Tag: 2024

PRESS RELEASE : AUKUS statement [August 2024]

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 16 August 2024.

A statement on the historic breakthrough in defence trade between the UK, US, and Australia following landmark export control changes.

The United Kingdom, United States and Australia have stood shoulder-to-shoulder for decades to support the security and stability of the Indo-Pacific region and beyond – and AUKUS is a demonstration of our collective commitment to the region.

Today has seen the publication of the UK’s AUKUS Nations Open General Licence, alongside an exemption to the ITAR granted by the United States, and Australia’s license-free provisions. Together, these changes allow AUKUS partners to significantly reduce barriers to defence trade among and between Authorised Users within the partner’s nations which will break down barriers for faster, more efficient collaboration between the allies, benefitting all three nations.

These changes will enable enhanced collaboration and the rapid development of some of the most advanced capabilities in the world. This new environment will revolutionise our defence trade sectors, unlocking growth and export opportunities for all of our industries.

Today’s actions will strengthen our three countries’ combined military capabilities, the pace of our collaboration and response to threat, and boost our collective industrial capacity, giving ourselves a military and strategic edge over adversaries.

The UK is grateful for the collaborative work that has gone into streamlining our export regulations and processes, to ensure we continue to deliver on the full economic and security potential of AUKUS.

September 3, 2024
PRESS RELEASE : Ministerial visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories – UK and France foreign ministers’ joint statement [August 2024]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 16 August 2024.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy and French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné gave a statement following a joint ministerial visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Statement by the Foreign Ministers of France and the United Kingdom:

We, the Foreign Ministers of France and the UK, share a common interest in the security of the State of Israel and the stability of the region as a whole. We are in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories on the first joint UK-France ministerial visit for a decade. As 2 UNSC permanent members, we have a specific responsibility to support ending the current escalation and securing a lasting peace to the benefit of Israelis, Palestinians and the whole region.

The risk of wider conflict in the Middle East has never been higher and we must push for de-escalation now. We have urged Iran and its proxies to stand down the ongoing threats of military attack against Israel. We have also stressed to all parties that the spiral of escalating reprisals must end. We reiterate the importance of fully implementing UN Security Resolution 1701 on Lebanon.

We stress our full support for the current efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza led by the US, Egypt and Qatar. There is no further time to lose to seize the opportunity and secure the release of the hostages. We strongly urge all parties to live up to their responsibilities. In addition, unfettered delivery and distribution of humanitarian aid is urgently needed, and civilians must be protected.

We reiterate that only a two-state solution, within the framework of international law, can bring a just and lasting peace to both Israelis and Palestinians. We strongly condemn settler violence in the West Bank which threatens both Israeli and Palestinian security and could put at risk ongoing diplomatic efforts. We remain committed to supporting cooperation and normalisation in the region. All actors in the region must make concrete gestures if they genuinely want to avoid war. We stand ready to engage with them to that end.

This joint visit is a symbol of the UK and France’s shared purpose in the region and wider world.

September 3, 2024
PRESS RELEASE : Historic Breakthrough in defence trade between AUKUS partners [August 2024]

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 15 August 2024.

A historic breakthrough in defence trade between the UK, US, and Australia has been announced today following landmark export control changes to benefit the AUKUS partners.

The milestone will enable all three nations to work more closely together to develop next-generation technologies, compete with adversaries and support interoperability in the Indo-Pacific.

It is estimated the reforms – which will lift certain export controls and restrictions on technology sharing – will cover up to £500 million of UK defence exports each year, and billions of dollars of trade across all three nations, helping boost UK economic growth.

Built on strong bonds with Australian and US allies, AUKUS seeks to support security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

Today’s defence trade breakthrough comes via the publication of the UK’s AUKUS Nations Open General Licence, combined with a new exemption to the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) for the UK and Australia, and new national exemptions for the UK and US in Australia’s export control framework. This will lift license requirements for the export and sharing of certain defence products, including advanced capabilities, technical data and defence services.

Together, these historic changes allow AUKUS partners to significantly reduce barriers to defence trade and technology sharing, allowing for faster, more efficient collaboration between scientists, engineers and defence industries. This will benefit all three nations and help deliver the full economic, innovation and security potential of AUKUS.

Defence Secretary, John Healey said:

As tensions increase, and conflicts continue around the globe, our partnerships with our allies are critically important.

This is a breakthrough that will allow our three nations to deepen our collaboration on defence technology and trade. Our new government will reinforce the UK’s role in AUKUS to boost Britain’s military capabilities and economic growth.

