Tag: 2023

PRESS RELEASE : Appointment of Suffragan Bishop of Huddersfield [March 2023]

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 8 March 2023.

The King has approved the nomination of The Reverend Canon Madhu Smitha Prasadam, Chaplain of St Alban’s, Copenhagen, in the Diocese of Europe to the Suffragan See of Huddersfield, in the Diocese of Leeds, in succession to The Right Reverend Dr Jonathan Gibbs following his appointment as Bishop of Rochester.

Background

Smitha was educated at Leeds University (College of Ripon and York St John) and trained for ministry at Queen’s College Birmingham. She served her title at St Paul, Blackheath in the Diocese of Birmingham, and was ordained Priest in 2004. She was the Vicar of St Paul, Hamstead in the Diocese of Birmingham from 2007 to 2018.

Smitha was appointed to her current role as Chaplain of St Alban’s, Copenhagen in the Diocese of Europe in 2018. She has additionally served as Canon on the Cathedral Chapter since 2021.

March 8, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Two Sheffield businessmen banned for total of 17 years for falsely claiming covid loans for their companies [March 2023]

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 8 March 2023.

Michael Andrew Higgins, 56, and Dean Emanuel Miller, 41, both from Sheffield, have been disqualified as company directors for a total of 17 years after separate Insolvency Service investigations found that through their respective companies they had each abused the covid loan support scheme.

Michael Higgins was sole director of Steel Rigging Ltd, which traded as a company providing driving services for vehicles on outside TV broadcasts, from its incorporation in March 2015 until it went into liquidation in December 2021.

In November 2020, Higgins applied for a £20,000 Bounce Back Loan to support his business through the Covid-19 pandemic, stating on the application that the company’s turnover for 2019 had been £80,000.

Bounce Back Loans were a government scheme to support businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, in which companies could apply for loans of up to 25% of their 2019 turnover, to a maximum of £50,000.

Under the rules of the scheme, any loan money allocated was to be used for the economic benefit of the business, and not for personal purposes.

But Steel Rigging Ltd went into liquidation in December 2021, owing £23,900 – including the full amount of the Bounce Back Loan – and prompting an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Investigators found that the company’s turnover had in fact been just under £40,000 in financial year ending 31 March 2019, and around £43,100 for the following financial year, meaning that the company had claimed at least £9,200 more in loan money than it was entitled to.

They also discovered that Higgins had transferred the £20,000 to his own bank account over a period of 3 weeks in January and February 2021, without any evidence to show that these funds were used for the benefit of Steel Rigging Ltd.

And in a separate case, Dean Miller, sole director of IBODYTALKS Ltd, an online health and fitness business also based in Sheffield, applied for a £42,000 Bounce Back Loan for his company in May 2020.

Miller stated in the application that the firm, which was incorporated in April 2019, had been dormant until April 2020, and used a predicted turnover of £168,000 to apply for the loan. Under the rules of the scheme, businesses incorporated after 1 January 2019 were asked to estimate their turnover.

But the company went into liquidation in October 2021 owing more than £40,000, triggering an Insolvency Service investigation.

Investigators discovered that IBODYTALKS Ltd had in fact been trading since December 2019, after finding that five deposits totalling £588 had been made into the company bank account between then and April 2020.

They calculated that IBODYTALK’s projected turnover for the year could only have been around £101,100, meaning that it had received more than £16,700 of loan money to which it had not been entitled.

Investigators also found that in June 2020, a month after the company received the loan, Miller transferred £41,000 to a connected company, and did not provide any evidence to show the money was used for the benefit of IBODYTALKS Ltd.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted disqualification undertakings from the two directors, after both did not dispute that they had caused their companies to receive Bounce Back Loans to which they were not entitled, and failed to show that the money had been used for the economic benefit of their companies..

Michael Higgins’ disqualification lasts for 8 years and started on 3 January 2023. Dean Miller was banned for 9 years, beginning 1 February 2023. The disqualifications prevent them from directly or indirectly becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

Lawrence Zussman, Deputy Head of Company Investigations at the Insolvency Service, said:

Covid support schemes were a lifeline to businesses across the UK, protecting jobs and preserving businesses.

Michael Higgins and Dean Miller abused the scheme, and their lengthy bans should serve as a reminder to others that the Insolvency Service will not shirk from its responsibility in taking action in order to protect the public and the taxpayer.

March 8, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Russia’s increased targeting of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure is moral bankruptcy – UK statement to the OSCE [March 2023]
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 8 March 2023.

Emma Logan (UK delegation to the OSCE) says Russia’s deliberate strikes on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure are designed to spread terror amongst civilians.
Thank you, Mr Chair for convening us, and for assembling an excellent panel of speakers today.

On 23 February the UN General Assembly adopted, with 141 votes in favour, a resolution deploring “the dire human rights and humanitarian consequences of the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, including the continuous attacks against critical infrastructure with devastating consequences for civilians”. Standing alongside Ukraine, 140 countries “called for an immediate cessation of the attacks on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine and any deliberate attacks on civilian objects, including…schools and hospitals”.

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, President Putin expected to succeed within weeks. Twelve months later, Putin is losing his war and resorting to desperate measures. He is indiscriminately striking civilian areas and critical national infrastructure across the country. Many of these strikes have no military value – they are deliberately aimed at spreading terror amongst civilians, and by targeting strikes on thermal Power Plants and Hydroelectric dams, he is seeking to plunge Ukraine’s population into cold and darkness. This, after Russia itself joined others at the UN Security Council two years ago, in April 2021, to adopt Resolution 2573 demanding that parties to armed conflict comply with international humanitarian law obligations, and spare civilian infrastructure critical to essential service delivery, whilst also protecting civilians operating it.

