22 MARCH 1925
There was concern for the health of the Earl of Ypres following a serious operation.
The Cabinet was expected to announce its plan for reform of the House of Lords.
Blog
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Hilary Benn – 2025 Comments on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Omagh Bombing Inquiry and Government of Ireland
The comments made by Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, on 15 April 2025.
I welcome the Irish Government’s commitment to co-operate with the Omagh Bombing Inquiry through this memorandum of understanding.
This is a very positive step that will help enable the independent Inquiry to do its job and provide answers for families.
The Omagh bombing was a heinous atrocity committed by the Real IRA at a time when communities in Northern Ireland were looking forward to peace and stability.
It caused immense pain and suffering to the many families who lost loved ones and to those who were injured. They will always be in our thoughts.
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NEWS STORY : Harrow Builder, Florin-Petrica Bodale, Sentenced for £50,000 COVID Loan Fraud
STORY:
A building contractor from Harrow has received a suspended prison sentence after fraudulently obtaining a £50,000 COVID-19 Bounce Back Loan by significantly overstating his business’s turnover. Florin-Petrica Bodale, 34, operated as a sole trader offering plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning services. In November 2020, he applied for a Bounce Back Loan, falsely claiming an annual turnover of £240,000 to secure the maximum loan amount. However, an investigation by the Insolvency Service revealed his actual turnover was approximately £22,000, entitling him to a loan of just £5,500. On 10 April 2025, at Snaresbrook Crown Court, Bodale was sentenced to 13 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work.
David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, commented:
“Florin-Petrica Bodale falsely claimed a much higher turnover for his business and the reality of this is a notable sentence on top of his earlier disqualification as a director. These loans were intended to help keep small businesses afloat, not to take money from the public purse that businesses were not entitled to. We will continue in our efforts to bring those who abuse this scheme to justice.”
The Bounce Back Loan Scheme was introduced to support small and medium-sized businesses during the pandemic. The Insolvency Service continues to investigate and prosecute individuals who have exploited the scheme.
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PRESS RELEASE : Building contractor sentenced for £50,000 Covid loan fraud [April 2025]
The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 15 April 2025.
- Florin-Petrica Bodale was a building contractor and sole trader, operating in Harrow.
- He claimed his business had a turnover of more than £200,000 to claim the maximum Covid Bounce Back loan.
- He was sentenced to 13-months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, following a hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
A building contractor who fraudulently claimed a £50,000 Covid Bounce Back loan has received a 13-month suspended sentence.
Florin-Petrica Bodale operated as a building contractor offering plumbing, heating and air-conditioning installation and was based in Harrow, London.
In November 2020, the 34-year-old successfully applied to a bank for a Covid Bounce Back loan of £50,000.
But an Insolvency Service investigation found that he had falsely claimed the company’s turnover was £240,000 to receive the maximum loan available.
In reality, the turnover of the company was around £22,000 – meaning he was only entitled to £5,500.
On 10 April 2025, at Snaresbrook Crown Court, Bodale was sentenced to 13-months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, for one count of fraud by false representation.
He was also ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work.
Insolvency Service Chief Investigator David Snasdell said:
Florin-Petrica Bodale falsely claimed a much higher turnover for his business and the reality of this is a notable sentence on top of his earlier disqualification as a director.
These loans were intended to help keep small businesses afloat, not to take money from the public purse that businesses were not entitled to.
We will continue in our efforts to bring those who abuse this scheme to justice.
In 2022, before the criminal investigation, Bodale signed a ten-year bankruptcy restriction undertaking which also included a ten-year director disqualification following a civil investigation by the Insolvency Service.
The court noted that he had repaid some money as part of the bankruptcy process.
Measures were introduced during 2020 to support businesses affected by COVID-19 such as loans, grants and tax allowances. The Bounce Back loan scheme helped small and medium-sized businesses to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000, at a low interest rate, guaranteed by the Government.
The Bounce Back loans were made on the condition that they were not to be used for personal purposes, but could be used, for example, to purchase a company asset such as a vehicle, if it would provide an economic benefit to the business.
Further information:
- Florin-Petrica Bodale’s last known address is Elmsleigh Avenue, Harrow. Date of birth: 26/06/1990
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David Lammy – 2025 Speech at London Sudan Conference
The speech made by David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, in London on 15 April 2025.
Two years on from this war starting, with frontlines shifting again, I fear many onlookers feel a sense of déjà vu. The country’s fraught history also means that some conclude that further conflict is effectively inevitable.
Many have given up on Sudan. That is wrong. It’s morally wrong when we see so many civilians beheaded, infants as young as one subjected to sexual violence, more people facing famine than anywhere else in the world.
We simply cannot look away. And as I speak, civilians and aid workers in El Fasher and Zamzam IDP camp are facing unimaginable violence.
With over four million refugees having fled the country, and instability spreading far beyond Sudan’s border, it’s also strategically wrong to forget Sudan. And that’s why, as Foreign Secretary, I refused to turn away. I felt a duty to confront this war’s horrors head on.
