Tag: 2023

PRESS RELEASE : Foreign Secretary meeting with Kazakhstan Foreign Minister [September 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 20 September 2023.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly held a meeting with Murat Nurtleu, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, on 19 September 2023 during the UN General Assembly in New York.

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said:

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu discussed their shared ambitions to further strengthen their strong bilateral partnership at a meeting during the UN General Assembly in New York.

The Foreign Secretary looked forward to upcoming senior-level UK-Kazakhstan engagement, including the annual Ministerial Strategic Dialogue and Ministerial Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Investment. Priority topics would include close collaboration in higher education, the development of the Middle Corridor transport route, and Kazakhstan’s strong commitment to tackle sanctions circumvention in light of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

The two Ministers also discussed opportunities for UK expertise and practical support in Kazakhstan’s trade and services sector, as well as working together on Sustainable Development Goals.

September 24, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Home Secretary pays tribute to the Windrush Working Group [September 2023]

The press release issued by the Home Office on 20 September 2023.

The Home Secretary has paid tribute to community leaders for their dedication to the Windrush generation, as the Windrush Working Group met for the final time.

Co-chairing the meeting with Bishop Derek Webley, the Home Secretary thanked the members for the important role they have played to ensure significant progress has been made following the Windrush Lessons Learned Review and the challenge they have provided to shape and improve the Home Office’s response, in the interests of the Windrush generation.

The Windrush Working Group was set up in June 2020 to bring together stakeholders and community leaders with senior representatives from several government departments. Their 3-year term expires at the end of September.

Today’s meeting, at the Home Office on Marsham Street, involved discussions looking back on celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the arrival of MV Empire Windrush in June, reflections on the work and achievements of the group, future planning to ensure the group’s contribution to government policy is long lasting and embedded, and an update on future engagement and outreach with the Windrush community.

The Home Secretary reiterated that, despite the group’s term coming to an end, the government remains committed to learning the lessons of Windrush and ensuring those affected receive the compensation they deserve.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said:

The Windrush Working group have made a huge contribution to ensure we learn the lessons of the Windrush scandal. Over the past 3 years their insight, collaboration and challenge have been vital in shaping the Home Office’s response.

I have deeply valued their advice and it has been an honour to work constructively alongside them. I’d like to thank them for their dedication to the Windrush community and determination to see progress.

I am proud of what has been achieved so far, but our commitment does not end here. We will continue with unwavering focus to see further improvements and that all those affected receive compensation.

The group have been integral to seeing improvements made to the Windrush Compensation Scheme to ensure individuals affected receive significantly more money, more quickly.

Their contribution led to a major overhaul in December 2020, which included a raising of the minimum payment from £250 to £10,000, which is paid as a preliminary payment as soon as someone applying can demonstrate an impact on their life under the terms of the scheme, whilst their claim is considered in full.

A significant increase in the impact on life category was also introduced, raising it at every level, with the highest award possible increasing from £10,000 to £100,000 – since this, over £76 million has been paid out or offered, in contrast to a total of just under £3 million prior to those changes.

Feedback from the group led to major simplification of the compensation application process when claim forms were redesigned and published in 2021 and 2022, to make it more straightforward for claimants to detail their experiences.

A further result of their feedback led to increased staffing being added to the compensation scheme. This led to a drastic reduction in the time taken to allocate a claim to a caseworker for a final decision, having completed necessary initial checks and investigation, from 18 months to 4 months.

Statistics published this month show that £67.59 million has been paid out by the end of July 202 across 1,820 claims. A further £11.71 million has been offered, awaiting acceptance, or pending review. This totals over £79 million paid or offered.

Bishop Derek Webley, co-chair of the Windrush Working Group, said:

The last 3 years have been challenging for all of us on the Working Group. But collectively, we worked hard to right as many wrongs as we could in the time available.

So, I would like to put on record my thanks to Home Secretaries with whom I have worked closely, Rt Hon.Priti Patel, Rt Hon. Suella Braverman and to my fellow members who have dedicated their energy, time and commitment to this important cause.

I also want to pay tribute to Wendy Williams, CBE, for her support and guidance; and to the Race Disparity Unit in the Cabinet Office for the critical role they played in helping me and the stakeholder members drive forward some of the crucial changes that needed to be made.

Although there is more to do, and the Home Office has assured us that the work will continue, I am pleased that we can conclude this cross-government group knowing that things are better now than when we started.

As Deputy Chair of the Windrush Commemoration Committee, Paulette Simpson – a Windrush Working Group member – played a crucial role in the development of the Windrush Monument in Waterloo station in 2022, which symbolises the courage, commitment and resilience of the thousands of men, women and children who travelled to the UK to start new lives from 1948 to 1971.