Deputy Minister Demchenkov outlined for us today the impact of attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and its nuclear facilities, as well as Ukraine’s impressive response. In March last year, Russia illegally seized control of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, subjecting its staff to horrific treatment and increasing the risk of a nuclear incident. IAEA Director General Grossi last week underlined the persistent safety and security risks. The Russian Federation is solely responsible for the “dangerous, precarious and challenging situation” at the Plant – direct consequences of its illegal invasion. This, from a supposed responsible nuclear actor. As Director General Grossi outlined, the sound of artillery falling is never far away. Just last week, a Russian rocket struck a residential building in the city– 13 people were killed including a small child.

In response, the UK has provided over €4.5 million to support the Agency’s work in Ukraine. We have also stepped up our support to help Ukraine deal with attacks on broader energy infrastructure. To date, the UK has provided almost £80 million of support, including:

£10 million to the Energy Community’s Energy Support Fund for emergency equipment;

A $50 million guarantee to Ukraine’s electricity operator (via the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development);

856 generators;

£5 million for civil nuclear safety and security equipment and activities;

£10 million for generators and heaters for Ukraine’s military effort;

Continued support for Ukraine to defend its critical national infrastructure through supply of air defence capabilities; and

A G7 coordination mechanism to help Ukraine repair, restore and defend its energy infrastructure.

Further, in June the UK and Ukraine will co-host the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London with a focus on the role of the private sector in supporting recovery and reconstruction.

Mr Chair, the damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure has generated insecurities far beyond Ukraine’s national borders. What is clear from today’s discussion is how interconnected we are, and the risks and vulnerabilities this creates.

Domestically, in December, the UK Government published our Resilience Framework. This details our commitment to strengthen the resilience of our CNI across public and private sectors by building a stronger understanding of our risks and interdependencies, and by developing new standards and assurance processes. By 2030, the UK will:

Build upon existing resilience standards to create common but flexible resilience standards across CNI; and

Review existing regulatory regimes on resilience to ensure they are fit for purpose. In the highest priority sectors that are not already regulated, and for the highest priority risks, we will consider enforcing standards through regulation.

And on interdependencies, we have developed a CNI Knowledge Base: a bespoke CNI mapping tool, to identify interdependencies across and within sectors to form a ‘single source of truth’ for UK CNI and help users collaborate in how we anticipate, prevent, and respond to risks.

Mr Chair, Russia’s continued violations of international law and increased targeting of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure is moral bankruptcy. It is a cynical and calculated strategy of cruel destruction. And it is a strategy that will fail.

Thank you.
March 8, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Modern Britain – Our journey beyond colonialism [March 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 8 March 2023.

The High Commissioner discusses Britain’s colonial legacy, and her personal and professional journey in the UK as a woman born in Malaysia.

May I begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today, the Ngunnawal people. I pay my respects to elders past, present and future.

I also acknowledge all of Australia’s First Nations and recognise their place in Australia’s history, indeed in global history, as the oldest living culture in the world. And can I acknowledge all the other beautiful cultures represented here by my ASEAN counterparts, by my Pacific counterparts, by my Five Eyes, European and other counterparts in the room. I’m blessed to have you all with us today, particularly to the women, happy International Women’s Day.

For me, that includes understanding Britain’s own history and colonial past.

Whilst I will talk about Modern Britain, on this International Women’s Day I would also like to touch on my own journey as a British Woman of Asian ancestry – a representative of Modern Multicultural Britain.

Over twenty years ago, Robin Cook our then Foreign Secretary spoke of the reality of Britain in the 21st century.

He reminded us London was established as the capital of a Celtic Britain by Romans from Italy. They were then driven out by Saxons and Angles from Germany.

Richard the Lionheart spoke French and depended on the Jewish community of England to put up the ransom that freed him from prison.

The idea that Britain was a ‘pure’ Anglo-Saxon society before the arrival of communities from the Caribbean, Asia and Africa is fantasy.

But if this view of British identity is false to our past, it is certainly false to our future too.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong recently made headlines for a speech at Kings College in London.

As is often the case with headlines and even today – and I appreciate I’m on dangerous ground by making this point at the National Press Club – some of the nuance was lost.

I agree with Penny Wong. We must frame ourselves for who we are today. We must not let others constrain us in a past reality.

Just as brevity is the enemy of complexity, the story of modern Britain is distilled by distance.
A postcard of a painting that never was.

To understand modern Britain is to understand that we must project with pride our modern multicultural reality.

Our diversity and the inclusive society we strive for is who we are today.
This is our modern nationhood.

A nationhood that demands equality and fairness – at home and abroad: values we share with Australia.

Last year, the British Council and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade explored this complexity in the landmark “UK / Australia Season.”

Over one thousand British and Australian artists and educators collaborated across the globe to connect us with nuance, beauty and truth.

All seeking to answer the question, Who are we now?

Britain may have influenced the world, but in turn, Modern Britain has been shaped by the world.

We do not forget history but we must learn from it to inform our present and our future, to be a force for good we wish to be.

Next week I celebrate 4 years in my role as the British High Commissioner to Australia and also as the Head of our eight country Oceania Network.

You’ll be pleased to know I have another year to go.

A significant part of my job has been to strengthen our presence across this region, broaden our engagement and elevate our relationship with Australia to one of genuine strategic partnership.

I am reminded in this endeavour of the dilemma faced by the mathematician Abraham Wald during World War Two.

Allied planes returned with significant bullet damage.

The proposed solution was to add armour reinforcement.

But where to add reinforcement that would do the most benefit?

Wald analysed data showing areas where returning planes had sustained bullet damage.

Wald dismissed the intuitive answer, to strengthen parts of the plane that sustained the most damage.

His advice was to reinforce the parts of the returning planes that showed the least damage,

Why reinforce the part of the plane that came back unharmed?

Because the planes that sustained damage to those areas never returned.

Wald identified that sometimes, reinforcement is needed in the least obvious place.

