Blog

Alok Sharma – 2022 Speech at the Africa Adaptation Summit Opening Ceremony

The speech made by Alok Sharma, the Cabinet Office, in Rotterdam in Netherlands, on 5 September 2022.

Patrick, thank you very much.

Presidents, your excellencies, sisters and brothers, if I may: I want to thank everyone for all the inspiring words we’ve heard, and indeed the pragmatic suggestions, as that’s what actually matters, Patrick, as you’ve said.

And I want to thank you, Patrick, you and your team at the Global Centre on Adaptation for putting this together, together with the African Union, with Akin and the African Development Bank.

This is a critical summit. I want to start by saying that, unlike Kristalina, I have no original jokes to offer. But I’ve noted the joke you made, and I’ll be using it – like a good politician, I’ll be repeating it and claiming it as my own at future events!

Friends, we are ten months since COP26. And, as I think we’ve heard, that was an important milestone on adaptation and the work that we do around this.

We have the Glasgow/Sharm-El-Sheik Work Programme, which has got going on the global goal on Adaptation.

And in Glasgow we also had the event – that I was very pleased to be part of – on launching the African Adaptation Acceleration Program. And Akin, you talked about the £20 million of UK funding for the program.

This is all about making sure that we are driving policy and project support to those working to design and implement transformational adaptation interventions.

And so whether that’s in agriculture or infrastructure, or innovative finance, as Ngozi said (and others have commented): at the end of the day, we have to see tackling climate change also as a growth opportunity. For jobs, for the economy.

And I think unless we encourage everyone to do that, we will not make the progress that we need to make.

Ban and other leaders have referenced the commitment that we got at COP of developed countries at least doubling their collective provision on adaptation finance for developing nations by 2025.

I can tell you that this wasn’t an easy process, but we got there. And the reality now is that countries have to deliver.

You will all have seen the OECD figures that have come out for 2020 on the $100bn goal. We are moving in the right direction when it comes to adaptation, but the reality is we are going to have to quicken that pace.

Patrick, you said not to talk about all the things that have been going wrong in the world when it comes to climate, so let me just say this: the one thing I think every single one of us can say, just looking in our own countries, our continents, is that the chronic threat of climate change has got worse since COP26.

Things aren’t getting better.

I could give you all the examples of Africa, which I’ve got here, but I’m not going to because you know all of this.

I can tell you from a UK point of view, for the first time, we had wildfires this summer; we have droughts being declared; we have climate emergencies in terms of temperature levels being declared this summer.

Climate change does not recognise borders. And I think the sooner every world leader recognises that, the better.

We’ve got sixty-two days to COP27. Patrick, you said we want to see what is actually going to happen.

One of the things that we did agree was that there would be a progress report on the $100bn delivery plan, that is being worked on by our friends in the Canadian and German governments.

We will publish that before COP27, so we will be able to see what progress is actually being made.

And of course, this is going to require all the providers – the MDBs and others – to set out clear, ambitious adaptation finance targets when we meet in Egypt.

And I also want to acknowledge the brilliant work that Kristalina and her team have done on the RSD; that is really quite remarkable, so thank you so much for all your leadership on that.

We know that the annual adaptation costs are expected to reach at least $140bn a year by 2030, and frankly public finance is not going to be enough. We are going to need private finance. And so in a way I agree; I wish we did have more of the private finance providers around this table.

You’ve all set out very clearly the challenges we have and how we rise to those. And I want to acknowledge, firstly, the enormous support and help that I’ve got from Amina over the past years in this role; but also to make the point that, as she said, we need to make sure that when we get to COP27, we have to demonstrate that what we achieved at COP26 is starting to be delivered.

I said in Glasgow that the pulse of 1.5 is weak. And I have to say to you friends, it does remain weak right now.

On the positive side, we were able to show in Glasgow that the multilateral system, however unwieldy, can work when we all understand that it’s in our collective self interest.

And so what we do need to ensure in the coming days, weeks, and two months to COP27, is that we’re delivering on adaptation.

I want to end by what Akin said. He said: ‘you’re all doers in this room’.