Elsewhere, the group advised on the design and delivery of the £500,000 Windrush Schemes Community Fund, which allowed community and grassroot organisations to bid for up to £25,000 to deliver projects encouraging applications to the Home Office’s documentation and compensation schemes. It also worked tirelessly around the UK and overseas through their networks and diplomatic contacts to promote the schemes.

The group has provided strategic insight into the Home Office’s response to Wendy Williams’ Windrush Lessons Learned Review, which was published in March 2019. In her progress report, published in March 2022, Wendy Williams concluded that 21 of her 30 recommendations had been met or partially met, and acknowledged that the scale of the challenge the department had been set would take time.

Since her progress report, the Home Office has made significant progress in delivering a number of recommendations including those related to training for staff.

As the Home Office continues to learn the lessons and see a shift in the culture, it is natural that teams evolve, and this work has now become embedded in the department’s everyday business.

The Community Engagement Fund was relaunched on 1 August 2023. £150,000 is available to charities and community or grassroots organisations to raise awareness for the Windrush schemes and gain insight around barriers to applying. Successful applicants, who will receive a grant between £5,000 and £10,000, will be announced later this year after the application process closed on 30 August 2023.

September 24, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : UN HRC54 – Statement on Mercenaries [September 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 20 September 2023.

UK statement for the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Mercenaries. As delivered at the UN’s 54th Human Rights Council.

Thank you, Mr Vice President,

The UK would like to thank the Working Group for its report presented today, which sheds light on the escalating recruitment of mercenaries in conflict-affected settings and underscores the urgent need to address predatory recruitment practices.

The UK is committed to calling out human rights abuses by mercenaries and holding them to account. That includes those carrying out mercenary-like activities such as the Wagner Group in Africa, who are responsible for driving instability and violence in the region and committing widespread abuses, such as the killing of civilians, torture and sexual and gender-based violence.

It is vital that such groups are held to account and that their actions are exposed. That is why, last week the UK added Wagner Group to the list of proscribed terrorist organisations.

The UK will continue to condemn Wagner’s activities and will work to hold the Wagner Group and other malign actors to account for violating and abusing international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

Chair of the Working Group,

What further steps can be taken to hold those operating for the Wagner Group in Africa to account for the instability, violence and abuses they have caused and committed across the continent?

Thank you.

September 24, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Specialised Committee on the Implementation of the Windsor Framework [September 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 20 September 2023.

The UK Government and European Commission gave a statement after the Specialised Committee on the Implementation of the Windsor Framework meeting.

Joint statement by the UK government and European Commission:

The Specialised Committee on the Implementation of the Windsor Framework met today, co-chaired by officials from the UK Government and the European Commission.

The Committee co-chairs took stock of the work undertaken by both sides on the implementation of the Windsor Framework since the last meeting on 23 June, and agreed to continue meeting regularly to monitor and ensure the full implementation of all the elements of the Framework in a faithful way.

The Committee co-chairs also took stock of the work of the Joint Consultative Working Group and its structured sub-groups. They reiterated the importance of continued joint engagement with Northern Ireland stakeholders.

September 24, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Home Secretary urges Meta to protect children from sexual abuse [September 2023]

The press release issued by the Home Office on 20 September 2023.

Home Secretary calls on Meta to reconsider plans on detecting child sexual abuse.

The Home Secretary Suella Braverman has urged Meta not to roll out end-to-end encryption on its platforms without robust safety measures that ensure children are protected from sexual abuse and exploitation in messaging channels.

Meta has publicly announced plans to roll out end-to-end encryption on Instagram and Facebook Messenger imminently which will put children across the UK at risk of being targeted and groomed online by predators.

Currently, 800 predators a month are arrested by UK law enforcement agencies and up to 1,200 children are safeguarded from child sexual abuse following information provided by social media companies. If Meta proceeds with their plans, they will no longer be able to detect child abuse on their platforms as they currently do, and the National Crime Agency (NCA) estimates 92% of Facebook Messenger and 85% of Instagram Direct referrals could be lost – meaning thousands of criminals a year could go undetected.

Now the Home Secretary, alongside the Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and Safeguarding Minister Sarah Dines, has called directly on Meta to urgently commit to installing safety measures on its platforms to protect children from vile attackers, or halt the planned rollout altogether.

The campaign has been backed by a raft of prominent charities and organisations who have united to support it, including the NSPCC, Marie Collins Foundation and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).

In partnership with the IWF, the Home Office has also published a guide for parents) to advise them how best to keep their children safe if Meta does implement end-to-end encryption on the messaging service of Facebook and Instagram without appropriate child safety measures.

The government is supportive of new technology, privacy and end-to-end encryption, but ministers are clear that encryption needs to be accompanied by safety measures that would enable the detection of grooming and child sexual abuse material.

