance to £11.6bn.
We believe that through a combination of technology, of trade, and of working together with other nations we can make a real difference.
And in terms of our broader trade agenda, we have put in our manifesto our ambition to get 80% of the UK’s trade covered by Free Trade Agreements within three years. We want to build a cat’s cradle of trade deals across the Atlantic and Pacific, with the United Kingdom at its heart.
Now this isn’t a typical cat’s cradle, we want one that’s supercharged by fibre optic cables and satellites, and we want it focused on our strengths which, alongside food and drink and advanced manufacturing, are digital and services.
Miles very kindly mentioned the Japan deal that we have recently struck. This deal is important because it shows the type of trade policy that the United Kingdom wants to have post EU as an independent trading nation.
It goes further than the existing deal in areas like digital and data, anti-data localisation, protecting the free-flow of data, but also protecting things like source code and net neutrality.
It goes further in terms of professional services, of mobility of professionals between the United Kingdom and Japan.
It goes further in areas like intellectual property protection, and it goes further in areas like protection of Geographical Indicators.
What it does is allows greater innovation, it allows greater trade, particularly in technology. But it also makes sure that our financial services trade is underpinned by regulatory dialogue and again underpinned by advanced data and digital agreement.
Our services are our biggest export to Japan, accounting for 51% of trade. I was very pleased that TheCityUK concluded that it raises the bar for trade agreements in services. I mentioned the temporary movement of high skilled professionals, but what we’ve also achieved in the Japan deal is measures affecting the supply of services, including technical standards and making sure they’re administered in a reasonable, objective, and impartial manner.
It also paves the way for us to explore mutual recognition of professional qualifications, and British providers stand to benefit from most rules Japan may liberalise, such as the Foreign Lawyers Act. I believe that these provisions show the UK’s commitment to a liberal and transparent trading environment.
And what we secured in the Japan deal is only the start. We are also in negotiations with the United States, we recently completed round 5. Again we are looking for an ambitious financial services chapter, with high regulatory standards and the agreement to facilitate cross border flows.
Of course, we are working with both parties in the United States, there is a consensus that a trade deal with the United Kingdom is a good thing, and we are determined to make further progress.
We are also working with our close allies, Australia and New Zealand, on gold standard deals that would go further in areas like services, in areas like digital data, and in areas like investment. And these agreements are important in themselves, for the economic benefit they bring, but they’re also important because they provide a bridge towards the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a very exciting agreement because it contains some very high-quality services chapters that will be of huge benefit to the United Kingdom.
British companies have been doing £111bn worth of trade with members of this free trade zone, and we can do even more as a full member of the organisation. It would give us unprecedented and deep access to over 40% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product, which equates to over £27tn. And if you add the EU to that number, that’s £40tn.
What I think is interesting about CPTPP is the ability to have a single set of rules operating across that area, which not only benefit our businesses, but also help to set the global environment in a world where the WTO hasn’t significantly updated its rule on some of these issues since 1995.
We are also doing further work alongside Trans-Pacific Partnership accession with countries like India and Brazil to remove market access barriers in areas in both goods and services.
One thing I did want to mention is the importance of digital and data and services in trade, and the fact we think it’s not fully being taken into account in the economic models we do at the moment. So this is where we have commissioned Tony Venables of Oxford University to look at the benefits in particular of digital and data, and services, chapters on trade agreements.
A recent study of USMCA suggested that digital and data chapter actually had more effect on the economy than any other part of that agreement, and we suspect that’s the case for deals like Japan and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and we want to get more evidence about the specific benefits that digital and data provide.
It has been great to have the opportunity to talk to TheCityUK about our ambitious plans to create a cat’s cradle of trade deals across the world, with advanced services and digital chapters.
We believe that we can open up new opportunities to businesses abroad and attract more investment across our country.
We have unparalleled opportunities ahead because we are prepared to be innovative, we are prepared to look at new ideas, we are open to these advanced digital and data agreements. And we believe that this can benefit domestic industry in the United Kingdom, but also attract more investment overseas.
I think this year, of all years, we have seen that our services and digital and data trade is a key for the future prosperity of the United Kingdom. At the Department for International Trade we are absolutely determined to make sure that we continue to deliver on that, that we continue to open up new opportunities, and we continue to work with this industry that is so vital for the whole United Kingdom.
Thank you.
The comments made by Nadine Dorries, the Minister for Patient Safety, on 18 November 2020.
We are determined to make the NHS the safest healthcare system in the world. The introduction of digital prescribing systems has helped us reduce potentially deadly medication errors and save our hard-working staff valuable time, enabling them to dedicate their full attention and care to patients.
As we enter what is set to be a challenging winter, the best way we can continue to protect patients and staff is if we all work together and continue to follow the national restrictions to suppress the virus.
The article by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, in the Financial Times on 18 November 2020.