Foreign Secretary, David Lammy said:

Today’s historic announcement demonstrates how AUKUS is taking our relationship with the US and Australia to even greater heights.

By breaking down barriers to defence trade and cooperation, we’re unlocking huge opportunities for UK jobs and growth – while bolstering global security and stability.

Today’s announcement follows bilateral meetings between the Defence Secretary John Healey and his US and Australian counterparts last month – meeting US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the NATO Summit in Washington DC and hosting the Australian Deputy Prime Minister & Defence Minister Richard Marles in Sheffield.

The defence trade changes announced today allow for fewer licences for exports, re-transfers, and re-exports within and between the UK, US, and Australia.

This will significantly enhance collaborative opportunities between the governments and defence industries in the three countries and reduce compliance costs and delivery timelines for UK programmes.

Kevin Craven, CEO of ADS Group said:

Since AUKUS’ inception, industry has been consistently clear: closer collaboration between our nations is critical to the successful delivery of the trilateral programme, reiterated at the recent Advanced Capabilities Industry Forum. This is a potentially groundbreaking moment for the UK defence sector, widening our access to our closest allies and increasing opportunities for international trade.

With the third anniversary of the programme approaching, AUKUS partners are committed to working with stakeholders to ensure the changes reap benefits, unlock opportunities, and promote outcomes that support shared interests.

September 3, 2024
PRESS RELEASE : 80th anniversary of the Genocide of the Roma commemoration event in Newcastle [August 2024]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 15 August 2024.

The UK IHRA presidency commemorated Roma Genocide Remembrance Day on 2 August, at an event in Newcastle alongside representatives of the Roma community.

On 2 August 2024, the UK Presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) partnered with the Roma community in Newcastle, to participate in an event to mark the 80th anniversary of the ‘genocide of the Roma’. Associate Professor and Programme Director at University College London’s Centre for Holocaust Education, Ruth-Anne Lenga, attended in her capacity as Deputy Head of the UK Delegation to the IHRA, on behalf of the UK Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues Lord Pickles.

The event took place in Newcastle Civic Centre Memorial Garden and was hosted by former Newcastle Councillor, Mr Nicu Ion. Mr Ion invited attendees to lay wreaths and flowers at the exact site where a permanent memorial to the victims of the genocide of the Roma, is due to be built next year.

Once built, this memorial will be the first and only permanent memorial in the UK, dedicated to remembering the suffering and murder of the Roma during the Nazi era.

The event was attended by representatives from Roma civic society, local councillors, the Sheriff and Deputy Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Councillor Henry Gallagher, Roma community leaders, poets, singers and activists from Newcastle and further afield.

Nicu Ion, who was the first elected Roma councillor in Newcastle, and a former teacher said:

“Today we stand at the spot of what is to be the first memorial to be built in the UK. There are very few in Europe. This will be a place to recollect, to share the story of suffering of our tragic history – which will hopefully be unveiled in January 2025.”

Associate Professor Ruth-Anne Lenga said:

“Today marks a triumph following years of struggle for recognition of this history. We are witnessing a watershed moment as we unveil the site on the landscape of this country where the first permanent memorial to the victims of the genocide of the Roma will lie. The UK Presidency of IHRA, join the community in mourning the souls of those that were murdered in the genocide and stand with you, side by side in friendship and solidarity.”

The IHRA has long advocated for the inclusion of the history of ‘the genocide of the Roma’ into learning programmes in schools and other educational settings. Later this year, the IHRA will launch a new publication: ‘Recommendations for teaching and learning about the persecution and genocide of Roma during the Nazi Era’.

These recommendations will offer advice to policy makers and teachers about what to teach, how to teach it, and why it is so important to teach about ‘the genocide of Roma’.

Miško Stanišić, Director of Terraforming, a Serbian organisation which develops educational methodologies and teaching materials about the Holocaust, and who has led the development of these recommendations within the IHRA, spoke of how he could sense the pride of Newcastle for being one of the only cities in Europe to have established a permanent site for a memorial to this catastrophic event, and how remembrance and education go hand in hand.

Following the Roma anthem and the raising of the Roma flag, second and third generation survivors also spoke, alongside other leading figures from within the Roma community.

September 3, 2024
PRESS RELEASE : Business consultant, Imran Mushtaq, handed suspended sentence after fraudulently securing two maximum-value Covid loans [August 2024]
The press release issued by HM Treasury on 15 August 2024.