Together with our international allies, the UK continues to urge tech companies to work with governments to find solutions to ensure the safety of our citizens, without eroding user privacy or cyber security. The government has always been clear that companies should maintain their ability to identify child sexual abuse on their platforms and ensure that law enforcement have the information they need to bring offenders to justice.

That is why the UK is a signatory to the International Statement on End-to-End Encryption and Public Safety, signed in October 2020 by the governments of Australia, Canada, India, Japan, New Zealand, the UK and the United States.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said:

The use of strong encryption for online users remains a vital part of our digital world and I support it, so does the government, but it cannot come at a cost to our children’s safety.

Meta has failed to provide assurances that they will keep their platforms safe from sickening abusers. They must develop appropriate safeguards to sit alongside their plans for end-to-end encryption.

I have been clear time and time again, I am not willing to compromise on child safety.

We all have a responsibility to do what we can to tackle this devastating crime, and I urge them to work with the government.

Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said:

The UK is proudly pro-privacy, pro-innovation and pro-security. We are also committed to protecting children online and ruthlessly pursuing those who seek to harm them.

Our law enforcement agencies are working day and night to crack down on child sexual abusers.

The efforts of tech companies are crucial to their success. They have great influence over our lives, and with that power comes the responsibility to work with us to tackle this despicable abuse.

A new film features testimony of a survivor of child sexual exploitation online, Rhiannon-Faye McDonald, who makes a personal appeal to Mark Zuckerberg to act and prevent more children from suffering from the abuse she endured online.

It also hears from child safety experts John Carr, Secretary of the Children’s Charities Coalition on Internet Safety, and Simon Bailey, Director of the Child Rescue Coalition and former Chief Constable and National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for child protection.

Susie Hargreaves OBE, Chief Executive of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), said:

It’s vital we do not give criminals and abusers anywhere to hide. We’ve seen the proliferation of this imagery accelerate in recent years. Knowingly switching off the lights on detecting child sexual abuse, and leaving whole spaces free for abusers to exploit would be a dangerous step.

We’ve always been of the view that advances in technology must not mean taking a backwards step for child safety. The tech exists now to prevent the sharing of child sexual abuse imagery without impacting on user privacy.

We urge companies looking to introduce end-to-end encryption to their services to think carefully about the impact on younger, vulnerable users, and to build in the safety features we’d expect in other areas of lives. They have shown what can be done to make their platforms safer and more user friendly, and it’s time to extend this to preventing the global spread of child sexual abuse.

This new development comes after the Home Secretary outlined her concerns to Meta in a letter co-signed by technology experts, law enforcement, survivors and leading child safety charities in July 2023.

In her letter, the Home Secretary emphasised the government is supportive of end-to-end encryption, but not without safety measures that would enable the detection of grooming and child sexual abuse material.

She also made specific requests for detailed evidence of how they would maintain vital child safety protections in messaging channels under end-to-end encryption.

The company was unable to provide this evidence, and as a result, the Home Secretary is concerned that robust child safety measures are not in place under the proposed plans.

Implementing end-to-end encryption on messaging apps means that messages would only ever be seen by the sender and receiver. This will mean that the company will no longer be able to prevent child sexual abuse occurring in those channels – providing sick predators with a safe space to groom and target children together.

Although Meta has previously set a leading example on child safety within the technology industry, ensuring that critical evidence of these crimes is provided to law enforcement agencies through the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the company is now turning its back on years of progress.

The government is pro-innovation, and the use of strong encryption is a vital part of our digital world, but this cannot come at the cost of child safety.

The Home Secretary is urging Meta to put its innovative and technological prowess into developing innovations which allow for the detection of child sexual abuse material in encrypted environments, thus maintaining the utmost privacy for users, while maintaining vital safeguards for vulnerable children.

The government, tech experts and wider industry partners have already demonstrated that it is possible to develop this technology through the Safety Tech Challenge Fund, which resulted in the development of 5 proof of concept tools of this nature.

Big tech has the capability and resources to pioneer further progress and cannot act quickly enough. Home Office data shows there were almost 34,485 offences relating to online indecent images of children in the year ending December 2022, an increase of 13% from last year.

Meanwhile, the NCA estimates there are up to 830,000 people in the UK who could pose a sexual threat to children, either through online or in-person abuse.

NCA Director of General Threats, James Babbage, said:

For many years, Meta have supported law enforcement by referring instances of child sexual abuse to NCMEC in the US. As a direct result of these referrals, we are able to safeguard children and arrest offenders.

However, if Meta implements end-to-end encryption as planned, it will make their platforms less safe for children and massively reduce our collective ability to protect them.

We are not asking for new or additional law enforcement access, we simply ask that Meta retains the ability to keep working with us to identify and help prevent abuse. This collaboration remains absolutely vital.

