Tag: 2022

Jacob Rees-Mogg – 2022 Speech to the IAEA 66th General Conference

The speech made by Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, to the IAEA 66th General Conference in Vienna on 26 September 2022.

Mr President,

Congratulations on your appointment as President of this Conference.

It is an honour to be here today, and I would like to express His Majesty’s Government’s gratitude for the phenomenal work of the Director General and the Secretariat over the last year. Their commitment, resilience, and professionalism in responding to threats to the security and stability of our world has shown, once again, the value of the Agency to the global community.

Mr President, The United Kingdom firmly believes that the peaceful uses of nuclear technologies are essential to resolving some of the most pressing challenges of our time. First, this means boosting our energy security through safe and secure nuclear power to address climate change and food insecurity.

Yet we cannot ignore those who threaten this vision. The United Kingdom continues to condemn the Russian Federation’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine and its reckless actions against nuclear facilities, including at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power plant. Russia’s wicked actions threaten the safety of millions and undermine the use of nuclear technology. The United Kingdom supports the IAEA’s work to ensure the safety and security of nuclear facilities in Ukraine, including at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power plant. However, we are clear that the only way to resolve the nuclear safety issues in Ukraine is for the Russian Federation to end its unprovoked invasion, and unconditionally withdraw all its troops and personnel from Ukraine’s nuclear facilities and its internationally recognised borders.

While Russia acted alone to block consensus at the recent Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, the United Kingdom will play its part to advance our commitments under the NPT. This includes the Sustained Dialogue on Peaceful Uses, where we – alongside 30 other partners – aim to continue expanding access to nuclear technologies, to allow more countries to benefit from them, through medical, environmental and energy applications.

It is also deeply concerning, Mr President, that Iran has chosen not to seize the critical diplomatic opportunity to restore the JCPoA and instead continues to escalate its nuclear programme. The JCPoA cannot in any way be used to release Iran from its legally binding safeguards obligations that are essential to the non-proliferation regime and international security. The only way the issues can be resolved is through Iran providing technically credible explanations to the Agency’s outstanding questions.

Mr President, despite these threats to the global non-proliferation architecture, we must not lose sight of the opportunities of advanced nuclear technologies. That is why, earlier this year, the British Energy Security Strategy set out our intention to boost deployment of civil nuclear up to 24GW by 2050, including through the development of Small Modular Reactors. Meanwhile, we are improving our plans for decommissioning and developing a geological disposal facility to dispose of our most hazardous radioactive waste safely and securely.

We are also leading global efforts to make Fusion Energy a reality. By investing in the best research, we plan to build a prototype fusion power plant that will put energy on the grid by 2040 – demonstrating Fusion Energy’s commercial viability.

Furthermore, Mr President, it is more important than ever to have resilient international supply chains for uranium and nuclear fuel. The United Kingdom has many decades of experience of making fuel for our own reactors and for export to the rest of the world. We will continue to build on this, ensuring that our supply chains and capabilities are ready to help fuel this energy secure future.

We must also recognise, Mr President, that challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic to Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine have highlighted the importance of working together to strengthen our nuclear safety, security and safeguards frameworks.

The Agency can count on His Majesty’s Government’s full support in its efforts to strengthen these systems, including through our cooperation with the US and Australia on AUKUS naval nuclear propulsion. We are working closely with the IAEA to ensure that the precedent set by Australia’s acquisition of submarines strengthens the global non-proliferation regime. As our leaders said in last week’s statement, the AUKUS partners are fully committed to establishing an approach that meets the highest non-proliferation standards. We welcome Director General Grossi’s report to the September IAEA Board of Governors meeting on this issue, in which the Director General reported his satisfaction with our engagement.

We also remain committed to working with Contracting Parties to strengthen IAEA Conventions, particularly through the valuable Peer Review processes, and maintaining robust emergency response arrangements.

An effective and robust safeguards system remains an essential enabler for the peaceful uses of nuclear. We urge those countries that have not yet done so to ratify Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements and Additional Protocols. Only fully implemented and ratified agreements, matched with high security standards for nuclear material and sites will deserve the public’s confidence in nuclear technologies and provide the assurance that they are safe, secure and safeguarded.