Last year we announced the return of a diplomatic Consul-General for Western Australia, after a gap of nearly twenty years.

In my first year here, we re-established a diplomatic Consul General in Brisbane. With our Consul-Generals based in Sydney and Melbourne, our diplomatic network is restored and re-established covering all Australian states and territories.

The history and ties between Australia and the United Kingdom might suggest less focus is needed in this part of the world.

That is misguided.

There’s a phrase we like to use a lot about the Australia/UK relationship, ‘the best of mates’.
The thing about mates is that you should never take them for granted.

You have to work at it.

That is why our foreign ministers spent two days together with their defence counterparts at AUKMIN last month – to talk, to share, to understand, to challenge and to agree common purpose.

James Cleverly and Penny Wong concluded at the end of AUKMIN we are and remain the best of mates.

True partnership requires renewal and growth and that is what we are doing.

Partnership like our modern dynamic Free Trade Agreement which will transform bilateral trade between our countries.

Or UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

We invest in each other – in 2021, we were Australia’s second largest source of foreign investment. In return, the UK is the second-largest destination for Australian investment overseas.

Relationships do not survive, even in your private lives, unless they recognise change and adapt to new dynamics.

If not, we wake up one morning and realise we no longer know each other. So we are activist about this relationship which matters deeply to us.

Today our Foreign Secretary James Cleverly concludes our new Women and Girl’s Strategy, which he’s launched now, built on the pillars of Rights, Freedom, and Potential. A priorty agenda we share with Australia.

I recently met with a year eleven student, a high achieving young woman of Asian ancestry.

I asked, as I often do of young people, where she hoped to be in thirty years.

‘Prime Minister of Australia,’ she said.

On this International Women’s Day, it’s heartening to recall her say this with a surety that belied not a dream, but a goal to be attained.

It’s an attitude we’ve sought to foster in the UK.

We’ve made great strides in ensuring our Parliament represents the diversity of Britain.

Thirteen percent of our people in the UK are from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Today, ten percent of our House of Commons are from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Whilst we have made progress, there is still more to do, not least as Penny Wong reminded us, in how we project to the world.

So, let me be clear:

Yes, I represent the Britain of Bronte and Beckham.

But I also represent the Britain of Mary Seacole and James Cleverley, of Riz Ahmed and Rishi Sunak, of Courtney Pine and Kemi Badenoch, and for the literary among you, of Zadie Smith and Hanif Kureishi.

A Britain that addressed its legacy of the slave trade by leading the world in the abolition of slavery, passing the Slave Trade Act in 1807.

A Britain that initiated in more recent time the global campaign against Modern Slavery. The Britain that led the world to COP 26, and through the Glasgow Climate Pact, kept 1.5 alive, particularly important to our Pacific friends.

And just in the last week the Britain at the forefront of efforts to secure the landmark agreement on marine biodiversity at the UN protecting 30% of our oceans by 2030.

We are a Britain that has committed the equivalent of seven billion Australian dollars in support of Ukraine.

A Britain that has offered over two hundred and eighteen thousand Ukrainians a safe haven in our country since the beginning of Russia’s invasion.

A Britain that has offered Hong Kong-Chinese people the opportunity to become citizens in Britain.

And in true British style, we have done so with a minimum of fuss.

We do this because Britain will always stand against aggressors and stand up for freedom and democracy.

And we do it with the will of the British people.

I am proudly British, and I say this as someone born in Malaysia without a drop of English, Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish blood coursing through my veins.

In ethnic terms I am Eurasian, the daughter of Chinese and Dutch Burgher parents who migrated to Britain with me in tow aged eight because they trusted British values and believed in the opportunity Britain offered my sister and I.

Ten million Britons, like me, are foreign born.

At nineteen, I took an entry level role as a clerk in the Foreign Office in London.

On my first day I had the common experience of many migrants at that time, the inevitable ‘Yes, but where are you really from?’ conversation.

My first boss on greeting me was bemused, he said:
‘I don’t understand how you hope to be a member of Her Majesty’s diplomatic service.’
I told him, I am a legacy of Empire, and you reap what you sow.

This was nineteen seventy-nine. A year later and perhaps I could have referenced a popular film release: The Empire strikes back.

Over my career I have seen not just the ongoing change in my own organisation whether in terms of ethnic diversity or gender or other difference.

When I looked up the ladder then on that first day, there was no one like me never mind senior women.

Today women head our missions in Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore, Moscow, Paris, Berlin, Washington, Wellington, Ottawa and at the UN.

I was proud to make history and become the first female career diplomat of colour to become a High Commissioner when I went to New Zealand.

I have seen my country transform too. A yet more inclusive society where whoever you are and wherever your family came from you can rise and achieve the highest office.

I’m not sure we have an equivalent idiom of our American friends and their ‘American dream’.
If we did, I’d say I’m proud of the ‘British reality’.

A reality where we have a Hindu prime minister of Indian heritage, a foreign secretary of Sierra Leone heritage, and, yes, where the daughter of immigrants can start at the lowest level of the civil service and become the British High Commissioner to Australia.

Next Monday is Commonwealth Day. This is the first since the nations of Gabon and Togo were admitted.

Neither country has a colonial history with Britain, but their desire to join the family of nations that is The Commonwealth highlights the appeal of the Commonwealth ethos outlined by Queen Elizabeth:
“The Commonwealth is built on the highest qualities: friendship, loyalty, and the desire for freedom and peace.”

It is why Prime Minister Fiame of Samoa travelled to Kigali last year for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, to bring the Commonwealth to the Pacific in 2024 when Samoa will host CHOGM.

INDO-PACIFIC

As someone from this region, and through my postings across the Indo-Pacific, including a return to the country of my birth as British High Commissioner to Malaysia, I have a cultural awareness and understanding of this region.

I believe this contributes to our understanding and the shape of our work in the advice I provide to my government.