Recent data from the IWF shows the fastest-growing age group appearing in online child sexual abuse imagery is 7- to 10-year-olds and IWF data also shows prevalence of the most severe forms of online child sexual abuse have more than doubled since 2020.

There are over 400,000 searches for online child sexual abuse material every month in the UK.

Sir Peter Wanless, NSPCC Chief Executive, said:

We hear from Childline and survivors how offenders actively move children they have targeted on open platforms to end- to-end encrypted services to groom and ultimately abuse them.

Victims say this amounts to their privacy and safety rights being eroded.

Our polling shows the UK public overwhelmingly support measures to tackle child abuse in end-to-end encrypted environments.

Tech firms should be showing industry leadership by listening to the public and investing in technology that protects both the safety and privacy rights of all users.

September 24, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Russia’s leadership reaps the consequences of its strategic mistakes – UK statement to the OSCE [September 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 20 September 2023.

UK military advisor, Nicholas Aucott, says that Russia’s military are floundering strategically as the brave people of Ukraine stand up to Russian aggression.

Thank you, Madam Chair. It is a sobering time to be appointed as the UK Military Advisor to the OSCE. This is an organisation designed to promote stability, peace and democracy in a region of over 1.3 billion people. It is truly tragic that Russia, through its illegal war of aggression in Ukraine, has wilfully violated our shared principles. Russia has attempted to conduct a multi-pronged attack on another sovereign nation, in an operation designed to subjugate Ukraine to Moscow’s will. The intention was that this would be achieved within a few days and yet, over one and half years later, Russia is now fighting a defensive battle in which it has found itself severely wanting.

From Russia’s perspective, the campaign can only be viewed as an abject military failure. Russia has failed in all of its strategic objectives. In the last week alone, the strategic situation in the Black Sea area has significantly changed. A Russian landing ship has been destroyed and a Russian submarine is probably catastrophically damaged, whilst the dry docks in which they were located will be inoperable for many months. But, to be clear, this is a situation of Russia’s own making.

Against any semblance of what the OSCE stands for, Russia has wilfully violated the values, principles and norms that it has committed to, and it has chosen to violate the basic principles of international relations. In an act of extreme desperation, Russia’s answer to the strategic entanglement into which it has voluntarily placed itself is to turn to North Korea, a State that Russia has supported UN sanctions against.

Madam Chair, in this context, what is remarkable is not so much Russia’s military debacle but something that gives cause for hope and optimism: how this situation has been confronted by the people of Ukraine. 13 September marks one year since Russia’s first recorded use of an Iranian-made Shahed drone. Russia is now manufacturing its own one-way attack drones, and these are causing widespread death and destruction. To date, over 2000 such one-way attack drones have been deployed. And yet, the enduring message that continues to emerge from Ukraine is not of a people subjugated, bowing to the will of Russia, but of a resilient people, proud and determined to stand up to this most heinous act of aggression. We hear of a people fighting for the ideals of democracy and the right to self-determination.

For they know the importance of these values. The ideals for which the brave people of Ukraine continue to fight are ideals of hope, they are ideals of peace and democracy, they are the ideals to which all members of this forum are signatories, including Russia. There can be no other option for any rational actor, therefore, but to support Ukraine in its fight against tyranny. Perhaps one day, the Russian leadership will come to realise once again, how far it has drifted from the values it also once espoused.

Until such a time, the UK, along with its international partners, will continue to stand with Ukraine in its efforts to restore Ukrainian sovereignty and demonstrate that aggression will not prevail. Thank you.

September 24, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : New counter fraud authority saves taxpayers £311 million in its first year, beating target by more than £100 million [September 2023]
The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 20 September 2023.

The Public Sector Fraud Authority saved taxpayers £311 million in its first year of operation, according to figures revealed by Baroness Neville-Rolfe, Minister for the Cabinet Office, at a meeting of the International Public Sector Fraud Forum this week.
- The Public Sector Fraud Authority has far exceeded its £180m target, saving taxpayers £311 million in its first year
- The savings come from counter fraud schemes designed to prevent, identify, and recover fraud in the public sector
- Baroness Neville-Rolfe revealed the “big win for taxpayers” at a meeting of the International Public Sector Fraud Forum, held this week in London
The Public Sector Fraud Authority saved taxpayers £311 million in its first year of operation, according to figures revealed by Baroness Neville-Rolfe, Minister for the Cabinet Office, at a meeting of the International Public Sector Fraud Forum this week. The figure far exceeds the original savings target of £180 million set when the authority launched last year.