I would also like, Mr President, to applaud the IAEA’s significant contribution to science and research and the Director General’s unwavering commitment to nuclear for development. I am happy to pledge £3.4 million to the Technical Cooperation Fund.

The technologies under development today are needed to solve the most pressing global development challenges of our time, and it is our responsibility to deliver these to those who need it most.

Finally, let me emphasise Mr President, the UK will continue to give the Secretariat, and the Director General, our wholehearted support.

Thank you very much.

September 26, 2022
Steve Rotheram – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

The speech made by Steve Rotheram on 26 September 2022.

Conference, Steve Rotheram, Liverpool Walton CLP – and the proud Mayor of the Liverpool City Region – the heartland of our Party in Power.

Six Local Authority Leaders.
One Police and Crime Commissioner.
Sixteen out of seventeen MPs.
And one Metro Mayor.
All – Labour.

Conference, this week we will be hearing a lot about strategy; proposals, policies and plans for a Labour Government.

But what will it all mean to ordinary people’s lives?

It has been a long hard 12 years, that’s seen Tory austerity wreak havoc on our communities.

But – despite what some would have you believe, being out of Downing Street doesn’t mean we have been out of power.

That would do a gross disservice to Mark in Wales and Labour administrations up and down the country who are making a tangible difference to people’s lives, demonstrating that there is an alternative – to this bizarre Thatcher tribute act.

Look for instance at the work of our Metro Mayors – who are using devolution to put Labour values into action.

Just imagine – how we could turbo charge things for everyone with a Labour Prime Minister and a Government of the people, for the people, that would show how you can grow an economy – whilst still helping those most in need.

One that would build a country fit for the future.

Take energy – a Labour Government would accelerate plans for the transition to renewables, decarbonising transport and energy intensive industries.

Imagine Ed Miliband and Jonny Reynolds leading the race to net zero and the Green Industrial Revolution.

Whilst creating tens of thousands of well-paid jobs in the process.

Locally they would put rocket boosters on our plans for Hydrogen Production; a mass retrofitting programme for energy inefficient homes and a Mersey Tidal project that would produce enough clean, green predictable energy to power a million homes for over a century.

Or on skills, where Labour would fix the mess the Tories have made of our education and skills system but which would also look to the future.

Just imagine Bridget Phillipson giving hope and opportunity to our ‘next generation’ by rolling out a Young Persons Guarantee, a genuine choice between university, or a proper apprenticeship, funded though the billions of apprenticeship levy underspend.

Locally it would help us train more people for jobs in the industries of tomorrow, as well as more brickies today.

Or on Transport where Labour would put the public back into public transport.

Imagine Louise Haigh rolling out the model of bus re-regulation being led by myself here in the Liverpool City Region and Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester, with smart ticketing and capped fares.

Our City Region is also the first in the country to buy our own trains, investing half a billion pounds into new rolling stock.

But that’s not all.

We are buying a fleet of hydrogen buses, building new rail stations and expanding our Active Travel network, demonstrating the difference Labour can make in power.

And – Labour should commit to the renationalisation of the whole rail system.

For the naysayers, for those who’d rather be out of the tent than in, I say – it is our movement that has been the greatest force for social justice in this country’s history.

It’s time to back us, not attack us.

Because winning the next general election is in our grasp.

I can hear the realisation of defeat in Tory voices.

I can sense the inevitability of loss in Tory body language.

I can see Labour victory in Tory eyes.

Conference, imagine a Labour Government.

It’s easy if you try.

September 26, 2022
Mark Drakeford – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

The speech made by Mark Drakeford, the First Minister of Wales, on 26 September 2022.

Jo, thank you for that very kind introduction and for everything you and our Welsh Labour MPs do and thank you Chair for this opportunity to address conference.

Whenever I come to Liverpool, I’m always glad to be able to say how great it is to be back in North Wales.

And there is a very special reason for that Welsh celebration this year.

This autumn it will be one hundred years since the Labour Party first won a majority of seats in a General Election in Wales.

And we’ve done it in every election across the whole of the century which has followed.

