The comments made by Jo Churchill, the Public Health Minister, on 12 May 2021.
Our aim is to make it as easy as possible for people to make healthier food choices for themselves and their families, both in restaurants and at home. That is why we want to make sure everyone has access to accurate information about the food and drink we order.
These measures form an important building block in our strategy to support and encourage people in achieving and maintaining a healthier weight.
The statement made by Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, on 12 May 2021.
When I visited Sudan in January I announced the UK’s intent to support Sudan’s path to debt relief as Prime Minister Hamdok delivers much needed reforms in support of the country’s economic revival and transition to democracy.
Today the UK has delivered on that commitment by providing a £148m bridging loan that has enabled Sudan to clear its arrears at the African Development Bank. I would like to thank His Excellency Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim, and African Development Bank Director General Nnenna Nwabufo and their teams for their hard work to make this happen.
The UK is proud to have facilitated Sudan’s arrears clearance with the AfDB, which enables access to much needed additional financing and we look forward to continuing our work with Sudan and international partners on debt relief so they can rejoin financial markets and deliver the aspiration expressed so clearly by the Sudanese people for a better future.
The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 12 May 2021.
Supporting girls to get 12 years of quality education is one of the smartest investments we can make as the world recovers from Covid-19. Otherwise we risk creating a lost pandemic generation.
Across the world there is a vast untapped resource – girls whose education has been cut short or denied altogether, who could be leading efforts to pull their communities out of poverty.
I’m going to be working throughout the UK’s G7 presidency to ensure leaders invest in those girls and boost children’s life chances around the world.
The comments made by Kate Green, the Shadow Education Secretary, on 12 May 2021.
The Government’s skills promises are inconsistent and illogical, shutting out sectors where we already have a skills shortage.
The Conservatives have overseen a decade of decline with skills and training opportunities disappearing. This Queen’s Speech is a missed opportunity to deliver a bright future for young people across our country.
Labour’s is committed to helping every young person make a strong start to their working lives with quality training and employment opportunities ensuring they can develop the skills our economy needs.
The comments made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 13 May 2021.
As a starting principle, work must provide a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work and employers must uphold both their legal and moral duties to treat their staff with dignity and respect.
Under the Conservatives good, well-paid jobs that you can raise a family on and that provide security have too often been replaced by insecure and zero-hours jobs that offer only poverty wages, exploitation and mistreatment of workers.
The Government’s neglect of employment rights has meant that surveillance and intrusive technologies usually associated with the gig economy are becoming commonplace. There is an urgent need for an Employment Bill that strengthens rights to ensure workers are protected to keep pace with changes in practice, including the use of algorithms to manage people.
Coming out of this pandemic, the future of work must mean shifting the balance back towards working people and a new deal for workers.
The joint statement made by Alok Sharma and the Spanish Deputy Prime Minister on 12 May 2021.
Today, despite the extraordinary times we are facing, we jointly reaffirmed that it is crucial that we reinforce and demonstrate that domestic and multilateral action needs to be accelerated on the way to COP26 in Glasgow.
We underscored our determination to closely cooperate and lead by example through our own socially just energy and ecological transitions, and highlighted the need to encourage increased climate ambition, especially from the world’s major economies, in a context of cooperation and global solidarity.
COP26 will be a crucial moment for establishing continued trust in the multilateral process for addressing climate action. In this context, we exchanged views on UNFCCC Negotiations, taking into account the need to reach a balanced outcome in Glasgow which lays the foundations for an African COP in 2022.
We discussed the importance of scaling up international climate finance and private investment for both mitigation and adaptation as well as the crucial role of finance in enabling action and ambition – on both emissions and resilience – in all countries. This will be crucial in building the trust of developing countries ahead of COP26.
Following Spain’s hosting of COP25, we also discussed the COP26 Presidency’s commitment to working with all countries to finalise the Paris Rulebook and successfully advance wider negotiations issues, including the elements required to drive increased ambition and transparency. We discussed how Spain can help drive progress on all of these fronts resolving that it is critical to work closely with all parties in order to ensure the success we need in Glasgow.
The comments made by Christopher Pincher, the Housing Minister, on 12 May 2021.
From the beginning of the pandemic, we have taken unprecedented action to protect renters and help keep them in their homes.
As COVID restrictions are eased in line with the Roadmap out of lockdown, we will ensure tenants continue to be supported with longer notice periods, while also balancing the need for landlords to access justice.
Crucial financial support also remains in place including the furlough scheme and uplift to Universal Credit.
The comments made by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, on 12 May 2021.
This new legislation will force tech companies to report online child abuse on their platforms, giving our law enforcement agencies the evidence they need to bring these offenders to justice.
Ruthless criminals who defraud millions of people and sick individuals who exploit the most vulnerable in our society cannot be allowed to operate unimpeded, and we are unapologetic in going after them.
It’s time for tech companies to be held to account and to protect the British people from harm. If they fail to do so, they will face penalties.
The comments made by Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on 12 May 2021.
Today the UK shows global leadership with our groundbreaking laws to usher in a new age of accountability for tech and bring fairness and accountability to the online world.
We will protect children on the internet, crack down on racist abuse on social media and through new measures to safeguard our liberties, create a truly democratic digital age.
The comments made by Iain Stewart, the Minister for Scotland, on 12 May 2021.
The recent sports social media protest against racist abuse of footballers underscored the need to crack down on harmful content online and hold tech companies to account.
From protecting children from online dangers to tackling abuse on social media, this UK Government bill represents an important step forwards in making the web a safer place for everyone in Scotland and across the whole UK.