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  • PRESS RELEASE : Record funding uplift for UK battery research and development [October 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : Record funding uplift for UK battery research and development [October 2022]

    The press release issued by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 21 October 2022.

    • £211 million of government funding confirmed for battery research through the Faraday Battery Challenge
    • battery industry could support 100,000 jobs by 2040 and is central to growth of key industries – such as electric vehicles and renewables
    • Business Secretary visits government-backed UK Battery Industrialisation Centre in Coventry to see how battery research is being brought to market.

    The UK’s world-leading manufacturing industries will be boosted thanks to £211 million in new government funding for battery research and innovation, Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg confirmed today (Friday 21 October).

    The record funding uplift will be delivered through the Faraday Battery Challenge, which began in 2017 and supports world-class scientific technology development and manufacturing scale-up capability for batteries in the UK. It will help to seize on opportunities for private investment and economic growth in industries where powerful, fast charging batteries will be essential – such as domestic energy storage and electric vehicles.

    The funding, from last year’s settlement, will be delivered between 2022 and 2025 by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) with support from the Faraday Institution, Innovate UK and the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC).

    It will help the sector deliver 100,000 jobs in battery gigafactories and the battery supply chain by 2040. Supporting the scale-up of these technologies and unlocking further private investment supports the sustainable growth of the economy, which will boost tax revenues and put public services on a more secure footing for the longer term, helping improve life for people across the UK.

    Speaking on a visit to the £130 million UKBIC, which is the UK’s centre of excellence in battery manufacturing, Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said:

    Safe and powerful batteries are central to our plans to grow the industries of the future. From our world leading renewables industry, to our growing electric vehicle sector, secure supplies of batteries are key to delivering jobs and prosperity.

    The Faraday Battery Challenge has brought the UK’s greatest minds and best facilities together to develop the innovations that will help us achieve this goal. The work it has done since 2017 has laid the groundwork for our future economic success and I am pleased to confirm this work will continue, supported by record funding.

    The Faraday Battery Challenge combines:

    • research and capability development to reduce battery weight and cost, increase energy and power, and ensure reliability and recyclability;
    • collaborative business-led innovation in the UK battery sector, development of the wider network and skills needed to manufacture batteries through Innovate UK; and
    • manufacturing scale-up & skills development at the UKBIC the national battery manufacturing development facility.

    The Challenge has supported over 140 organisations working across the UK, attracting over £400 million in further private sector investment. It has enabled the Faraday Institution, the UK’s independent battery research body, to unite 500 researchers across more than 25 universities to improve current and develop future battery technologies.

    Faraday Battery Challenge Director Tony Harper said:

    This new funding allows us to strengthen the foundation we’ve created by consolidating and building on the UK’s position to become a battery science superpower. We now have an opportunity to ensure that our national industrialisation infrastructure remains world leading in this fast-evolving critical net zero technology.

    With the support of the Challenge, the £130 million UKBIC in Coventry opened three years ahead of its nearest European competition. The Centre provides the link between battery research and successful mass production. So far UKBIC has supported over 140 UK battery developers, working on more than 80 research and innovation projects, to successfully scale their products to market.

    Felicity Buchan, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said:

    The battery industry will play a pivotal role in the growth of our future economy. That’s why it’s so important that we are making this record investment in cutting-edge research, supporting businesses to become more innovative and productive, and creating high-skill, high-wage jobs across the UK.

    UKBIC Managing Director Jeff Pratt said:

    I am delighted with this announcement which demonstrates the government’s sustained commitment to supporting the development of advanced battery technologies across the UK. Since the Faraday Battery Challenge was launched in 2017, we have seen rapid change in the battery industry as it develops increased capacity across Europe; and this will continue over the coming decade.

    For UKBIC, this additional funding will ensure that we retain our leading-edge manufacturing capability for the UK and can continue to support our industry in the next few years as novel chemistries and formats scale towards volume production.