It’s a remarkable achievement, but the celebration is very powerfully accompanied by a growing sense of disappointment and disillusion.

Because, in the 100 years during which Wales has voted, time and time again, for Labour, only 33 of those years have resulted in a Labour Government at Westminster.

The message I bring is a simple one:
The central reason for our Party’s existence;
The reason why our members do those things we ask of them: knocking those doors, delivering those leaflets, making those phone calls is this:
We exist to seek and to win political power.

Not as an end in itself, but because only in that way can we change for the better the lives of those who rely on the Labour Party to fashion that better future for us all.

And, Conference: we can do better.

Whether that’s through a Welsh Labour Government, or a Labour Mayor, or a Labour council, we show every day the difference that Labour can make.

And when we don’t do it, when we don’t win power on their behalf, let’s be clear: we let those people down.

We can carry on winning our own elections in Wales and doing the things which only we can do.

But without a Labour Government at Westminster, the story can never be complete.

And Conference, using the privilege of power, even in the toughest of times, is an obligation, not a choice.

In our local elections in May of this year, while the Tories lost 44% of all the seats they held, we won councils across the country.

For those of you wondering what to do when this Conference is over, I can now offer you the opportunity to walk from the northern shores of Wales to the southernmost tip, without ever leaving territory where Labour is in power.

What a sense of excitement, of new possibility there is when we, at last, are able to put our priorities into practice.

Whenever we’ve had the chance, it is Labour Governments which have shaped the lives of our citizens for the better.

Without Labour in power there would have been no NHS, no National Minimum Wage, no devolution to Wales and Scotland and no peace in Northern Ireland, either.

And, because in Wales we have had the opportunity, we are able to show what a Labour Government can do.

In this Senedd term we won’t be restarting fracking, because we never allowed it in the first place.

But we are paying all our social care workers the real living wage.

And we’ll provide universal free school meals for every child in our primary schools.

Conference, let me just set all this in the context of two current discussions inside our own Party.

First of all, the Senedd, with its unbroken Labour Governments, has always been elected by proportional representation, a system put on the statute book – twice! – by a Labour Government at Westminster.

And, in a special conference, earlier this summer, over three quarters of the entire Welsh Party voted to strengthen the proportionality of our voting system, to make sure that every Labour vote will count towards creating that next Welsh Labour Government.

And secondly, conference, while Labour has always formed the Government in Wales, we’ve never governed alone.

The fault line in Welsh politics runs right down the middle of the Senedd. On the one side, a reactionary, out-of-touch, deeply unloved Conservative Party.

On the other side, those Parties committed to social and economic progress.

Do the Parties of the centre left agree on everything? Of course not.

But we focus on those areas where progressive parties can agree; a politics which recognises the dominant position of Labour, but which also recognises that no Party has a monopoly on progressive ideas.

And, in the face of the dreadful decisions of last week, the obligation to do everything we can to take and exercise power on behalf of that great mass of decent people, the length and breadth of the UK is more powerful than ever.

How has it come to this?

A country in which the rich are rewarded while a cruel and casual kick is aimed at the family struggling by on bare bones Universal Credit.

Conference, of course we are better than this.

People across our country want what we want as a Party: a country in which the broadest backs bear the greatest burden;

Where we protect, not punish, those made vulnerable by sickness or disability or old age;

Where extraordinary windfall profits are put to work for the benefit of us all;

Where borrowing is used to invest in the skills and infrastructure which really create economic growth, not squandered in pursuit of a dogma which has been disproved time and time again around the world.

Today, a fearful United Kingdom looks on in dismay and disbelief at the wreckage caused by a government which they had no hand in creating.

Towards the end of his too-short life, Nye Bevan’s great friend and agent, Archie Lush said to him, ‘you see, Nye, you could have been Prime Minister if you’d wanted to’. Bevan replied, ‘I never wanted to be anything. I wanted to do something’.

And that, Conference, is the simple difference between the Tories and us.

They scrap like ferrets in a sack, just to become Prime Minister.

We want Keir Starmer to be Prime Minister, because we know that he will want to do the things which only Labour can do.

Britain really can be better.

And that’s why nothing is more important for Wales than making sure that happens.