Suspended sentence for fraudster who abused the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.
- Imran Mushtaq exaggerated the turnover of his IZ Business Consultants Limited company to obtain two £50,000 Bounce Back Loans
- Mushtaq made the fraudulent applications within a two-day period in early June 2020
- The 40-year-old has been given a suspended sentence and has pledged to pay the £100,000 back in instalments
A Derby-based business consultant who fraudulently obtained two Covid loans worth a combined £100,000 has been handed a suspended sentence.

Imran Mushtaq was the sole director of IZ Business Consultants Limited when he applied for two Bounce Back Loans for the company in June 2020.

Mushtaq was sentenced to 20 months in prison, suspended for 22 months, when he appeared at Derby Crown Court on Tuesday 13 August.

The 40-year-old was also ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and pay costs of £1,000.

Mushtaq, of Mimosa Crescent, Derby, has committed to repay the £100,000 he fraudulently secured.

Claire Entwistle, Assistant Director of Operations at the Insolvency Service, said:

Imran Mushtaq deliberately overstated the turnover of IZ Business Consultants to secure two Bounce Back Loans when businesses were only entitled to a single loan.

This was government-backed taxpayers’ money and Mushtaq made matters worse by refusing to co-operate with Insolvency Service investigations into his conduct.

While we are pleased that Mushtaq has said he will repay the loans in full, this commitment was only made by him when faced with the prospect of a custodial sentence for his offences.

IZ Business Consultants was established in August 2013, describing its services on Companies House as offering retail sale of telecommunications equipment other than mobile telephones and other business support service activities.

Mushtaq applied for two Bounce Back Loans worth £50,000 each within a two-day period in June 2020, claiming his company’s turnover was £260,000 and £206,000.

The firm’s turnover for 2019 was closer to £83,000 in 2019, analysis of the company’s accounts revealed.

Mushtaq signed a declaration on applying for the loan stating that the funds would be used solely for the economic benefit of his business and not for personal use.

However, on receiving the loans, he paid more than £78,000 to a money transfer service based in California.

Mushtaq arranged an interview with investigators from the Insolvency Service but failed to attend.

No evidence was provided that any of the money was used for the benefit of his business.

Liquidators were appointed for IZ Business Consultants in October 2021.

Further information
- Imran Mushtaq is of Mimosa Crescent, Derby. His date of birth is 20 November 1983
- Sentenced for: Fraud by false representation, contrary to section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006
September 3, 2024
Eric Pickles – 2024 Speech at the 80th Anniversary of the Genocide of the Roma Ceremony at Auschwitz

The speech made by Eric Pickles in Auschwitz, Poland on 2 August 2024.

Dear survivors, your excellencies, friends,

Here, we stand at the epicentre of evil, remembering the murdered and the lost. Remembering those that suffered and survived the murder factory of Auschwitz-Birkenau and the other death camps of Europe run by the Nazis and their collaborators.

The Holocaust and the genocide of the Roma are well documented. There are plenty of photographs that burn into the retina, leaving indelible images impossible to forget.

For me, this uniquely depraved time is symbolised by two haunting photographs, both of children. Symbolising the waste and the loss of young life cut short and its unfulfilled promise.

Firstly, the photograph of a frightened and confused seven-year-old Tsvi Nussbaum, with his hands raised over his head, surrounded by heavily armed German soldiers at the end of the Warsaw Uprising—a child victim surrounded by adult bullies. Tsvi may have survived; I hope he did.

Secondly, “The Girl with the Headscarf” is a nine-year-old Dutch Romani girl looking out of a railway truck. In this case too, we have a name: Anna Maria ‘Settela’ Steinbach. The terror and hopelessness in that young girl’s face will stay with me forever. Sadly, Settela did not survive. She is a vivid symbol of a lost generation, of what could have been.

Today, we remember people like Krystyna Gil—whom many of you knew personally—and places like Szczurowa.

The village of Szczurowa had been home to Polish Roma families for centuries.

But on July 3rd, 1943, a German police unit used local farmers to round up the Roma of the village and take them to the local churchyard on carts.

They were murdered and buried in a mass grave. Afterwards, the Nazis and their collaborators burned the Roma homes.

Krystyna survived because her mother managed, unnoticed, to pass her into the hands of her Polish grandmother.

Krystyna’s mother, ten-year-old brother, two-year-old sister, three aunts, and four cousins were murdered.

Krystyna survived in hiding with her non-Roma family for the remainder of the war.