My time in this role has overlapped with a period of significant change for Britain and the world.

Our departure from the European Union meant Britain had to reassess its place in the world against the shifting currents of our geo-strategic reality.

Our Integrated Review published in 2021 set out our plan.

It made clear we are – by geography – a Euro-Atlantic nation and the defence of Europe – our near neighbourhood – would always be a priority.

Our commitment to NATO endures, and I acknowledge my friend and colleague Betty Pavelich, the Croatian Ambassador who is the NATO representative here in Canberra.

As does our commitment to Ukraine to regain their sovereignty.

But the Integrated Review also pointed to the importance of the Indo-Pacific and the need for us to engage in this region further.

In recognition of ASEAN centrality we have become an ASEAN Dialogue Partner. We want to work with ASEAN for their goals and aims as they are indeed ours.

In recognition of our Pacific friends at the frontline of Climate impacts, we will use our covening power as we did in Glasgow to give them a global voice.

Over the past four years the UK has doubled our presence across the Pacific Island Countries.

We now have High Commissioners in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu.

Just as it is my privilege to represent my country in Australia, our missions across the Pacific are privileged to learn from and support our Pacific friends.

The creation of our new Pacific Development Unit headed by our former High Commissioner to Vanuatu, here with us today, further underlines our commitment.

We have established a strong network coupled with strategic oversight from those who understand the importance of the Pacific and have lived and worked in the region.

This is a point of partnership, and of pragmatism. Not words on paper, but people on the ground.

As our Foreign Secretary has said, Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific economies and security are indivisible.

Sixty percent of global shipping passes through this region.

Security and stability here affects us all.

And the UK has always been a seafaring nation.

Our ships HMS Tamar and HMS Spey represent our intention to maintain a permanent presence in the Indo Pacific.

Last year, HMS Spey assisted the humanitarian response to the Tonga volcanic eruption.

In the last week, thanks to our partnership with Australia, the UK delivered shelter kits to the Government of Vanuatu, to support their recovery effort after cyclones Judy and Kevin wreaked havoc.

These climate impacts is why at COP 26 in Glasgow we announced £274 million for a new programme to improve climate resilience across the Indo-Pacific.

Whether battling slave traders in history, providing natural disaster relief today, or being alert to those who threaten a free and open Indo-Pacific, Britain will always support democracy and freedom worldwide.

AUKUS

This is why we have committed to AUKUS, the tri-lateral security and defence partnership between the UK, Australia, and the United States.

The drumbeat of reporting and rumours about Pillar 1 will soon reach a crescendo.

The optimal pathway is coming, and journalists in the room wouldn’t be journalists if they don’t use the post speech Q&A to inveigle me for new information. It is a futile attempt.

In an effort to pre-empt this, let me say all will be known soon, and I cannot, today, speak to specifics.

What I can say it this:

Our historic AUKUS agreement reflects the unique trust between the UK, US and Australia.

It reflects our shared values, and our joint commitment to the peace and security of the Indo-Pacific.

In the face of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, it perhaps would have been understandable for the UK to pull focus.

Instead, we have doubled down on our commitment to the Indo-Pacific.

Our unwavering support for Ukraine has happened in parallel with the strengthening of our presence and engagement in the Pacific.

These are not separate issues, these are sides of the same coin.

We recognise China poses a systemic challenge to our values and interests. We also recognise these views may not be shared by others.

Of course, we also recognise China’s significance in world affairs.

So diplomacy and engagement has never been more important.

Let me also use a sporting analogy because we know you Aussies love your sports.

A fair competition can only exist within a fair framework respected by all players.

Competition between nations is healthy, coercion is not. We will uphold the international rules based system, including modernising and reinforcing it in the light of experience and new global challenges like Climate Change.

We will support Australia and our allies across the Indo-Pacific, and anywhere the rules based international order is threatened.

This is the Modern Britain that has been shaped by the world.

This is the Global Britain that understands the legacy and responsibility of empire.

This is My Britain.

If you’ll indulge me further, I’ll end with an Emily Bronte poem:

I’m happiest now when most away
I can tear my soul from its mould of clay,
On a windy night when the moon is bright,
And my eye can wander through worlds of light.

When I am not, and none beside,
Nor earth, nor sea, nor cloudless sky,
But only spirit wandering wide
Through infinite immensity.

This poem has special resonance for me, as it may for many diplomatic colleagues with us today.

For me, whilst written in a different place and time, it speaks to this beautiful land and the spirit of its first nation’s people, wandering wide through the infinite immensity of time and space on this land called Australia today.

Like Bronte, I am happiest when most away, representing my nation in yours, and I thank you for the privilege.

Thank-you.

March 8, 2023
Gary Lineker – 2023 Comments Following Asylum Post

The comments made by Gary Lineker on Twitter on 8 March 2023.

I have never known such love and support in my life than I’m getting this morning (England World Cup goals aside, possibly). I want to thank each and every one of you. It means a lot. I’ll continue to try and speak up for those poor souls that have no voice. Cheers all. ??

March 8, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : British Businesses to Save Billions Under New UK Version of GDPR [March 2023]
The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 8 March 2023.

New data laws to cut down pointless paperwork for businesses and reduce annoying cookie pops-up are being introduced by the government today in Parliament.
- Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan introduces Data Protection and Digital Information Bill today
- New common-sense-led UK version of the EU’s GDPR will reduce costs and burdens for British businesses and charities, remove barriers to international trade and cut the number of repetitive data collection pop-ups online
- Strengthened data regime will save UK economy more than £4 billion over next 10 years and ensure that privacy and data protection are securely protected
New data laws to cut down pointless paperwork for businesses and reduce annoying cookie pops-up are being introduced by the government today in Parliament.

The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill was first introduced last Summer and paused in September 2022 so ministers could engage in a co-design process with business leaders and data experts – ensuring that the new regime built on the UK’s high standards for data protection and privacy, and seeks to ensure data adequacy while moving away from the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach of European Union’s GDPR.