September 26, 2022
Jo Stevens – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

The speech made by Jo Stevens on 26 September 2022.

Chair, Conference, thank you.

It’s wonderful to be back in Liverpool. A great city with a great heart and on a clear day, great views of Wales too.

It’s a real honour to address conference, as Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Wales.

Firstly, I want to thank our Welsh Labour staff who always go above and beyond for our Party.

And our wonderful Shadow Wales team in Parliament – Gerald Jones, Jessica Morden and, in the House of Lords, Debbie Wilcox.

But I particularly want to thank all of our Welsh Labour MPs.

There are 22 of us, all working hard every single day for people in Wales, as part of our strong, united and determined team of Welsh Labour representatives across our Councils, Senedd and Parliament.

From Mark Tami in the North to Tonia Antoniazzi in the Southwest – every single one of our Welsh Labour MPs makes a difference for the people we represent.

And talking about making a difference, who better to exemplify that than our brilliant Deputy Leader of Welsh Labour, Carolyn Harris.

A campaigning machine.

Through her children’s funeral fund campaign Carolyn achieved something remarkable for bereaved families in the worst possible circumstances of their lives.

Not just in Wales, but in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland too. And she didn’t stop there.

Now, both women and men, for the first time in my life, are talking at home, in workplaces and across the media about the menopause.

About its impact on women and the need to improve healthcare, medical training and employment practices.

Carolyn has helped to change women’s lives because of this.

Carolyn – from all of us – thank you. We are very lucky to have you.

Conference – this year marks 100 years of Labour winning the majority of seats in Wales in every single general election.

It is a remarkable achievement and reflects Wales’s central role in the history of our Party and across our Labour and Trade Union movement.

We also celebrate 23 years of devolution in Wales.

Devolution delivered by a Labour government to the people of Wales who have put their trust in us at every Senedd election since and know that we are on their side.

But we never take a single vote for granted. We have to earn every vote.

None of those election successes could have been achieved without your help and support.

To everyone across our Labour and Trade Union movement who has given their time and effort campaigning all year round to help win elections – and persuaded others to do the same – thank you. You are brilliant. And I know you will continue being brilliant.

Whether it’s in a general election, Senedd or our hugely successful Council elections earlier this year – following which the Tories don’t run a single Council in Wales – people in Wales see that Labour is working for them.

We listen, we share values and aspirations, we earn trust, and we deliver for Wales as a team.
And in the most difficult of times – during the pandemic and now during the Conservative cost of living crisis – people across the UK can look to Wales to see the difference that a Labour government makes.

No reckless Tory borrowing billions instead of taxing the £170bn excess profits of the oil and gas producers, or scrapping the cap on investment bankers’ bonuses – our Labour government in Wales is using every lever it has, to put money back in the pockets of people who need it most.

• Extending free school meals and providing free breakfasts
• A real living wage for social care workers
• Help with council tax bills
• Giving students the best deal anywhere in the UK
• Extending our childcare offer to parents in training and education

Labour is building our stronger, fairer, greener Wales.

And there’ll be no Tory fracking in Wales, Conference.

Wales will play its part in powering the UK economy with renewable energy creating the stronger, fairer, greener Britain that Rachel Reeves spoke so brilliantly about this morning.

But our job, Conference, our job, is to make sure that we get Keir into 10 Downing Street leading a UK Labour government working hand in hand with our Welsh Labour government.

So Conference, it gives me such pleasure to welcome my friend and Cardiff neighbour – our brilliant Welsh Labour leader and First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford.

September 26, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : UN Human Rights Council 51 – UK statement for the Item 4 General Debate [September 2022]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 26 September 2022.

The UK Permanent Representative to the UK in Geneva, Ambassador Simon Manley, delivered a statement on the possible crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, China, Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, protests in Iran, the truce in Ethiopia and COP27 in Egypt.

Thank you, Mr President,

The former High Commissioner’s report found that possible crimes against humanity have taken place in Xinjiang, China. It found evidence that Muslim women are being forcibly sterilised. That Uyghurs are not allowed to practice their religion or speak their own language. That people are being detained and tortured– merely because they belong to a minority group. We cannot ignore such severe and systematic breaches of human rights. This Council must not, cannot, stay silent.