The £311 million figure is made up of a variety of projects led by the Public Sector Fraud Authority that help public sector organisations prevent, identify, and recover public money lost to fraud, including:
- the use of advanced artificial intelligence and data analytics through partnerships with leading private sector businesses, such as the tech unicorn Quantexa;
- the National Fraud Initiative, which is an exercise that works with more than 1000 public bodies to compare sets of data against other records to identify discrepancies that may be evidence of fraud;
- and counter fraud flags, which refers to instances when we share intelligence with lenders to help them recover stolen money.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the creation of the Public Sector Fraud Authority while serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer in March 2022. Following intensive joint working between the Cabinet Office and the Treasury, the authority launched just five months later in August 2022.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe revealed how much the new authority had saved during its first year at a meeting of the International Public Sector Fraud Forum, which was hosted by the UK Government this week at venues across London. The figure will be officially published shortly in the Public Sector Fraud Authority’s first annual report.

The International Public Sector Fraud Forum was first convened by the UK Government in 2018. It aims to share best practice to help combat public sector fraud in the Five Eyes – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

The UK Government has hosted an in person meeting of the International Public Sector Fraud Forum four times. This week marked the first meeting since the pandemic and was attended by delegates from government agencies and law enforcement across the Five Eyes.

Approximately 70 delegates, made up of international experts and domestic counter fraud professionals from across the public sector, attended a keynote address by Baroness Neville-Rolfe at the Imperial War Museum on Thursday.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe DBE CMG, Minister for the Cabinet Office, said:

The £311 million saving is a big win for taxpayers. It shows the Public Sector Fraud Authority is delivering its mission to transform the way we fight fraud. Every pound stolen by fraudsters is one pound less spent on schools, hospitals, and other vital public services.

It was fitting to reveal the achievement at a meeting of the International Public Sector Fraud Forum. The Five Eyes has a proud history of working together to tackle big challenges and fraud is no exception. Led by the UK Government and the Public Sector Fraud Authority, our allies are setting the gold standard in the field of counter fraud.

Mark Cheeseman OBE, Chief Executive of the Public Sector Fraud Authority, said:

The Public Sector Fraud Authority was created to take action on fraud, and our results in our first year show our commitment to that. The close relationship we have with our international partners has been integral to this. Together we can have a bigger impact on those who attack our public services for their own gain.
September 24, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Government unveils new Board of Trade with UK’s top CEOs [September 2023]
The press release issued by the Department for Business and Trade on 20 September 2023.

Brand new Board of Trade includes CEOs from leading food and drink, education and creative industry companies.
Revamped Board will have an expanded list of advisers, including a brand new line-up of CEOs from leading food and drink, education and creative industry companies

New structure will focus specifically on exports in line with Government’s ambition to reach £1 trillion worth of UK exports per year by 2030.

In their roles as Advisers to the Board, appointees will work with the Department for Business and Trade to help identify and address export barriers and promote the UK brand to the world.

Business and Trade Secretary and President of the Board of Trade Kemi Badenoch has today [Wednesday 20 September] announced a refresh of the Board of Trade at the meeting of one of the government’s highest profile advisory bodies on trade and economic issues.

The Board, which has existed in various forms since the 17th century, offers advice to the government on its trade and exporting strategy, and has included members from across government, academic institutions and business.

In line with the Government’s ambition to grow UK exports every year until we hit a trillion annually by 2030, the focus of the new Board will be on working with leaders from the UK’s top growth sectors to identify and address export barriers so businesses can achieve their full potential. The creative industries, for example, are heavily represented with fashion, film and music CEOs all on the revamped Board.

As well as senior leaders from top global companies and innovative UK businesses, such as Tufan Erginbilgiç Chief Executive Officer of Rolls-Royce, and Sir Lucian Grainge, Managing Director of Universal Music Group, the refreshed Board of Trade will include thought leaders with an expertise in trade and the economy, including Lord Mayor of London Nicholas Lyons and Karen Betts, Chief Executive of the Food and Drink Federation.

Business and Trade Secretary and President of the Board of Trade Kemi Badenoch said:

The brilliant new members of the Board of Trade, with their wealth of experience and expertise, will help us to identify barriers to exporting and represent the best of Brand Britain to the world. Some are calling for another dry, report-writing board, but this new board will be fixers. As we seize the immense trading opportunities post-Brexit, we need to pull our socks up and be a team of doers. I’m confident the new Board of Trade will fulfil that ambition.

Pearson CEO Andy Bird said:

I am excited to be appointed as an Advisor to the Board of Trade and look forward to working with the other members of the Board and the Secretary of State on issues that will support the UK’s economic growth and prosperity. As CEO of the world’s leading learning company, I firmly believe in the power of innovation to enable transformation, and I hope I can bring this to bear in my advisory role.

Dulas Managing Director Ruth Chapman said:

I am delighted to be joining the newly convened Trade Board as an Advisor. As a leader of an SME with extensive experience of exporting products globally, I look forward to bringing my expertise on the challenges and opportunities of international trade, helping the UK to achieve its exporting growth ambitions.