Slowly but surely humanity is taking the upper hand in the fight against the virus. We have not won yet. There are still hard weeks and months to come. But with better drugs, testing and a range of vaccines, we know in our hearts that next year we will succeed.
We will use science to rout the virus, and we must use the same extraordinary powers of invention to repair the economic damage from Covid-19, and to build back better.
Now is the time to plan for a green recovery with high-skilled jobs that give people the satisfaction of knowing they are helping make the country cleaner, greener and more beautiful.
Imagine Britain, when a Green Industrial Revolution has helped to level up the country. You cook breakfast using hydrogen power before getting in your electric car, having charged it overnight from batteries made in the Midlands. Around you the air is cleaner; trucks, trains, ships and planes run on hydrogen or synthetic fuel.
British towns and regions — Teeside, Port Talbot, Merseyside and Mansfield — are now synonymous with green technology and jobs. This is where Britain’s ability to make hydrogen and capture carbon pioneered the decarbonisation of transport, industry and power.
My 10 point plan to get there will mobilise £12bn of government investment, and potentially three times as much from the private sector, to create and support up to 250,000 green jobs.
There will be electric vehicle technicians in the Midlands, construction and installation workers in the North East and Wales, specialists in advanced fuels in the North West, agroforestry practitioners in Scotland, and grid system installers everywhere. And we will help people train for these new green jobs through our Lifetime Skills Guarantee.
This 10 point plan will turn the UK into the world’s number one centre for green technology and finance, creating the foundations for decades of economic growth.
One — we will make the UK the Saudi Arabia of wind with enough offshore capacity to power every home by 2030.
Two — we will turn water into energy with up to £500m of investment in hydrogen.
Three — we will take forward our plans for new nuclear power, from large scale to small and advanced modular reactors.
Four — we’ll invest more than £2.8bn in electric vehicles, lacing the land with charging points and creating long-lasting batteries in UK gigafactories. This will allow us to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans in 2030. However, we will allow the sale of hybrid cars and vans that can drive a significant distance with no carbon coming out of the tailpipe until 2035.
Five — we will have cleaner public transport, including thousands of green buses and hundreds of miles of new cycle lanes.
Six — we will strive to repeat the feat of Jack Alcock and Teddie Brown, who achieved the first nonstop transatlantic flight a century ago, with a zero emission plane. And we will do the same with ships.
Seven — we will invest £1bn next year to make homes, schools and hospitals greener, and energy bills lower.
Eight — we will establish a new world-leading industry in carbon capture and storage, backed by £1bn of government investment for clusters across the North, Wales and Scotland.
Nine — we will harness nature’s ability to absorb carbon by planting 30,000 hectares of trees every year by 2025 and rewilding 30,000 football pitches worth of countryside.
And ten, our £1bn energy innovation fund will help commercialise new low-carbon technologies, like the world’s first liquid air battery being developed in Trafford, and we will make the City of London the global centre for green finance through our sovereign bond, carbon offsets markets and disclosure requirements.
This plan can be a global template for delivering net zero emissions in ways that creates jobs and preserve our lifestyles.
On Wednesday I will meet UK businesses to discuss their contribution. We plan to provide clear timetables for the clean energy we will procure, details of the regulations we will change, and the carbon prices that we will put on emissions.
I will establish Task Force Net Zero committed to reaching net zero by 2050, and through next year’s COP26 summit we will urge countries and companies around the world to join us in delivering net zero globally.
Green and growth can go hand-in-hand. So let us meet the most enduring threat to our planet with one of the most innovative and ambitious programmes of job-creation we have known.
The comments made by Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, on 18 November 2020.
This report confirms that this Tory government’s approach to procurement has fallen far short of what this country deserves. Lessons must be learned.
The National Audit Office has shown how, at best, this incompetent government can’t even get basic paperwork right.
At worst, that the government may be deliberately attempting to cover their tracks, avoid scrutiny or withhold information from the public while wasting taxpayer money.
From paying for useless PPE to a maintaining Serco’s failed contract tracing system, we have seen disastrous decisions which have squandered public money and held back our country’s response to Covid-19.
The country deserves to have confidence their money is being spent effectively by the government – and to know without doubt that friends and donors to the Conservative party aren’t profiting from this pandemic.
The comments made by Wes Streeting, the Shadow Minister for Schools, on 18 November 2020.
Labour has consistently called for proper support for school leaders and a system of accountability that genuinely improves the learning experience for children and young people. We will only get the best out of our pupils if we get the best out of our teachers, support staff and school leaders which requires good quality training and professional development.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, progress to close the gap between pupils from the most and least disadvantaged backgrounds was not only stalling under this Government, but slipping into reverse. The Government must urgently refocus its attention on tackling educational disadvantage to prevent an entire generation of children from being left behind.