We have oft spoken in this Chamber of Putin’s flouting of international law through his military aggression against Ukraine.

The sham referendums currently being held in Ukraine can have neither legal effect nor legitimacy. Russia can’t change the borders of another sovereign state. It’s a clear breach of the UN Charter.

We have also repeatedly heard the harrowing reports of Russia’s violations of human rights in Ukraine, including of those subjected to Russia’s so-called filtration operations. Aggression overseas is accompanied by repression at home as those brave Russians who dare to speak out against Putin’s war are detained in their thousands.

Mr President,

The death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, following her arrest, has shocked the world. We call on Iran to carry out independent, transparent investigations into her death and the excessive violence used against subsequent protests.

In Ethiopia it is crucial that the truce is reinstated and that peace talks begin to avoid a repeat of the atrocities including extrajudicial killings and sexual violence seen earlier in this conflict.

Finally, ahead of COP 27 – we urge Egypt to ensure that independent civil society, human rights defenders, and the media can operate freely. The success of the conference – as we saw in Glasgow – depends on vibrant civil society participation.

Thank you.

September 26, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Chancellor’s Growth Plan means tax cuts for a million in Wales [September 2022]
The press release issued by HM Treasury on 26 September 2022.
Chancellor unveils bold new growth plan, backing business and improving living standards for everyone in the UK.

Corporation tax rise cancelled, keeping it at 19% as government sets sights on 2.5% trend rate of growth.

Basic rate of income tax cut to 19% in April 2023 – one year earlier than planned – with 31 million people getting on average £170 more per year and 1.2 million people in Wales to get National Insurance cut worth £235.

Welsh Government receives around £70 million as a result of tax cuts elsewhere in the UK.

On Friday 23rd September the Chancellor unveiled his Growth Plan to release the huge potential in the UK economy, tackling inflation and delivering higher productivity and wages.

Kwasi Kwarteng set out a bold plan backing business and putting them on a path of economic growth. The basic rate of income tax in Wales will be cut to 19% from April 2023, worth an average of £170 and 1.2 million workers in Wales will see a cut in their National Insurance worth an average of £235 a year.

Cuts to Stamp Duty in England and Northern Ireland will also see the Welsh Government receive around £70 million over the three-year 2021 Spending Review period.

Boosting economic growth will enable stable funding for public services, higher wages and greater opportunities for the whole UK.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, said:

Economic growth isn’t some academic term with no connection to the real world. It means more jobs, higher pay and more money to fund public services. This will not happen overnight but the tax cuts and reforms I’ve announced today – the biggest package in generations – send a clear signal that growth is our priority.

We want businesses across Wales to keep more of their own money to invest, innovate, and grow. Our income tax and national insurance cuts will mean hundreds of pounds a year more in the pockets of over a million workers in Wales.

And our Energy Bill Relief Scheme is protecting thousands of businesses across Wales from rising energy costs with discounts of wholesale gas and electricity prices.

Our Growth Plan sets the whole United Kingdom on the path for growth, building on the fiscal strength of our Union and releasing the enormous potential of this country.

Secretary of State for Wales, Robert Buckland said:

Today’s bold measures put economic growth at the heart of our plans for Wales and the UK.

The UK Government has already committed to protect Welsh households and businesses from rising prices through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. But a healthy, growing economy is the best long-term solution to the enormous financial pressures facing the entire country.

By driving investment, cutting taxes, and backing business, the UK Government will get more people into well-paid jobs, allow workers to keep more of their hard earned money and get the Welsh economy growing again.

Setting out the first steps towards growth today, Kwasi Kwarteng revealed major tax reforms to allow businesses to keep more of their own money, encouraging investment, boosting productivity and creating jobs. New measures include cancelling the planned rise in corporation tax, keeping it the lowest in the G20 at 19%, and reversing the 1.25% rise in National Insurance contributions, a change which will save 920,000 UK businesses almost £10,000 on average next year and 1.2 million people in Wales an average of £235 a year.