Data is fundamental to fuelling economic growth in all areas of society from unlocking medical breakthroughs to helping people travel, manage their finances and shop online. It is vital to the development and use of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Data-driven trade generated 85 per cent of the UK’s total service exports and contributed an estimated £259 billion for the economy in 2021.

The improved bill will:
- Introduce a simple, clear and business-friendly framework that will not be difficult or costly to implement – taking the best elements of GDPR and providing businesses with more flexibility about how they comply with the new data laws
- Ensure our new regime maintains data adequacy with the EU, and wider international confidence in the UK’s comprehensive data protection standards
- Further reduce the amount of paperwork organisations need to complete to demonstrate compliance
- Support even more international trade without creating extra costs for businesses if they’re already compliant with current data regulation
- Provide organisations with greater confidence about when they can process personal data without consent
- Increase public and business confidence in AI technologies by clarifying the circumstances when robust safeguards apply to automated decision-making
Today’s data reforms are expected to unlock £4.7 billion in savings for the UK economy over the next 10 years and maintain the UK’s internationally renowned data protection standards so businesses can continue to trade freely with global partners, including the EU.

Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said:

“Co-designed with business from the start, this new Bill ensures that a vitally important data protection regime is tailored to the UK’s own needs and our customs.

“Our system will be easier to understand, easier to comply with, and take advantage of the many opportunities of post-Brexit Britain. No longer will our businesses and citizens have to tangle themselves around the barrier-based European GDPR.”

“Our new laws release British businesses from unnecessary red tape to unlock new discoveries, drive forward next generation technologies, create jobs and boost our economy.”

Alongside these new changes, the Bill will increase fines for nuisance calls and texts to be either up to four per cent of global turnover or £17.5 million, whichever is greater, and aims to reduce the number of consent pop-ups people see online, which allow websites to collect data about an individual’s visit.

The Bill will also establish a framework for the use of trusted and secure digital verification services, which allow people to prove their identity digitally if they choose to do so. The measures will allow customers to create certified digital identities that make it easier and quicker for people to prove things about themselves.

The Bill will strengthen the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) through the creation of a statutory board with a chair and chief executive, so it can remain a world-leading, independent data regulator and better support organisations to comply with data regulation.

Julian David, TechUK CEO, said:

“TechUK welcomes the new, targeted package of reforms to the UK’s data protection laws, which builds on ambitions to bring organisations clarity and flexibility when using personal data.”

“The changes announced today will give companies greater legal confidence to conduct research, deliver basic business services and develop new technologies such as AI, while retaining levels of data protection in line with the highest global standards, including data adequacy with the EU.”

Chris Combemale, Chair of the DPDI Business Advisory Group and CEO of the Data & Marketing Association (DMA UK), said:

“The DMA has collaborated with the government throughout the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (DPDI)’s development to champion the best interests of both businesses and their customers. We are confident that the bill should act as a catalyst for innovation and growth, while maintaining robust privacy protections across the UK – an essential balance which will build consumer trust in the digital economy.”

John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner, said:

“I welcome the reintroduction of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill and support its ambition to enable organisations to grow and innovate whilst maintaining high standards of data protection rights. Data protection law needs to give people confidence to share their information to use the products and services that power our economy and society.

“The Bill will ensure my office can continue to operate as a trusted, fair and independent regulator. We look forward to continuing to work constructively with the Government to monitor how these reforms are expressed in the Bill as it continues its journey through Parliament.”
March 8, 2023
Chi Onwurah – 2023 Speech on the Science and Technology Framework

The speech made by Chi Onwurah, the Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, in the House of Commons on 7 March 2023.

I welcome the Secretary of State to her place, and I thank her for the advance notice of her statement.

I welcome the framework. It will take pride of place on my virtual bookshelf next to the Government’s innovation strategy, the R&D road map, the science plan, numerous grand challenges, industrial strategies, sector deals and two UKRI reorganisations. We have seen nine changes of Science Minister in five years. Britain is a world-leading science nation, and we deserve a framework with a longer shelf life than a lettuce, especially given the shortage of salad items under this Government.

It is good to see the Government setting out the principles for identifying the scientific capabilities that we need to protect and grow, and the outcomes that we wish to see from science, as well as seeking to increase STEM skills in teaching and support for start-ups and spin-outs. On the eve of International Women’s Day, and as a chartered engineer, I enthusiastically welcome the ambition to diversify the science and technology workforce. Let us work together to make that ambition a reality.

I have a number of questions for the Secretary of State. How do the five critical technologies in the framework relate to the 17 sensitive areas in the National Security and Investment Act 2021, and the five key growth industries in the autumn statement? When will each critical technology have the appropriate regulatory framework that she talked about? Science-driven industries critical to our future prosperity, such as space, autonomous vehicles, batteries and steel, are not even mentioned. Labour has committed to an industrial strategy council on a statutory footing. Do Government have an industrial strategy?

The framework rightly says that procurement is key to innovation. Why, then, have the Government objected to our amendments to the Procurement Bill to ensure that procurement is not captured by cronyism? The Government committed to £22 billion of science funding by 2027. Will the Secretary of State say what the current funding commitment is now? How much of the £370 million mentioned in the framework is truly new? If it is new, how is she paying for it? The Government promised that science spend will double, but the framework talks of raising science spend outside the greater south-east by only 40%. That suggests that our regional centres of innovation will not benefit from this increased funding. Is that all she has to say about the importance of regional innovation? What of the clusters that the Science Minister talks up so much?

Start-ups and scale-ups are key to sustainable green growth, but the £10 million uplift to the seed fund mentioned here would not meet the early-stage funding requirements of one future Google. Will the Government adopt the recommendations of Labour’s start-up and scale-up review to drive innovative growth across our country?