Anya Hindmarch, CEO, Anya Hindmarch said:

I am excited to join as an Advisor to the Board of Trade to support business and specifically business export. I hope that my experience of leading a creative company means that I can feed back ‘from the coal face’ with ideas and solutions that help support and unblock barriers to growth. I see business as the ‘engine of the economy’ and believe that the creative industries are pivotal to the Secretary of State’s mission to meeting her ambition of a trillion annually by 2030.

As part of the first engagements of the new, revamped board, today Lord Dominic Johnson hosted an investors breakfast at Fortnum and Mason with a host of luxury brands and investors including Chanel, Bremont and Votary.

New Board of Trade advisers are:

Andy Bird CBE

Anya Hindmarch CBE

Ash Amirahmadi OBE

David Meller CBE

Karen Betts OBE

Libby Hart

Lord Daniel Hannan

Paul Golding

Peter O’Kane

Rt Hon Nicholas Lyons

Rt Hon Tony Abbott AC

Ruth Chapman

Sarah Kenny OBE

Sir Lucian Grainge CBE

Tufan Erginbilgiç

Vivienne Stern MBE

Alongside the Board of Trade, the Department for Business and Trade provides a range of country and market specific support to exporters of all sizes. This includes the Export Support Service, Export Champions, International Trade Advisors and UK Export Finance, all targeted at getting businesses across the UK exporting more. Latest figures show UK exports were £849bn in the 12 months to the end of July 2023, up £118bn (16%) in current prices, compared to the previous 12 months.
September 24, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : UK pushes protections for international marine biodiversity [September 2023]
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 20 September 2023.

The UK Government has today reaffirmed its commitment as a leader on international nature conservation, with a package of measures to address pressing challenges such as biodiversity loss, marine protection, climate change and illegal fishing.

The announcements made at the UN General Assembly in New York this week by Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey and Foreign Office Minister Lord Ahmad will build on the work that the UK has already done on the international stage to put nature and the environment at the top of the international agenda.

This includes playing a leading role in negotiating and securing the new Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) at the UN Biodiversity Summit in Montreal, which contains targets and goals to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

To help protect marine life in the high seas, the UK will be one of the first signatories of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, which will help establish large-scale marine protected areas in the two-thirds of the global ocean that lie beyond national jurisdiction.

The UK will also sign the Ocean Conservation Pledge, building on our existing commitments to protect at least 30% of our own marine area by 2030, and has endorsed the High-Level Panel Leader’s Communiqué, urging ocean-based action across climate, fisheries, pollution, management and mobilising finance.

Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey said:

It is vital that we maintain the momentum of the UN Biodiversity Conference last year and focus on implementation.

Today’s announcements will help to tackle biodiversity loss at sea and on land, and I urge more nations to join us as we drive forward progress on this global mission ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come.

Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for the United Nations at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, said:

I look forward to signing the BBNJ Agreement at the United Nation’s General Assembly and making the UK one of the first signatories. This agreement is a major victory for ocean protection and multilateral diplomacy and underpins the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as the cornerstone of ocean governance.

The UK played an important role in the negotiations and will continue to be proactive in preparing for implementation and entry into force and supporting other, particularly developing, countries, to do so.

In addition, the UK government has pledged funding to support marine protection, ocean research and activities to combat illegal fishing. These investments will bolster initiatives aimed at conserving our oceans and ensuring their long-term sustainability by allocating resources to these critical areas.

And on Thursday, the Environment Secretary will chair the first-ever Commonwealth Environment and Climate Ministerial Meeting in the margins of UNGA, looking to strengthen collaboration between Commonwealth countries ahead of UNFCCC CoP28.

As part of the full package of measures to drive forward international progress on tackling biodiversity loss in the ocean and on land, the UK Government has also announced:
- £2.5 million to support the Joint Analytical Cell (JAC), which is a crucial initiative aimed at combatting illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. This substantial financial backing underscores the UK’s commitment to safeguarding marine ecosystems and promoting sustainable fishing practices.
- £120,000 in funding to Plymouth Marine Laboratory as the secretariat for the Ocean Acidification Research for Sustainability (OARS) programme. Ocean acidification poses a significant threat to marine ecosystems, and this funding will contribute to efforts aimed at monitoring, mitigating, and adapting to this critical issue.
- A commitment to fund a project focused on the development of potential area-based management tools (ABMTs), such as Marine Protected Areas, in areas beyond national jurisdiction. This initiative aligns with efforts, such as the BBNJ Agreement, to enhance the conservation and sustainable management of marine areas of the global ocean, addressing a critical aspect of marine protection and sustainability. This project will draw on the important work that existing organisations have already carried out and recognise the need to collaborate closely with countries in regions where such proposals are to be developed.
- That it has welcomed Costa Rica, Panama, and Peru joining the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), a programme funded by the UK’s Blue Planet Fund that supports countries in their ambitions to reduce plastic pollution.
In addition, the UK is resolutely focused on delivering the target to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 through a number of different actions such as welcoming the final Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) risk assessment framework, contributing £10 million towards the GBF fund and actively establishing both Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) within UK waters.