The murder of the ninety-three Szczurowa Roma was not an isolated incident.

We know of over one-hundred-and-eighty sites in Poland alone where Roma were executed in large groups, sometimes together with Jewish people.

So, the Polish Roma were killed in extermination camps, died in ghettos and murdered by the Nazi’s murder squads.

There are differences depending on when and where you look.

But one thing remains constant: none of this could have happened without deep-rooted prejudice against Roma. This prejudice continued after 1945, and Krystyna dedicated her life to fighting it.

She was a major advocate for a memorial to mark the Szczurowa massacre, which was inaugurated in May 1966.

In 1993, a large wooden cross was placed beside the monument, which pupils of the local school tend to this day.

Krystyna continued to fight for the victims’ names to be specified on the memorial plaque. Eventually, in 2014, these names – which included those of her mother, siblings, aunts and cousins – were added.

Throughout the 1990s she was active in the Association of Roma in Poland. In 2000 she founded the first organization for Roma women in Poland.

She worked tirelessly to educate young people about what she had experienced and everything she had lost. To make them aware of what can happen when antigypsyism is ignored, when history is neglected.

We are here because we refuse to neglect this history.

We are here because of people like Krystyna.

We are here to carry on her work.

In 2020, the Member Countries of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the IHRA, pledged their political commitment to remember this history, to honour the victims and the survivors.

That same year, we adopted the IHRA working definition of antigypsyism/anti-Roma discrimination, which provides a starting point for raising awareness and for taking action.

In 2018, the Czech government closed down the industrial pig farm at Lety on the site of a former concentration camp for Roma. In March this year, I attended the moving ceremony which saw the opening of the Lety Memorial.

Remembrance triumphed over neglect and a government took ownership of their duty to history.

Earlier this year the groundbreaking online Encyclopaedia of the Nazi Genocide of the Sinti and Roma in Europe was launched.

It marks the first comprehensive overview of the existing knowledge on the persecution and murder of the Sinti and Roma under National Socialism.

And as you heard yesterday, the IHRA is now finalising a set of recommendations to help policy makers include this history in education curricula.

It will sit alongside the materials to help educators teach about the broader history of Roma in Europe developed by the Council of Europe.

These milestones are the result of the work of activists and survivors like Krystyna, who, sadly, passed away in 2021.

Krystyna’s message to young people was simple. And it remains a reminder to us all:

“Respect each other, love one another. Do not hate one another, because it does not lead to anything good, only bad.”

We remember, because the neglect of this history plays into anti-Roma discrimination today.

We remember, to ensure governments and society reflect openly and honestly on our pasts.

Democratic values can only be built on truth and the truth can never harm us.

Krystyna and other survivors and activists laid the groundwork. Now it’s up to us to truly embed education, commemoration, and research of this history into our institutions.

It’s up to us to remember the truth.

September 3, 2024
PRESS RELEASE : Budweiser Budvar pays charity £414,000 for recycling failure [August 2024]
The press release issued by the Environment Agency on 15 August 2024.

Environment Agency investigation discovers beer importer had been an unregistered producer of packaging for 18 years.
Budweiser Budvar UK Ltd, a Bristol-based beer importer, has contributed more than £400,000 to a national environmental charity after failing to register as a producer of packaging.

The company should have registered in 2004 under regulations on packaging waste and took steps to ensure the waste was recovered and recycled. But an investigation by the Environment Agency two years ago found that the company had failed to do so. The company claimed it was unaware of the regulations until the agency stepped in.

Following the investigation, the company has now contributed £414,003.54 to Keep Britain Tidy for use in their Great British Spring Clean campaign. The sum was paid as part of a reactive Enforcement Undertaking – a legal agreement between the Environment Agency and an offender as an alternative action to prosecution or other monetary penalty.

The payment was agreed as the amount saved by the company in not recycling or recovering packaging waste, plus a penalty of 30 per cent. In addition, the company has covered the Environment Agency’s costs.

Jake Richardson of the Environment Agency said:

It’s important that businesses take responsibility for the packaging that they place on the UK market. The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations ensure that businesses such as Budweiser Budvar UK Ltd contribute towards the cost of recycling the packaging that they add to the UK waste-stream.

In this case, we investigated and found they had failed to comply with the regulations and had consequently not paid its rightful share towards the recycling of its packaging. When the company realised this, it wanted to do the right thing and so it submitted an Enforcement Undertaking offer, which ensured that all avoided recycling costs were donated to a project that will enhance, restore and protect England’s natural environment.