The biggest question is what is not in the framework—Horizon Europe, the world’s biggest science programme. Did the Secretary of State really think that she could get through the statement without even mentioning it? Thanks to the Tories, our brightest and best UK scientists are still having to choose between the funding that they desperately need and the country that they love. British research and British business are feeling the chilling impact of not being part of the world’s greatest scientific collaboration. Can the Secretary of State confirm that now that the Windsor framework has been agreed, Horizon association will follow? Specifically, will the Chancellor’s Budget next week include association funding?

Labour believes that innovation and science are critical to building strong and self-sufficient national and regional economies. We see a clear path from investing in scientific research to the jobs that people can raise a family on. With our ambitious national missions, Labour would stoke the innovation engine to drive high-skilled growth, access new and diverse talent pools and catalyse regions that have been left out of science investment. I fear that this framework is another wish list designed to be shelved or scrapped at the earliest convenience of a Government addicted to sticking-plaster policies. Only a Labour Government, with our long-term industrial strategy, will deliver the science sector and the jobs that our country needs.

Michelle Donelan

I thank the hon. Member for her comments, but in reality it is this Government who are here today delivering jobs and a better future for the British public. As I said in my statement, we are focusing not only on actions today, but on a strategic long-term approach to ensure that we are a science and technology superpower by 2030.

The hon. Member said that there are more technologies than the five that we have identified. Of course there are. The ones we have identified are the key strategic ones, but there is a great deal of work that my ministerial team and I are doing. On funding, we are investing £20 billion by 2024-25, as we have said on the record. The £370 million that we announced yesterday is a new spending commitment that we had not previously outlined. On geographical spread across the nation, we have made a strategic commitment to ensure that 55% of the spend is outside the south-east.

The framework that we have set out is just one part of the work that my Department is doing. Let us not forget that it was established just four weeks ago. In one month, we have not only published a comprehensive framework plan, but got on with key actions to drive the agenda forward. This Government mean business. We have worked very hard in the past few weeks to talk collaboratively with industry and with researchers.

I am not going to take the Opposition’s word about what is wrong. Let us have a look at what experts and people on the ground have to say. Professor Sir Ian Boyd, president of the Royal Society of Biology, says:

“Science and technology is already a central plank of modern life. Putting this centre-stage in government strategy is essential and welcome.”

Professor Julia Black, president of the British Academy, says:

“The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s announcements reaffirm the Government’s ambition to put the UK at the forefront of global research, development and innovation”.

I could go on all day long, because our announcement has been wholeheartedly welcomed.

The hon. Member asked about Horizon. This is an announcement about our framework—that is what is on the annunciator screen—and not about Horizon, but I will answer her question anyway. We have not changed our position on Horizon. For the past two years, we have tried to associate. It was in the original deal, and we welcome the comments from the EU. Of course, terms would have to be favourable for the UK—we have lost two years—and we would have to ensure value for money for the taxpayer. We cannot wait around for another two years, because we want to put our researchers first. That is why we have done the responsible and right thing and worked up a plan B, which stands ready should we need it, but our position on Horizon has not changed. We look forward to continuing our conversations with the EU.

March 8, 2023
Michelle Donelan – 2023 Statement on the Science and Technology Framework

The statement made by Michelle Donelan, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, in the House of Commons on 7 March 2023.

The creation of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology marks a watershed moment for science, innovation and technology in the UK. We now have a Government Department that focuses on a single mission: to make the UK a science and technology superpower. Science and technology is absolutely critical to the UK’s future prosperity and security, and to the health and wellbeing of our citizens and our environment. That is why it is a central pillar of the integrated review. Countries that embrace science and technology will be prosperous and secure, home to the innovators and technology companies of the future. Those that don’t, won’t.

My vision for DSIT starts from an extraordinary position. Last year, the UK joined only China and the US in having a technology sector worth over $1 trillion. Despite our relative size, Britain outperforms our closest competitors and we are a main challenger nation to the US and China in many areas. We have four of the world’s top 10 universities. Just eight of our university towns are home to more unicorns than the whole of France and Germany combined. However, when other countries are investing further and faster in science and tech, we must do the same. We have an incredibly unique and powerful platform from which to grow and innovate for the benefit of the British people, which is why I have said I plan to take a ruthlessly outcome-focused approach to this new Department.

I will ensure that in both the short term and the long term, our work is based on improving people’s daily lives in ways they can feel and see around them. The Government’s vision for the future is an NHS that uses artificial intelligence to find, treat and reduce illnesses such as cancer and heart disease, so we have more time with our loved ones. We should have local transport services that allow us to travel faster, safer and cleaner than our parents did. The schools of the future should be powered by the kinds of technology that unlock hidden talents in every child, no matter where they live. As the “Department for the Future”, our focus will be on how science, technology and innovation can ensure the British people live longer, safer, healthier and happier lives.

Such an important goal requires immediate action, which is why in my first few weeks as Technology Secretary I have been focused relentlessly on action and delivery. I see this as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to send a clear signal around the world that Britain plans to lead the way in science, innovation and technology. The key steps we have taken are as follows.

Yesterday, we published the UK science and technology framework, which sets out our goals and vision for science and technology in an enduring framework that will see us through to 2030. It has been developed in close collaboration with the UK science and technology sector, and represents a commitment to scaling our ambitions and delivering the most critical action needed to secure strategic advantage through science and technology. The framework is the strategic anchor that Government policy will deliver against, and to which the Government will hold themselves accountable. It sets out 10 things that the Government must do to sustain strategic advantage in science and technology.

First, we must identify the technologies most critical to the UK’s objectives. Secondly, we must signal the UK’s science and technology strengths and ambitions both at home and abroad to attract talent and investment and boost our global influence. Thirdly, we must boost private and public investment in research and development for economic growth and better productivity.