More information on how the UK is focused on achieving the target to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030:
- The UK has welcomed the final Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) risk assessment framework, which was launched on 18 September in New York, and encourages all UK businesses and financial institutions across sectors to engage with the TNFD’s framework and consider getting involved in the work of the UK’s TNFD National Consultation Group. The TNFD is an invaluable tool for redirecting financial flows towards nature positive outcomes.
- The UK is contributing £10 million towards the GBF fund. This contribution serves as a testament to the UK’s recognition of the interconnectedness of global ecosystems and the importance of collective action.
- On the domestic front, the UK has been actively establishing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) within its own waters. This effort is a vital component of the UK’s broader strategy to safeguard marine biodiversity and promote sustainable fisheries. These designated areas serve as havens for marine life, allowing ecosystems to thrive and regenerate while also contributing to broader conservation objectives.
- Furthermore, the UK is actively engaged in international efforts to protect critical ecosystems, such as mangroves. The commitment to the High-Level Climate Champions Mangrove Breakthrough target to mobilize $4 billion in funding to revitalise mangroves highlights the UK’s recognition of the vital role these coastal ecosystems play in carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, and climate resilience.
- The UK has also committed to spending at least £3 billion on climate solutions which will focus specifically on the intrinsic connection between climate change and biodiversity loss. By investing in climate solutions that prioritise nature, the UK aims to address both environmental crises simultaneously, ensuring a sustainable and resilient future for both our ecosystems and our communities.
September 24, 2023
James Cleverly – 2023 Opening Remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York

The speech made by James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, in New York on 19 September 2023.

Mike thank you very much and thank you for hosting me today and thank you all for coming.

I was about to say I’ve done a bit of research but I don’t think it’s good starting a speech with an outright lie, so I’ll be a bit more honest. Members of my team have done a bit of research and I discover, because they’ve written it down here for me that the origins of the council lie in meetings between Brits and Americans in the aftermath of the First World War. And the conversation between our two countries has been a longstanding one and the work of this institution, the thinking about international relations is unsurprisingly as relevant today as it was back then.

Those meetings occurred in one of those pivot points in history and as someone who I regard not only as an important interlocutor but increasingly someone that I regard as a friend, Tony Blinken reminded us in a speech that he gave last week, we too are living through a pivotal moment because we’re at the nexus of interconnected challenges.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not necessarily a trial of strength as the work that our two nations did through conflicts in the first and second world war but is absolutely a trial of our resolve – and the point that I have made, and the point that I will make here today and will continue to make is that the world is watching. Our resolve is being tested and we are being observed. You can applaud at any point you fancy.

Now that is not of course the only area where our resolve is being tested.

Our willingness to address issues such as climate change, how to deal with new technologies such as AI, all these things are testing our ingenuity and testing our resolve and today at the UN, this week at the UN we are reminded sadly that we are way behind schedule on the delivery against our Sustainable Development Goals.

And after the economic dislocation of the pandemic and of the war in Ukraine, I think citizens here in the US, certainly in the UK and more widely across the world are asking their governments what are you doing about it, what are you doing to act on our behalf.

Mike you’re a former US Trade Representative, a voice on the international stage and I suspect that you like me and indeed many of you in the room will understand that there is no real boundary between foreign policy and domestic policy and the idea that there is, is completely artificial but I think that it is now incumbent upon us that we pay more attention to the interrelationship between international policy and domestic policy.

Last week, Tony Blinken spoke about having a fully integrated domestic and foreign policy.

And my Prime Minister and the government he leads are also absolutely determined to address the principle concerns of our citizens, which they tell us loud and clear are about addressing illegal migration and economic growth. Those superficially appear to be domestic issues but of course as soon as you look at them in any kind of detail it becomes clear they can only be resolved through international engagement.

So that is why we are intensifying collaboration with the countries on international illegal transit routes, migrant transit routes, as well as the countries from whom people are fleeing.

We are working with international partners to break the business model of those evil people smugglers and we are deepening our economic ties with countries around the world to try and dissuade people from moving to try and remove the drivers of that migration. And I know that migration is an increasingly sensitive political issue here in the US and it is also a sensitive political issue in a number of other countries across Europe and beyond.

What this reminds me of is the need to strengthen our traditional alliances and also to build additional ones. In terms of strengthening our pre-existing alliances I’m very pleased that Prime Minister Sunak and President Biden signed the Atlantic declaration earlier this year, it’s about reinforcing one of our strongest friendships in the world, it forms part of a continuum of close working relationship, it’s the first Atlantic charter signed by Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt, whatever happened to those guys did they make it in the world? I don’t remember, but it is part of a longstanding friendship and it has reminded us once again in a time of conflict in the European continent how important our bilateral relationship is.