I have been to the Sudanese border and met with survivors. I have called out attacks on civilians and humanitarian workers in the United Nations.
And I have doubled our aid to Sudan, and today I am announcing a further £120 million worth of support. But the biggest obstacle is not a lack of funding or texts at the United Nations, it’s lack of political will.
Very simply, we have got to persuade the warring parties to protect civilians, to let aid in and across the country and to put peace first.
And so we do need patient diplomacy. Bringing together this group today, focusing of course on the areas where we agree and building out from there is very very important today, indeed. Today’s goal is then to do just that. We all want to see Sudan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity upheld.
We all want to see a united state, with functioning institutions. We all want to see Sudan’s civilians protected, and the millions of displaced people able to return to their homes.
This is a strong basis to agree the steps needed then to relieve suffering and to end this awful war. I hope across our three sessions, we can agree a set of principles for our future diplomatic engagement.
When I met with Sudanese refugees in Chad I was frankly humbled by their resilience. In the face of unimaginable trauma, they had not given up on their country or the communities around them.
For their sake, we cannot resign ourselves to inevitable conflict. We cannot be back here one year from now, having the same discussion. So today, let’s show them and the world we have not given up on them. We have not given up on Sudan.
I am hugely grateful for the support from the African Union, and to my colleagues from France, Germany and the EU in supporting the shared endeavour.
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![PRESS RELEASE : Joint Statement – 16th Ukraine Defence Contact Group – National Armaments Directors Format [April 2025]](https://www.ukpol.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/mod.png)
PRESS RELEASE : Joint Statement – 16th Ukraine Defence Contact Group – National Armaments Directors Format [April 2025]
The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 15 April 2025.
Joint Statement from Ukraine, Germany and the United Kingdom, co-chairs of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG).
On Friday 11 April the National Armaments Directors (NADs) from over 40 nations met at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels. They were supported by multiple international government organisations.
They agreed to ensure that the commitments made in the UDCG Ministerial Format are rapidly converted into contracts with industry and the tangible delivery of support to Ukraine to ensure Ukraine is able to sustain the resolute defence of her sovereignty and her people and negotiate a lasting and secure peace.
The UDCG NAD Format, co-chaired by Ukraine, Germany and the UK and building on the work of the US since its inception, will report its progress to the June ministerial meeting.
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![PRESS RELEASE : Third international meeting of the Post-Holocaust Issues Special Envoys Network on Holocaust-era Restitution [April 2025]](https://www.ukpol.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/fco.png)
PRESS RELEASE : Third international meeting of the Post-Holocaust Issues Special Envoys Network on Holocaust-era Restitution [April 2025]
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 15 April 2025.
Lord Pickles attends meeting in The Hague to discuss progress and challenges relating to the restitution of Holocaust-era assets.
On 2 April, UK Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues Lord Pickles attended a meeting of the Special Envoys Network on Holocaust-era Restitution in The Hague. The meeting was hosted by the Netherlands’ National Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism, Eddo Verdoner, alongside the World Jewish Restitution Organisation and the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security.
The US Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Ellen Germain updated that 32 countries had now signed up to the Best Practices for the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art. She made a special plea to those countries who had signed the original Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art 25 years ago to sign up to the best practices document.
Lord Pickles made the point that no country is immune from restitution claims. He reported that the Tate Britain art museum was set to reunite the great-grandchildren of a Belgian Jewish art collector with a painting looted from his home by the Nazis.
The oil painting ‘Aeneas and his Family Fleeing Burning Troy’ by English painter Henry Gibbs was stolen from the home of Samuel Hartveld after he fled Antwerp with his wife in May 1940. The piece, dating from 1654, was one of hundreds of thousands the Nazis plundered from Jewish families during World War II.
Its restitution has been a slow process, often involving legal battles and complex international searches. The return of the painting will mark the latest triumph for a special panel set up by the UK Government to investigate such works that have ended up in Britain’s public collections.
The UK Spoliation Advisory Panel ruled the Aeneas painting was “looted as an act of racial persecution”, and has arranged for it to be returned to Hartveld’s heirs in the coming months.
Lord Pickles welcomed the success of the Special Envoys Network on Holocaust Era Restitution in developing the best practices document, and in firstly tackling restitution of movable property.
However, he acknowledged that there were still many Holocaust survivors and their families who had waited 80 years for justice and recognition of their loss of property. He added that bureaucratic inertia had delayed the resolution of too many restitution claims for too long.
Lord Pickles reflected that in some countries, the regulations were so stringent that it was very difficult for survivors who no longer live in the country of their birth to receive any restitution. This is a particular obstacle for survivor communities living in the US and Israel, as well as those in the UK. He stressed that it was time to focus on getting individual property back to their rightful owners, before it is too late.