Fourthly, we must build on the UK’s already amazing talent and skills base. Fifthly, we must finance innovative science and technology companies. Sixthly, we must use Government procurement to stimulate innovation in key sectors and technologies. Seventhly, we must take international opportunities to shape the global science and technology landscape through strategic international engagement, diplomacy and partnerships.

Eighthly, we must ensure that science and technology objectives are supported by access to the best physical and digital infrastructure that will attract talent, investment and discoveries. Ninthly, we must leverage post-Brexit freedoms to create world-leading pro-innovation regulation and influence global technological standards. Tenthly, we must create a pro-innovation culture throughout the UK’s public sector to improve the way our public services run.

We have also taken immediate steps. The delivery of this new framework will begin immediately with an initial raft of projects worth around £500 million, of which £370 million is new money. That will ensure that the UK has the skills and infrastructure to take a global lead in game-changing technologies. That includes £250 million of investment in three truly transformational technologies to build on the UK’s leadership in AI, quantum technologies and engineering biology. That funding will help a range of industries tackle the biggest global challenges such as climate change and healthcare and will form part of our commitment to the five key technologies, which include semiconductors and future telecommunications.

We have also published Sir Paul Nurse’s “Independent Review of the UK’s Research, Development and Innovation Organisational Landscape”, with recommendations to make the most of the UK’s research organisations, testing different science funding models to support a range of innovative institutional models, such as focused research organisations, working with industry and partners to open up new funding opportunities. Up to £50 million will spur co-investment in science from the private sector and philanthropists, to drive the discoveries of the future, subject to business cases. The Government are already in talks with Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative by Eric and Wendy Schmidt, about additional support of up to $20 million as part of that work.

Some £117 million of existing funding will create hundreds of new PhDs for AI researchers, and £8 million will help to find the next generation of AI leaders around the world. A £50 million uplift to world-class labs funding will help research institutes and universities to improve facilities, so that UK researchers have access to the very best labs and equipment that they need to keep producing that world-class science. A £10 million uplift to the UK innovation and science seed fund, totalling £50 million, will boost the UK’s next technology and science start-ups, which could be the next Apple, Google or Tesla.

We have outlined plans to set up an Exascale supercomputer facility—the most powerful compute capability, which could solve problems as complex as nuclear fusion, as well as a programme to provide dedicated compute capacity for important AI research, as part of our initial response to the future of compute review, which was also published yesterday. Some £9 million in Government funding will support the establishment of a quantum computing research centre in Daresbury in the north-west.

On next steps, each of the 10 framework strands has a lead Department tasked with putting in place a clear action plan, to which they will be accountable during the year. Delivery against those plans will be overseen by the National Science and Technology Council, which will hold Departments to account and drive pace. Alongside the development of those ambitious plans and the framework, we have also set out our initial work under each of the 10 priorities, which will include our skills and talent base.

On priority technologies, we will develop a pro-innovation approach to regulating AI, which will be detailed in our White Paper in the coming weeks. On R&D investment, we will respond to the Tickell review of research bureaucracy, and Sir Paul Nurse’s review of the research, development and innovation landscape. We will work with industry and partners to increase inward investment by the summer recess. On financing innovative science and technology companies, we will build on the strong track record of the British Business Bank to strengthen support for the UK’s science and technology companies.

This ambitious plan will focus on getting actions out the door now, as well as a plan for the future. This Government are both reactive and, crucially, proactive when it comes to science and technology, to ensure that we can be a superpower by 2030.

March 8, 2023
Stuart McDonald – 2023 Speech on the Illegal Migration Bill

The speech made by Stuart McDonald, the SNP spokesperson on Home Affairs, in the House of Commons on 7 March 2023.

The SNP stands proudly behind the refugee convention and the European convention on human rights. We believe that all who seek asylum and refugee status deserve a fair hearing and we are 100% behind the clear statement from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that there is no such thing as an illegal asylum seeker.

Despite the dreary dog-whistle rhetoric, the Home Secretary’s Bill will not lay a solitary finger on people smugglers or people traffickers, but it will cause serious and devastating harm to those who have already endured incredible suffering. Afghans let down by the Government’s utterly failed relocation schemes will be locked up and offshored. People who have fled persecution in Syria, Eritrea or Iran will remain blocked from the asylum system. The policies that have seen hundreds of children go missing from hotels will be enshrined in her Bill. The world-leading modern slavery legislation piloted through by one of her predecessors is about to be ripped to pieces without a single shred of justification. That is what this appalling Bill looks set to deliver, and that is why we will oppose it every step of the way.

If every country followed the Home Secretary’s example, the whole system of refugee protection around the world would fall to pieces. It is not just that system that will be trashed by this Bill, however, but the UK’s reputation as a place of sanctuary. She spoke about an overwhelmed asylum system, but the only thing that has overwhelmed the asylum system is the Conservative party’s incompetence and mismanagement. One of her own ministerial colleagues described the Rwanda plan as

“ugly, likely to be counterproductive and of dubious legality”,

and that beautifully encapsulates what is in this Bill.

I have two questions for the Home Secretary. First, what happens if an Afghan arrival cannot be removed to Afghanistan, France, Rwanda or anywhere else? Will he or she eventually be admitted to the asylum system? If so, after how long? Secondly, when the Prime Minister meets President Macron, will he be telling him that the UK is prepared to leave the European convention on human rights?

Suella Braverman

A lot of passion and fury and fire—I only wish the Scottish Government would bring so much passion to their approach to accommodating asylum seekers, when Scotland currently takes one of the lowest numbers of asylum seekers in our United Kingdom. Our measures set out a comprehensive and coherent plan, combining fairness and compassion.

March 8, 2023
Yvette Cooper – 2023 Speech on the Illegal Migration Bill

The speech made by Yvette Cooper, the Shadow Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 7 March 2023.