So I have to say friends, now we just need to get it done.

Thank you.

05/09/2022
PRESS RELEASE : Prime Minister call with President Zelenskyy – 5 September 2022

The press release issued by Downing Street on 5 September 2022.

The Prime Minister spoke to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, this afternoon to thank him for his leadership and friendship.

The Prime Minister made clear that he believed President Zelenskyy and his people can and will win the war in Ukraine.

President Zelenskyy thanked the Prime Minister for believing in Ukraine and its people and updated on the recent progress of his Armed Forces in the south of the country.

The Prime Minister said he was convinced the Ukrainian forces could continue to succeed in pushing back Russian forces and added that the UK remained steadfast in its support.

The Prime Minister told President Zelenskyy it had been a privilege to work with him and support him, and the leaders agreed to stay in close touch as friends.

05/09/2022
PRESS RELEASE : Reappointment of lay panel member of the Judicial Conduct and Investigations Office

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 5 September 2022.

The Lord Chancellor, in consultation with the Lord Chief Justice, has announced the reappointment of Bronwen Curtis CBE as a lay panel member of the Judicial Conduct and Investigations Office.

The reappointment will run from 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2023.

The Judicial Conduct and Investigations Office is an independent office which supports the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice in considering complaints about the personal conduct of judicial office-holders.

Appointments and reappointments are made by the Lord Chancellor and are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The reappointment has been made in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

Biography

Bronwen Curtis CBE has held leadership positions in both the private and public sector and most recently as Director, Human Resources and Organisational Development, Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. Bronwen is a lay member of the Speakers Committee for IPSA and a member of the regulatory appointments panel for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. She is a former UK Board member of a global corporation and previously named Midlands Businesswoman of the Year.

05/09/2022
Priti Patel – 2022 Letter of Resignation as Home Secretary

The letter of resignation sent by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, to Boris Johnson, the outgoing Prime Minister, on 5 September 2022.

05/09/2022
Priti Patel – 2022 Letter to Sir Mark Rowley

The letter sent by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, to Sir Mark Rowley on 5 September 2022.

(in .pdf format)

05/09/2022
Liz Truss – 2022 Victory Acceptance Speech as Prime Minister

The acceptance speech made by Liz Truss on 5 September 2022.

Well, thank you, Sir Graham. It’s an honour to be elected as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party.

I’d like to thank the 1922 Committee, the party chairman and the Conservative Party for organising one of the longest job interviews in history. Thank you very much.

I’d also like to thank my family, my friends, my political colleagues and all of those who helped on this campaign. I’m incredibly grateful for all of your support.

I’d like to pay tribute to my fellow candidates, particularly Rishi Sunak. It’s been a hard-fought campaign. I think we have shown the depth and breadth of talent in our Conservative Party.

I also want to thank our outgoing leader, my friend, Boris Johnson. Boris, you got Brexit done. You crushed Jeremy Corbyn. You rolled out the vaccine and you stood up to Vladimir Putin. You are admired from Kyiv to Carlisle.

Friends and colleagues, thank you for putting your faith in me to lead our great Conservative Party, the greatest political party on earth.

I know that our beliefs resonate with the British people – our beliefs in freedom, in the ability to control your own life, in low taxes, in personal responsibility, and I know that’s why people voted for us in such numbers in 2019. And as your party leader, I intend to deliver what we promised those voters right across our great country.

During this leadership campaign, I campaigned as a conservative and I will govern as a conservative. My friends, we need to show that we will deliver over the next two years. I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy. I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people’s energy bills, but also dealing with the long-term issues we have on energy supply.

I will deliver on the National Health Service. We will deliver for all for our country and I will make sure that we use all the fantastic talents of the Conservative Party, our brilliant Members of Parliament, and peers, our fantastic councillors, our MSs, our MSPs, all of our councillors and activists and members right across our country, because, my friends, I know that we will deliver, we will deliver and we will deliver. And we will deliver a great victory for the Conservative Party in 2024, thank you.