Whilst we look at the horrors that are being perpetrated against the Ukrainian people by the Russian armed forces, we are reminded that once again at a time of need, the United States of America and the United Kingdom and others of course, have really stepped forward and are playing a leading part, once again in defending democracy and freedom.

The US is the leading supplier of military aid to Ukraine and I pay tribute to your nation’s generosity. And the Ukrainians are making the most of their support. And I know sometimes there’s frustration with the pace of their counter-offensive, I’ve had military briefings, and whilst I don’t want to bore you with the details, the Russian occupying forces have spent a huge amount of time and effort fortifying the whole of that southern part of Ukraine, meaning that any advance would inevitably need to be both slow and methodical. But the support of the US, the support of the UK the support of other nations around the world, both NATO members and further afield has made a difference.

It gave the Ukrainians a fighting chance at the beginning of this conflict. Those depth strike capabilities, those long range missiles that the UK and others are now providing are enabling the Ukrainians to target logistics hubs, communications hubs, command control hubs giving them the ability to methodically push back against Russia.

Putin believed that he could outlast Ukraine and outlast Ukraine’s friends around the world. He was wrong. Because time is not on Russia’s side. Some brutal statistics.

Russia has suffered many times more fatalities in combat in just over eighteen months than the Soviets did during their 10 years in Afghanistan. That level is unsustainable.

As we saw Prigozhin and the Wagner Group with their attempted mutiny, cracks are appearing, and again I quote Tony Blinken, cracks are appearing in the Russian system and the longer this conflict persists the longer those cracks will work their way through the system. Putin is scared of a mass mobilisation.

His circle of friends both in Russia and internationally is shrinking.

Last year, only four countries defended Russia in a UN General Assembly vote on Ukraine.

And whilst the world’s largest economies met last week in New Delhi, he was finalising his plans in a solitary summit with an impoverished dictator.

That is the damage that Putin’s poor decision making has done to his own country.

And so, the lesson I take from that is that we need to maintain our resolve. Putin’s calculation was that he could outlast us. We have to prove him wrong. And we have to prove him wrong not just to ensure that the conflict in Ukraine has a proper and good resolution where the Ukrainians get their country back, but because every current dictator and would be dictator and future potentate will look at how we respond to this challenge and they will factor that into their calculations about future actions.

So we need to send the message loud and clear that we have the resolve, we have the strategic patience, that we will do the right thing until this is resolved. Because if we do not then we will invite further aggression which we will then inevitably have to deal with at some point in the future.

Ukraine will not give up. The UK will not abandon them. And we will continue to advocate for the international community to lend them their support.

Now, obviously Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not the only issue that we have to discuss. There are many, many challenges on the world stage.

I’ve recently returned from a trip to Beijing, where I spoke with the Chinese government about areas where we have deep, deep disagreements. For example, their treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang, their failure to abide by commitments freely entered into over Hong Kong, their aggressive posture across the Taiwan Strait.

But, of course, I also engage with them on some of the issues that are important to all of us: the economic recovery, post conference, how we make sure that we benefit from AI, and that we address the challenges and potential dangers of that technology. And so we don’t have the luxury of dealing with only one challenge or one situation at a time. We have to look holistically. The United Kingdom has always been a globally focused country. We enjoy good working relationships with the United States, as I’ve already said, and our other friends in the Americas, our European friends and colleagues, but also we have enhanced our focus on the Indo Pacific region, where of course we have long standing friendships and we intend to enhance those.

So to give myself some time to answer your questions, I will summarize by saying that the challenges the world presents us are legion. But we do have the opportunity to make positive progress. We do have the opportunity to get the Sustainable Development Goals back on track.

It is going to mean that we work with our traditional friends and allies, but it also means that we have to give voice to the emerging powers in the world. The UK has encouraged an expansion of the United Nations Security Council for example, we believe that India, Brazil, Germany, Japan should have permanent membership, and Africa really deserves a louder voice on the world stage.

We think there needs to be change, evolution, and modernization of the international financial system so that we can apply the really big bucks held in the private sector to some of the challenges that we need to address. My Prime Minister has recently announced to the G20 a $2 billion commitment from UK to the Green Climate Fund to reinforce the value that we place on the natural world and the future of our children.

So there are plenty of things that we can discuss. I throw myself open to questions from the floor. You can ask me anything you like. There are three caveats. There are some things that I don’t know. You probably find that hard to believe, but nevertheless, it’s true. There are some things that I do know that I’m not going to tell you about. And other than that, I am quite willing to answer questions on any subject that either I’ve covered here that are maybe in your heads.

September 24, 2023