    UKRI Chief Executive Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser said:

    Advanced battery technology will play a central role in our lives and the economy, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, creating new jobs and opening up new opportunities.

    The Faraday Battery Challenge is at the forefront of the clean technology revolution, catalysing collaboration and innovation that will benefit society.

    This exciting work and the further investment announced today underlines the ways in which research and innovation can help to create a sustainable future while driving economic growth.

    Along with the Challenge, the UK government is helping to deliver a world leading electric vehicle industry for the UK through the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF). Through the ATF the UK has secured major investments in battery production, including Envision AESC expanding their existing plant in Sunderland.

    A further £4 million is also being announced through UKRI’s Driving the Electric Revolution Challenge to support skills, talent and training across Power Electronics, Machines and Drives (PEMD) manufacturing and supply chains. PEMD components are the parts that make things ‘go’, from cars to hairdryers, underpinning a wide range of high-value industries.

  • PRESS RELEASE : It is our responsibility as Member States to unequivocally condemn disinformation, especially when it provokes or encourages threats to peace or acts of aggression [October 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : It is our responsibility as Member States to unequivocally condemn disinformation, especially when it provokes or encourages threats to peace or acts of aggression [October 2022]

    The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 20 October 2022.

    Statement by Mungo Woodifield, UK Spokesperson to the UN, at the UN Fourth Committee, 12th meeting – General Assembly, 77th Session.

    Thank you Mr Chair, Distinguished colleagues,

    I would like to start by thanking Under-Secretary-General Fleming and the Department of Global Communications for their engagement with Member States, through reports submitted to the Committee on Information, as well as regular updates and exchanges on the work of the Department.

    The United Kingdom welcomes the Department’s work to improve the UN’s strategic communications, news, media and outreach activity as well as its leadership and innovation in response to the complex communications challenges that face us.

    The Department has continued to expand its reach through innovative partnerships and has been successful at mobilising wide and diverse audiences. These efforts are necessary to meet the growing demand around the world for accurate, impartial and comprehensive information on the most pressing global issues, such as Covid-19, the Climate Crisis, or Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.

    On these topics and others, people are looking at the UN now more than ever as a source of trusted information and we have to acknowledge that part of the reason why is that disinformation, propaganda and lies are out there in the world like never before. An infodemic carried on vectors of digital technologies and media.

    We also need to be frank that this infodemic has a source and it is important that we focus our attention on “information manipulation, including disinformation, by states” and we recognise, this year in particular, the disinformation dimension of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

    Since launching its invasion in February, the Kremlin’s propaganda machine has been in overdrive. The Russian government has lied to the world, lied to Ukrainians, lied to its own people and lied to itself. President Putin wants truth to be a casualty of this war, but we will continue to tell the truth about Russia’s aggression, including the strong evidence of war crimes that we are seeing committed in Ukraine.

    The UN must do the same, guided by the language in resolutions adopted overwhelmingly by the General Assembly and the Secretary-General’s clear statements about Russia’s violations of the UN Charter and its aggression. The entire UN system must be consistent in how it describes this war.

    Because this offensive against truth has global consequences. Russia’s disinformation about its invasion of Ukraine threatens to undermine public trust in the media and also confidence in public and international institutions, including the UN.

    This really matters because if they succeed, then we will all fail. It is our responsibility as Member States to unequivocally condemn disinformation, especially when it provokes or encourages threats to peace or acts of aggression.

    The ideals enshrined in the UN Charter cannot be realised in a world in which truth is obscured by State propaganda and muzzled media freedoms.

    Together through our work in this Committee and in partnership with the UN, we can challenge disinformation and protect the space for impartial and accurate reporting of the threats and challenges that the UN was founded to address.

  • Simon Jupp – 2022 Comments on Rishi Sunak Becoming Prime Minister

    Simon Jupp – 2022 Comments on Rishi Sunak Becoming Prime Minister

    The comments made by Simon Jupp, the Conservative MP for East Devon, on Twitter on 20 October 2022.