Lord Pickles said,
Eighty years after the Holocaust, we have undoubtedly made progress, but there is still so much more to be done, and so little time left to do it. Meetings like this are essential for moving from principles to action. We owe it to survivors, their families, and future generations to ensure that justice is not only promised but delivered.
On 3 April, the special envoys travelled to Amsterdam to visit the recently opened Dutch National Holocaust Museum. This is the first museum to tell the entire story of the persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands.
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NEWS STORY : Government Urges Unite to End Birmingham Bin Strike Amid Mounting Public Health Concerns
STORY
The UK Government has called on the Unite union to accept Birmingham City Council’s latest pay offer and bring an end to the ongoing refuse workers’ strike, which has left the city grappling with 21,000 tonnes of uncollected rubbish and escalating public health risks. Communities Secretary Angela Rayner has urged Unite to reconsider its position after the union overwhelmingly rejected the council’s proposal, describing it as “totally inadequate.” The strike, which began on 11 March, stems from a dispute over the removal of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role. Unite claims the change would result in pay cuts of up to £8,000 for approximately 200 drivers. The council contends that only 17 workers would be affected and that alternative roles with equivalent pay have been offered.
In response to the mounting waste and associated health hazards, the government has invoked Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) powers, deploying military logistical planners to assist in coordinating waste collection efforts. Additionally, support from neighbouring councils has been mobilised to address the crisis. The Labour-led Birmingham City Council, already under financial strain due to a £760 million equal pay ruling, maintains that the removal of the WRCO role is necessary to avoid further legal liabilities. The council emphasises its commitment to resolving the dispute and restoring essential services to the city’s 1.2 million residents.
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NEWS STORY : Pubs Code Adjudicator Launches New Website to Support Tied Pub Tenants
STORY
The Pubs Code Adjudicator (PCA) has unveiled a new official website designed to provide tied pub tenants in England and Wales with clearer guidance on their rights and responsibilities under the Pubs Code. The website offers comprehensive information on key areas such as rent assessments, the Market Rent Only (MRO) option, and dispute resolution processes. It aims to empower tenants by enhancing transparency and accessibility to regulatory support.
Fiona Dickie, the Pubs Code Adjudicator, stated: “This new digital platform is a significant step towards ensuring that tied tenants have the resources they need to understand and exercise their rights effectively. Our goal is to foster fair and equitable relationships between pub-owning businesses and their tenants.” The launch of the website aligns with the PCA’s ongoing efforts to address concerns within the tied pub sector, where tenants often face challenges related to rent fairness and supply agreements. By providing a centralised hub of information, the PCA seeks to support tenants in making informed decisions about their businesses.
The new web-site is accessible at https://www.pubscodeadjudicator.org.uk/.
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![PRESS RELEASE : Scotland is the only UK nation that is reducing child poverty [April 2025]](https://www.ukpol.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/snp.jpg)
PRESS RELEASE : Scotland is the only UK nation that is reducing child poverty [April 2025]
The press release issued by the SNP on 4 April 2025.
Rachel Reeves could use her latest budget to match the Scottish Child Payment UK-wide, after research from the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) found that child poverty rates in Scotland have fallen compared to the rest of the UK.
The question is, will she? And will Scotland’s Labour MPs also challenge her to do so?
According to the CPAG, child poverty fell in Scotland, with the three-year average poverty rate falling in Scotland from 24% to 23% – with the latest one-year data showing a fall from 26% to 22%.
Meanwhile in England it has risen from 30% to 31%, from 23% to 24% in Northern Ireland, and from 29% to 31% in Wales
The CPAG states that “the key reason for this divergence is the introduction of the Scottish Child Payment” and that “this shows the impact investment in social security has on child poverty”.
It also warns the Westminster government that child poverty is set to rise even higher in the absence of any poverty-reducing reforms, reaching 4.8 million by the end of this parliament in 2029.
The report by the CPAG was soon followed by another, published by the Changing Realities study of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), which concluded that Labour could lift 700,000 children out of poverty if it adopted the SNP policy.
These warnings come after the Westminster government’s own impact assessment revealed that the latest benefit cuts announced by Rachel Reeves will push 50,000 more children into poverty.
The SNP has consistently called for the UK government to match the Scottish Government’s action on child poverty by matching the Scottish Child Payment.
Instead of scapegoating struggling families on benefits for the UK’s ills the Chancellor should be using her spring budget to deliver the real and long-overdue action needed to tackle the increasing levels of child poverty in the rest of the UK.
It is a mark of shame on a Westminster Labour government that child poverty is rising and expected to hit record highs by the end of this parliament.
Westminster Labour government policies are now actively pushing children into poverty and holding Scotland back.
Rachel Reeves could deliver emergency action now by matching the Scottish Child Payment UK-wide. As the Child Poverty Action Group and LSE have revealed it has made a difference by reducing child poverty in Scotland.
As a result of the SNP government’s leadership, Scotland is the only part of the UK where child poverty is expected to fall – it’s time the Westminster Labour government matched this action.