The Chancellor also set out plans to tackle to the biggest drag on growth – the high cost of energy driven by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine which has driven up inflation. To tackle this the government’s Energy Price Guarantee will save the typical household £1,000 a year on their energy bill and halve the cost of business energy bills, reducing peak inflation by about 5 percentage points.

It was also confirmed that the UK Government will look to work with the Welsh Government and local authorities to set up Investment Zones in specific sites across the UK. Each Investment Zone will offer generous, targeted and time limited tax cuts for businesses and liberalised planning rules to release more land for housing and commercial development. These will be hubs for growth, encouraging investment in new shopping centres, restaurants, apartments and offices, and creating thriving new communities.

Revealing further tax reforms, Kwasi Kwarteng outlined sector specific support for pubs and hospitality, freezing alcohol duty for another year. Reforms to modernise alcohol duties will also be taken forward. The new measures backing business come on top of the government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme for businesses to cap costs per unit, which will protect them from soaring energy costs this winter by providing a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices.

The Chancellor also reiterated the important principle of people keeping more of what they earn, incentivising work and enterprise. He announced a 1p cut to the basic rate of income tax one year earlier than planned. From April 2023, the basic rate of income tax will be cut to 19% and will mean over 31 million people will be better off by an average of £170 per year. Alongside cutting the basic rate of income tax, the Chancellor also abolished the additional rate of tax, taking effect from April 2023. In its place will be a single higher rate of income tax of 40%. The move is designed to attract the best and the brightest to the UK workforce, helping businesses innovate and grow.

The Chancellor also announced more relief for businesses by making the Annual Investment Allowance £1 million permanent, rather than letting it return to £200,000 in March 2023. This will mean businesses can deduct 100% of the cost of qualifying plant and machinery in the first year.

New measures were also announced to help people on low incomes secure more and better paid work. Universal Credit claimants who are earn less than the equivalent of 15 hours a week at National Living Wage will be required to meet regularly with their Work Coach and take active steps to increase their earnings or face having their benefits reduced. This change is expected to bring in an additional 120,000 people into the more intensive work search regime.

Jobseekers over the age of 50 will also be given extra time with job centre work coaches, to help them return to the jobs market. Rising economic inactivity in the over 50s is contributing to shortages in the jobs market, driving up inflation and limiting growth. Returning to pre-pandemic activity rates in the over 50s could boost the level of GDP by 0.5-1 percentage points.

Over the three-year Spending Review 2021 period, the Welsh Government is expected to receive around £70 million of additional funding as a result of the changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax.
September 26, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan border conflict – UK statement to the OSCE [September 2022]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 26 September 2022.

UK Deputy Ambassador Brown welcomes ceasefire between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and urges both sides to pursue a diplomatic solution.

The United Kingdom expresses its deepest condolences to the victims and their families following the border clashes that took place between the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, beginning on 14 September.

We welcome the ceasefire reached between the two countries and urge both sides to pursue a diplomatic solution to this conflict, which is in both parties’ interests.

The United Kingdom remains committed to supporting the OSCE in its efforts to help facilitate a peaceful and lasting resolution.

September 26, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : UN Human Rights Council 51 – UK statement during Interactive Dialogue on Venezuela [September 2022]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 26 September 2022.

UK Human Rights Ambassador, Rita French, delivered a statement following the results of the International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela.

Thank you, Mr President.

The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission has done a remarkable job in revealing the extent of human rights violations, including gender based violence, committed in Venezuela.

We are gravely concerned by the role of Venezuela’s intelligence agencies outlined in the report. Threats and crimes against human rights defenders, activists, educators and union leaders in Venezuela must stop.

The UK is deeply concerned by the reports of violence in mining areas, including the Arco Minero de Orinoco. We condemn the killing of Virgilio Trujillo, an indigenous leader and environmental activist, and call on Venezuela to hold perpetrators to account and to protect the population.

Have there been any reports of reprisals against those who have contributed to your reports, and was the evidence gathering process more or less challenging than for the previous report?