Budweiser Budvar UK Ltd is now fully compliant with the Packaging Regulations and has put processes in place to ensure continued compliance in the future.

Enforcement Undertakings, when appropriate, allow a better resolution for the environment than a prosecution and help offenders who are prepared to take responsibility for their actions to put things right voluntarily, in a way that, in some cases, directly benefits the environment and local communities.

Notes to editors

Our approach to enforcement undertakings:

An enforcement undertaking is a voluntary offer made by an offender to:

put right the effects of their offending

put right the impact on third parties

make sure the offence cannot happen again

If we accept the offer it becomes a legally binding agreement between us and the business or person who makes the offer. We will only consider accepting an enforcement undertaking for cases where:

it is not in the public interest to prosecute

the offer itself addresses the cause and effect of the offending

the offer protects, restores or enhances the natural capital of England
September 3, 2024
PRESS RELEASE : Child Poverty Taskforce kicks off urgent work to publish strategy in spring [August 2024]
The press release issued by the Department for Work and Pensions on 15 August 2024.

Urgent work on tackling one of Britain’s biggest social injustices begun yesterday [Wednesday 14 August] as the government’s Child Poverty Taskforce met for the first time.
- Cabinet ministers across government joined Work & Pensions and Education Secretaries in first Child Poverty Taskforce meeting
- taskforce will put the direct testimony of children, families and organisations at the heart of their work
- Child Poverty Strategy will be published in spring next year
Cabinet ministers including the Deputy Prime Minister, Chief Secretary to the Treasury as well as ministers for the devolved nations have joined the taskforce’s co-chairs, the Work & Pensions and Education Secretaries, to confront the wide-ranging and deep-rooted causes of child poverty.

With a broken housing market, millions waiting for medical treatment and families continuing to struggle with the cost of living, ministers set out the huge scale of the challenge in their inaugural meeting, examining why there are 700,000 more children living in poverty compared to 2010.

The Ministerial taskforce will harness all available levers to drive forward short-term and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty, by:
- supporting households to increase their income including considering social security reforms that support people into work and alleviate poverty
- helping to bring down essential household costs, build savings and tackle problem debt
- alleviating the negative experience of living in poverty, including through supporting families and the role of public services
The taskforce will also hear directly from struggling families and children, front-line staff and leading campaigners, charities and organisations across the UK to shape the strategy.

It comes as the latest data shows that over four million children are now growing up in a low-income family. This not only harms children’s lives now, but it also limits their future prospects and it holds back our economic potential as a country.

Tackling child poverty across the United Kingdom is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. That’s why we’re committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start at life.

Work & Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall MP said:

Child poverty is a scar on our society. It harms children’s life chances and our country as a whole. That is why tackling child poverty is a top priority for this government.

We will take action in every department, with a comprehensive strategy to drive down poverty and drive up opportunity, building a better future for us all.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson MP said:

Child poverty is a scar on our country, which holds back children’s lives and life chances at home, in school and across our communities.

The scale of the challenge cannot be overstated. That is why this taskforce, working across government, is essential to ensure all departments are supporting this ambition and delivering on our mission of breaking down the barriers to opportunity for every child.

We will work with stakeholders, families and crucially children themselves so that our approach is guided by those impacted most.

As part of their work to develop the strategy, ministers on the Taskforce will also visit cities and towns across the UK, working closely with local and devolved government leaders to hear how child poverty devastates local communities and what can be done to combat it.

Co-chairs Liz Kendall and Bridget Phillipson will meet with the key charities and organisations to kick off regular engagement sessions in the coming weeks.

The taskforce will be supported by a new Child Poverty Unit in the Cabinet Office, drawing together experts from within and outside government, to help co-ordinate the development of the strategy.

The vital work of the taskforce comes alongside our commitments to roll out free breakfast clubs at all primary schools, create 3,000 additional nurseries, as well as deliver our plan to make work pay to turn the minimum wage into a real living wage.

Further Information
- Read the (Child Poverty Taskforce’s terms of reference)https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/child-poverty-taskforce
- Departments represented in the Child Poverty Taskforce include:
- Department for Work and Pensions
- Department for Education
- Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government
- HM Treasury
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport
- Department for Business and Trade
- Department for Energy and Net Zero
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Department for Health and Social Care
- Wales Office
- Northern Ireland Office
- Scotland Office
September 3, 2024
PRESS RELEASE : UK Government releases millions in new funding to protect Port Talbot steel supply chain and the support workers [August 2024]

The press release issued by the Welsh Office on 15 August 2024.