    I accepted a position in government because I wanted it to work. Unfortunately, it didn’t.

    Rishi Sunak has already set out his stall to the nation. He’s got the experience needed to lead the nation & the knowledge to restore economic credibility.

    I’m backing Rishi Sunak for PM.

  • Mel Stride – 2022 Comments on Rishi Sunak Becoming Prime Minister

    Mel Stride – 2022 Comments on Rishi Sunak Becoming Prime Minister

    The comments made by Mel Stride, the Conservative MP for Central Devon, on Twitter on 21 October 2022.

    Backing Rishi Sunak for next party leader and PM. He will bring us together by uniting talent from right across the party, heal our economy and bring us back into political contention.

  • Jane Stevenson – 2022 Comments on Boris Johnson Returning as Prime Minister

    Jane Stevenson – 2022 Comments on Boris Johnson Returning as Prime Minister

    The comments made by Jane Stevenson, the Conservative MP for Wolverhampton North East, on Twitter on 21 October 2022.

    Conservative Party members have not been given a say on Boris Johnson.

    Our hard-working Voluntary Party should be central in deciding our Party Leader.

    I am now supporting Boris’s nomination so our members finally have their say, and our Party can unite and move forward.

  • Kevin Hollinrake – 2022 Comments on Rishi Sunak Becoming Prime Minister

    Kevin Hollinrake – 2022 Comments on Rishi Sunak Becoming Prime Minister

    The comments made by Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton, on Twitter on 20 October 2022.

    I very much hope Rishi Sunak will stand and become our new PM. He has the right leadership attributes, the ability to get things done, an unrivalled knowledge of the economy and a proven track record as Chancellor, the second toughest job in British politics.

  • Gavin Williamson – 2022 Comments on Rishi Sunak Becoming Prime Minister

    Gavin Williamson – 2022 Comments on Rishi Sunak Becoming Prime Minister

    The comments made by Gavin Williamson, the Conservative MP for South Staffordshire, on Twitter on 21 October 2022.

    I believe Rishi Sunak is the best person to take the Conservative party and, most importantly, the country forward. He has the talent, integrity, and humility necessary to provide us with a fresh start and a steady hand. I am proud to support him.

  • Siobhan Baillie – 2022 Comments on Rishi Sunak Becoming Prime Minister

    Siobhan Baillie – 2022 Comments on Rishi Sunak Becoming Prime Minister

    The comments made by Siobhan Baillie, the Conservative MP for Stroud, on Twitter on 21 October 2022.

    I’m backing Rishi Sunak. He is an exceptional talent that the country knows & trusts to look after the UK in difficult times. The furlough scheme is still credited with saving businesses locally.

    Westminster has also been mad as a box of frogs for too long. I think Rishi Sunak has the best chance of restoring calm and replacing the politics of politics on the tellybox with reality, hard truths when necessary and what Parliament can really do for every day people.

  • Maggie Throup – 2022 Comments on Rishi Sunak Becoming Prime Minister

    Maggie Throup – 2022 Comments on Rishi Sunak Becoming Prime Minister

    The comments made by Maggie Throup, the Conservative MP for Erewash, on Twitter on 20 October 2022.

    I’m backing Rishi Sunak for PM. I know he’ll unite the party as well as bringing sound economics to our country and lead us to success in the future.

  • George Freeman – 2022 Comments on Penny Mordaunt Becoming Prime Minister

    George Freeman – 2022 Comments on Penny Mordaunt Becoming Prime Minister

    The comments made by George Freeman, the Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk, on Twitter on 21 October 2022.

    Britain needs stability and unity, not a soap opera.

    Having helped run the Penny Mordaunt campaign in July, the last few weeks and months have shown why she has what it takes to bring the unity, stability + economic responsibility we need in 10 Downing Street.