05/09/2022
PRESS RELEASE : Emergency support put in place for people fleeing Ukraine and entering the UK with their pets

The press release issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 5 September 2022.

Streamlined system with the Government covering the costs of any necessary stays in quarantine for the pets of those fleeing Ukraine.

The Government has put in place new emergency support for those fleeing Ukraine with their pets. Using an emergency licence, people fleeing Ukraine can bring their pets to the UK with any quarantine costs met by the Government.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency is providing quick licence approvals and quarantine arrangements to avoid creating additional burdens or delays. The Government is also covering their vaccination, microchipping and quarantine costs, recognising that many individuals from Ukraine will not have been able to complete the full health preparations required for their pet on arrival.

The maximum stay in quarantine for a pet which has received no rabies vaccination is four months. Pets are considered on a case-by-case basis, with a shortened quarantine period for those that are vaccinated.

The Government has also introduced a new rabies blood test that will be able to detect existing rabies vaccinations faster. This will help in instances where refugees have travelled without vaccination paperwork.

Results can be turned around in a minimum of two days with some animals then moving to isolation if they are found to have rabies antibodies. This will help maintain our strict biosecurity measures and allow people to be reunited more quickly with their pets when possible.

We are working with vets and quarantine facilities to make sure that the arrival of Ukrainians in the UK is not delayed by the process to make arrangements for their pets.

Animal Welfare Minister Lord Goldsmith said:

“People having to flee Ukraine are in an appalling situation. I’m pleased that Ukrainian refugees will be able to bring their pets to the UK with any quarantine costs paid for by the Government.

As part of our new streamlined process, any animals which have already received some treatment may also have their stay in quarantine facilities reduced and be returned back to their owner as soon as possible.”

Before arrival, people leaving the Ukraine or their carrier should contact the Animal and Plant Health Agency at ukrainepettravel@apha.gov.uk or call +44 3000 200 301 option 2. They will then be able to confirm their approval for their emergency licence and organise any necessary stay in quarantine which is required to complete the rabies risk management process.

There is a limited amount of quarantine facilities in the UK and we will prioritise those fleeing Ukraine who wish to bring their pets with them.

The Chief Veterinary Officer previously urged rehoming charities to check online guidance and ensure rescue animals have the necessary vaccination paperwork after recent follow-up border checks by the APHA showed a shipment of 19 animals imported by a rescue charity travelled illegally on falsified rabies documentation.

Ukraine is an unlisted country regarding the movement of pets due to the confirmed presence of rabies. We have serious ongoing concerns around the onward commercial movement of animals between or from Ukraine and neighbouring countries and the health risk that presents. The UK has been rabies free for 100 years and the movement of large numbers of rescue animals who are entering Great Britain from high-risk rabies countries, without the correct health preparations, presents serious risks to biosecurity and public health. There has also been a number of serious instances of non-compliant imports, including those under falsified paperwork.

To ensure we continue to prioritise those fleeing Ukraine with their own pets, all commercial imports of dogs, cats and ferrets from Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and Romania have been temporarily suspended for a further eight weeks until 29th October 2022.

05/09/2022
Boris Johnson – 2022 Letter to Veterans of the UK’s Nuclear Testing Programme

The letter sent by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 5 September 2022.

(in .pdf format)

05/09/2022
Grant Shapps – 2022 Statement on TFL Long Term Funding Settlement

The statement made by Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Transport, in the House of Commons on 5 September 2022.

Following my statement to the House on 13 July (2022), I am writing to update the House that today we have agreed a new longer-term funding settlement between Transport for London (TfL) and government. The final extraordinary funding settlement expired on 3 August and I have agreed with the Mayor of London a new settlement until 31 March 2024 or until Transport for London reaches financial sustainability, whichever is the sooner.

This longer-term settlement includes over £1.1 billion (bn) of additional grant funding until March 2024 for London transport, which will unlock almost £3.6bn worth of critical infrastructure investment, with a number of projects set to revolutionise travel across the capital.