Mr President,

Given the concerning lack of official data, the reports presented to this Council are essential records of the human rights situation in Venezuela. The work of the Fact Finding Mission and the Office of the High Commissioner in Venezuela is critical for Venezuelans. We urge the renewal of the Fact Finding Mission’s mandate to ensure the continued monitoring of the human rights situation in Venezuela.

September 26, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Pre-recorded evidence for rape victims available nationwide [September 2022]
The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 26 September 2022.
- Measure aims to reduce trauma for victims and witnesses to help them give their best evidence
- Government delivers on pledge to ensure this vital measure is available across the country
The Government has today (26 September) delivered on its pledge to ensure this vital measure is available nationwide to boost rape convictions and ensure better support for victims.

The tool allows victims and witnesses of crimes such as rape and modern slavery to have their cross-examination video-recorded and played later during trial. This is subject to a successful application to the court.

The recording takes place as close to the time of the offence as possible, while memories remain fresh, and helps victims avoid the stress of giving evidence under full glare of a live trial setting, which many find traumatic.

From today, the measure will be available at a final 20 Crown Courts in Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, East Anglia, Essex, London and the South East, and marks the completion of national rollout.

The move follows the successful implementation for vulnerable victims, such as children or those who have limited mental and physical capacity, across the country – with more than 3,000 witnesses having already benefitted from the technology since August 2020.

Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis said:

We’re overhauling the entire response to rape – boosting support for victims so that more cases come to court and more rapists are put behind bars.

Today we have delivered on our pledge to roll out pre-recorded evidence to every Crown Court in England and Wales, sparing victims of this awful crime the additional trauma of testifying under the full glare of a courtroom.

The successful rollout of pre-recorded evidence meets a key pledge within the Government’s Rape Review Action Plan which sets out clear actions for the police, prosecutors and courts. These include a new approach to investigations in order to reduce the number of victims withdrawing from the process and increase the number of cases reaching court.

The measure is designed to maintain a defendant’s right to a fair trial and any decision to pre-record evidence is made by a judge on a case-by-case basis. Following today’s completion of national rollout to Crown Courts, the Government has announced that it will be piloted for children and vulnerable adult witnesses for all offences at Leeds Youth Court, considering how it could be used more widely in trials of under 18s.

Jayne Butler, CEO of Rape Crisis England & Wales said:

We very much welcome the fact that pre-recorded evidence for intimidated witnesses and victims will now be available in all Crown Courts in England and Wales. Pre-recorded cross-examination prior to trial, offers choice to victims and survivors, and can make seeking justice far more accessible for rape victims and survivors who often feel re-traumatised by having to go into court. For many, attending court can be intimidating, and this measure is an important step forward in improving the experiences of survivors in the criminal justice system.

For this special measure to be a success, it is crucial that everyone working in and engaging with crown courts is aware of it, offers it as an option for survivors, and approves its use where appropriate. If implemented correctly, this measure will go some way to ensure that intimidated witnesses and victims – constituting the large majority of rape and sexual abuse survivors – have better experiences of court.

In June, the Government published the latest Rape Review Progress report and committed to piloting specialist rape support in three courtrooms as recommended by the Joint Inspectorates of the CPS and Police. These courts offer support such as Independent Sexual Violence Advisors within the court itself as well as trauma training to court staff and are being set up at Snaresbrook, Leeds and Newcastle Crown Courts.

Notes to Editors
- This final phase will include:
  - Amersham, Aylesbury, Basildon, Cambridge, Canterbury, Chelmsford, Guildford, Hove Trial Centre, King’s Lynn, Lewes, Norwich Combined Court Centre, Peterborough Combined Court Centre, Reading and Southend in the South East;
  - Croydon, Snaresbrook, Southwark, the Central Criminal Court, the Inner London Sessions House and Woolwich.
September 26, 2022
James Heappey – 2022 Comments on Death of Sapper Connor Liam Morrison

The comments made by James Heappey, the Minister for the Armed Forces, on 26 September 2022.

It is with deep sadness that I heard of the death of Sapper Connor Liam Morrison of 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment. It’s clear from his colleagues that he had a passion for the British Army, made an instant positive impact on all those he served with, and always put the needs of his fellow soldiers above his own; a role model to all. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones at this terrible time.

September 26, 2022