The funding is the first release from the Tata Steel / Port Talbot Transition Board fund.

The UK Government is announcing the immediate release of £13.5 million in funding to support supply chain businesses and workers affected by Tata Steel’s decision to transition to greener steelmaking.

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens will make the announcement today (15 August) at her second meeting as chair of the Tata Steel / Port Talbot Transition Board.

The funding is the first release from the Tata Steel / Port Talbot Transition Board fund, which will support local businesses that are heavily reliant on Tata Steel as their primary customer, allowing them to turn towards new markets and customers where necessary.

Money will also be available to workers affected by the transition, helping them to find new jobs, access training and gain skills and qualifications in areas where there are vacancies.

The Welsh Secretary will also announce today that more than 50 businesses so far have signed a pledge to support any workers forced to leave their jobs in the steelworks.

The businesses, which include Fintech Wales, The Royal Mint, Cardiff Metropolitan University, RWE Energy, Ledwood Mechanical Engineering and Pro Steel Engineering, have committed practical support for workers ranging from guaranteed interviews for anyone made redundant, to providing training and coaching.

The Welsh Secretary will give further details of the business pledge while visiting Rototherm in Port Talbot on Thursday. The company is a leading global manufacturer of measurement devices for temperature and pressure. It is one of the firms in Tata’s supply chain likely to be affected by the transition to electric arc steelmaking.

The UK Government has also reset the relationship with the Welsh Government, as well as with unions and other local partners, to work together to deliver for the workers affected.

Negotiations between the UK Government and Tata Steel regarding the future of the Port Talbot works will continue separately.

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens said:

Under this government the Transition Board has moved from discussion to delivery. Today’s release of an initial £13.5m in funding demonstrates that we will act decisively to support workers and businesses in Port Talbot, working with Welsh Government, unions and the wider community.

Negotiations with Tata Steel on the future of the site will continue separately. But this government will not wait for a crisis to overtake us before acting. We are putting a safety net in place now to ensure we can back workers and businesses, whatever happens.

We are also harnessing the generosity of the local community, with dozens of employers so far pledging practical support for workers. Steelmaking is the lifeblood of communities in Wales, but so too is the support of local businesses. What they are offering will make a real difference to suppliers and staff.

Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said:

This funding is an important step towards supporting workers affected by Tata Steel’s transition and businesses in the wider supply chain.

We’re working in partnership with trade unions and industry to secure a green steel transition that’s right for the economy, our talented workforce and local communities for generations to come, and our negotiations with Tata remain ongoing.

Oliver Conger, Managing Director of Rototherm, said:

We are part of a really supportive community in Port Talbot, and we are delighted to offer help to any affected workers at Tata Steel and any suppliers affected.

I believe that if businesses like ours from across the area can come together, we can offer a lot of practical support that will make a big difference to people and the impacted supply chain.

More details will be released soon on how local businesses and affected workers can access the initial £13.5m Transition Board funding.

The Secretary of State for Wales also made it clear the Transition Board will now be an equal partnership between political representatives, business and unions.

September 3, 2024
David Lammy – 2024 Statement on the Restart of Negotiations on Gaza Ceasefire

The statement made by David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, on 15 August 2024.

We are at a crucial moment for global stability. The coming hours and days could define the future of the Middle East. That is why today, and every day, we are urging for our partners across the region to choose peace.

As the UK made clear at the UN Security Council this week, the situation in Gaza is devastating. The strike on the al-Tabeen school demonstrated that Palestinians in Gaza have nowhere safe to turn.

These talks are an opportunity to secure an immediate ceasefire that protects civilians in Gaza, secures the release of hostages still cruelly held by Hamas and restores stability at a dangerous moment for the region.

The UK will continue to use every diplomatic lever to bring about a ceasefire. In the last week, I have spoken with partners from across the region on the urgent need to bring this conflict to an end and the Prime Minister has spoken to his US, French and German counterparts, as well as the Iranian and Egyptian Presidents.

It’s clear from these conversations that a ceasefire would not only protect civilians in Gaza, but also pave the way for wider de-escalation and bring much-needed stability for the Middle East.

It is in the interests of both Israelis and Palestinians for a deal to be agreed, urgently. I urge all parties to engage in the negotiations in good faith and show the flexibility needed to reach an agreement.

I thank Qatar, Egypt, the US and all international partners for their efforts in co-ordinating this vital moment.

September 3, 2024