As a result of our longer-term settlement, major upgrades will be delivered for Londoners, including new Piccadilly line trains and the modernisation of the District, Metropolitan, Hammersmith and City and Circle lines – maintaining the London Underground’s world-class status. Further benefits include: supporting the long-awaited repair of Hammersmith Bridge; vital improvement to Elephant and Castle station and a London Overground extension between Gospel Oak and Barking Riverside to service more than 10,000 new homes in east London.

As part of the settlement, the Mayor will be required to continue work on the introduction of driverless trains on London Underground, in use on the Dockland Light Railway for more than 35 years. At a time when strikes are crippling both the Underground and national rail systems, never has this work been more important.

Alongside all of this is government’s continued commitment to mitigate TfL’s loss of passenger revenue from the ongoing uncertainty of demand following changes to travel patterns since the COVID-19 pandemic. None of this would have been possible without government funding.

The settlement letter requires Transport for London to modernise and control its operating costs, to make it a modern, effective, efficient and financially stable operator. It is a settlement that is fair and proportionate to London whilst also taking into account funding provided elsewhere in the country and the cost to the national taxpayer, at a time of great pressure on national finances.

It comes on top of the over £5bn of funding support the government has already provided to TfL since the beginning of the pandemic and government’s commitment to over £1 billion per year until 2025 for London transport through business rates retention.

Through all of this, government is continuing to work with the Mayor and TfL to ensure London’s transport system delivers for the public and businesses and contributes to the country’s economy.

05/09/2022
Grant Shapps – 2022 Statement on the £2 Bus Fare Cap

The speech made by Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Transport in the House of Commons on 5 September 2022.

On 3 September, we announced plans to invest up to £60 million to introduce a £2 bus fare cap on a single bus ticket on most services in England outside London. This will start no later than 1 January 2023 and will be in place for a period of 3 months until March 2023.

At a time when many are struggling with the rising cost of living, this is a significant investment that will result in millions of people across England saving on travel costs. This investment also makes clear our continued commitment to delivering on the bold vision for bus services set out in ‘Bus Back Better’, the government’s national bus strategy, and particularly our ambition to make bus services cheaper. The introduction of the £2 bus fare cap is a significant step forward to delivering this and continues the government’s track record of providing the largest investment in bus services in a generation, in England outside London.

This fare cap will not apply to bus services in London as transport is devolved to the Mayor of London, including fare setting. However, I know that colleagues across Parliament will be pleased that this announcement follows the agreement with Transport for London on a £1.2 billion multi-year settlement to secure the long-term future of London’s transport network, including bus services.

As well as supporting passengers by reducing the cost of bus fares, we have also continued to invest in bus services, in response to the unprecedented impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic but which would now be threatening the provision of services at a time when the public need bus services more than ever.

With nearly £2 billion provided so far, through the COVID-19 bus service support grant, the Bus Recovery Grant and most recently the local transport fund, we have mitigated the impacts of the pandemic on bus networks. This meant that buses were kept running over the course of the pandemic to ensure that those who had to travel for work, education or healthcare were able to access these vital services and help keep this country running.

As I announced to this House in March, this funding was originally due to end in April (2022), but at the time it was clear that the sector was still facing significant financial challenges as it sought to recover from the pandemic. That is why we announced we would provide a further £150 million, and extend recovery funding for the sector until October, to allow bus services the maximum amount of time to recover.

At the time of announcing this funding, we were clear that this would be the last such round of recovery funding. However, with the sector continuing to face significant challenges, and many people facing pressures due to the rising cost of living, we recognise that further government support is necessary to prevent significant cuts to bus services for the millions of people who use them every day.

That is why on 19 August we announced a six-month extension to the Bus Recovery Grant, worth up to £130 million, to continue supporting bus services in England outside London. This will be in effect for 6 months starting in October 2022 until the end of the financial year in March 2023. This funding will provide the sector and passengers with certainty in the short-term and ensure that these vital services will continue to serve those that rely on them to live, work and travel. Both of these further investments in England’s bus services demonstrate our commitment to supporting bus services. We will continue to work closely with the sector as we deliver the national bus strategy, and fulfil our ambition for everyone, everywhere to have access to great bus services.

05/09/2022