A record 45,000 people crossed the channel on dangerous small boats last year, up from just 280 four years ago. In that short time, the Government have allowed criminal gangs to take hold along the channel and along our border. At the same time, convictions of people smugglers have halved; Home Office asylum decisions have collapsed, down 40%; the backlog and costly, inappropriate hotel use have soared; removals of unsuccessful asylum seekers are down 80% on the last Labour Government; and legal family reunion visas for refugees are down 40%. That is deeply damaging chaos, and there is no point in Ministers trying to blame anyone else for it. They have been in power for 13 years. The asylum system is broken, and they broke it.

We need serious action to stop dangerous boat crossings, which are putting lives at risk and undermining border security. That is why Labour has put forward plans for a cross-border police unit, for fast-track decisions and returns to clear the backlog and end hotel use, and for a new agreement with France and other countries. Instead, today’s statement is groundhog day. The Home Secretary has said:

“Anyone who arrives illegally will be deemed inadmissible and either returned to the country they arrived from or a safe third country.”

[Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] Only that was not this Home Secretary: it was the last one. And that was not about this Bill: it was about the last one, passed only a year ago and which did not work. As part of last year’s Bill, the Home Office considered 18,000 people as inadmissible for the asylum system because they had travelled through safe third countries, but because it had no return agreements in place, just 21 of them were returned. That is 0.1%. The other 99.9% just carried on, often in hotels, at an extra cost of £500 million, and it did not deter anyone. Even more boats arrived.

What is different this time? The Government still do not have any return agreements in place. The Home Secretary has admitted that Rwanda is “failing”, and even if it gets going it will take only a few hundred people. What will happen to the other 99% under the Bill? She says that she will detain them all, perhaps for 28 days. Can she tell us how many detention centres the Government will need in total and how much they will cost? Even if she does that, what will happen when people leave 28-day detention? Will she make people destitute, so that they just wander the streets in total chaos? They will include torture victims, Afghan interpreters and families with children. Or will she put them into indefinite taxpayer-funded accommodation? Never returned anywhere because the Government do not have agreements with Europe in place, never given sanctuary, never having their case resolved—just forever in asylum accommodation and hotels. She may not call it the asylum system, but thousands of people are still going to be in it.

What will the Bill mean for the promises we made to the Afghan interpreters who served our country but who were too late to make the last flight out of Kabul as the tyranny was closing in upon them? The Government told them to flee and find another way here, and they told us to tell people that as well. But the resettlement scheme is not helping them and, if they finally arrive in this country this afternoon, perhaps by travelling through Ireland to get here, they will only ever be illegal in the eyes of a Government who relied on the sacrifices they made for us.

If the Government were serious, they would be working internationally to get a proper new agreement in place with France and Europe, including return agreements, properly controlled and managed legal routes such as family reunion, and reform of resettlement. Instead, this Bill makes that harder, unilaterally choosing to decide no asylum cases at all, but expecting every other country to carry on.

If the Government were serious, they would be working with Labour on our plan for a major new cross-border policing unit to go after the criminal gangs. Instead, the deputy chairman of the Conservative party, the hon. Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) said yesterday that we should not go after the gangs because they have existed for “thousands of years”. That is the disgraceful Tory attitude that has let the gangs off of the hook and let them take hold. One smuggler told Sky News yesterday that three quarters of the smugglers live in Britain, but barely any of them are being prosecuted and the Government still have not found the hundreds of children missing from asylum hotels who have been picked up by criminal gangs.

The Government could be setting out a serious plan today. We would work with them on it, and so would everyone across the country. Instead, it is just more chaos. The Government say “no ifs, no buts”, but we all know that they will spend the next year if-ing and but-ing and looking for someone else to blame when it all goes wrong. Enough is enough. We cannot afford any more of this—slogans and not solutions, government by gimmick, ramping up the rhetoric on refugees and picking fights simply to have someone else to blame when things go wrong. This Bill is not a solution. It is a con that risks making the chaos worse. Britain deserves better than this chaos. Britain is better than this.

Suella Braverman

I thank the right hon. Lady for her remarks, but—forgive me—after five minutes of hysteria, histrionics and criticism, I am still not clear: I have no idea what Labour’s plan is. I will assume that the shadow Home Secretary is still committed to scrapping our Rwanda partnership, as she said last year, and I will assume that the Leader of the Opposition still wants to close immigration removal centres, as he promised during his leadership campaign. The shadow Home Secretary talks about safe and legal routes; I wonder what number Labour would cap that at. Would it be 500,000? A million? Five million? She should be honest with the House and with the British people: what she really means is unlimited safe and legal routes—open borders by the back door.

The right hon. Lady says get serious, so let us look at the facts. The British people want to stop the boats. It is one of the five promises the Prime Minister made to the British people, but stopping the boats did not even feature in the Leader of the Opposition’s five big missions. Is it because he does not care or because he does not know what to do? We all know why, and I think the British people know why: it is because, deep down, the Leader of the Opposition does not want to stop the boats and he thinks it is bigoted to say we have got too much illegal migration abusing our system. It is because Labour MPs would prefer to write letters stopping the removal of foreign national offenders. It is because the Labour party would prefer to vote against our measures to penalise foreign national offenders and to streamline our asylum system.

Those are the facts. Labour is against deterring people who would come here illegally, against detaining people who come here illegally and against deporting people who are here illegally. That means that Labour is for this situation getting worse and worse. Perhaps that is fine for the Leader of the Opposition and most of those on the Labour Front Bench, but it is not their schools, their GPs or their public services, housing and hotels filling up with illegal migrants.

Perhaps that is why, even before seeing the Bill and engaging on the substance, Labour has already said it will not support its passage through Parliament. Is the Leader of the Opposition committing that the Labour Lords will block it? The British people want to stop the boats. The Conservative Government have a plan to stop the boats. This Prime Minister will stop the boats. If the people want closed minds and open borders, they can rely on Labour.

March 8, 2023