Tag: 2025

PRESS RELEASE : Change of Governor of Montserrat – Harriet Cross [January 2025]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 14 January 2025.

Ms Harriet Cross has been appointed Governor of Montserrat in succession to Mrs Sarah Tucker who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Ms Cross will take up her appointment during April 2025.

Curriculum vitae

Full name: Harriet Victoria Cross

2020 to 2024	Port of Spain, British High Commissioner
2016 to 2020	Boston, British Consul General to New England
2015 to 2016	Sana’a, Deputy Ambassador
2013 to 2015	FCO, Middle East and North Africa Directorate (Yemen)
2010 to 2013	SUPL, University of York
2007 to 2010	New York, First Secretary, UK Mission to the UN
2004 to 2006	Secondment to the National Crime Squad
2002 to 2004	FCO, Human Rights and Democracy Department
1998 to 2002	Rabat, Second Secretary (Political)
1997 to 1998	FCO, EU Department (External)
1997	Joined FCO

January 15, 2025

Sir Laurie Magnus – 2025 Report into Tulip Siddiq

The letter sent by Sir Laurie Magnus, the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, on 14 January 2025 following Tulip Siddiq’s self-referral to him.

Text of Letter (in .pdf format)

January 14, 2025
Keir Starmer – 2025 Letter to Tulip Siddiq Following Her Resignation

The letter sent by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, to Tulip Siddiq, the Treasury Minister, on 14 January 2025.

Dear Tulip,

Thank you for your letter. It is with sadness I accept your resignation from your Ministerial role.

I want to thank you for your commitment during your time as Economic Secretary to the Treasury including spearheading the rollout of Banking Hubs and opening our 100th site, leading our thinking on financial inclusion, and contributing to the success of the Chancellor’s first Mansion House speech.

In accepting your resignation, I also wish to be clear that Sir Laurie Magnus as Independent Adviser has assured me he found no breach of the Ministerial Code and no evidence of financial improprieties on your part. I want to thank you for self-referring to the Independent Adviser and for your full co-operation with the establishment of facts.

I appreciate that to end ongoing distraction from delivering our agenda to change Britain, you have made a difficult decision and want to be clear that the door remains open for you going forward.

All best wishes,

Keir Starmer.

January 14, 2025
Tulip Siddiq – 2025 Resignation Letter to the Prime Minister

The resignation letter sent by Tulip Siddiq, the Treasury Minister, to Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 14 January 2025.

Dear Prime Minister,

Thank you for the confidence you have shown in me in recent weeks.

I am grateful to your Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards Sir Laurie Magnus for acting with speed and thoroughness in response to my self-referral, and for giving me the opportunity to share the full details of my finances and living arrangements, both present and historic.

As you know, having conducted an in-depth review of the matter at my request, Sir Laurie has confirmed that I have not breached the Ministerial Code. As he notes, there is no evidence to suggest that I have acted improperly in relation to the properties I have owned or lived in, nor to suggest that any of my assets ‘derive from anything other than legitimate means’.

My family connections are a matter of public record, and when I became a Minister I provided the full details of my relationships and private interests to the Government. After extensive consultation with officials, I was advised to state in my declaration of interests that my aunt is the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh and to recuse myself from matters relating to Bangladesh to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest. I want to assure you that I acted and have continued to act with full transparency and on the advice of officials on these matters.

However, it is clear that continuing in my role as Economic Secretary to the Treasury is likely to be a distraction from the work of the Government. My loyalty is and always will be to this Labour Government and the programme of national renewal and transformation it has embarked upon. I have therefore decided to resign from my Ministerial position.

I would like to thank you for the privilege of serving in your Government, which I will continue to support in any way I can from the backbenches.

Best wishes, Tulip Siddiq MP

January 14, 2025
PRESS RELEASE : Solomon Islanders will need an ETA to travel to UK from January [January 2025]
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 14 January 2025.

ETAs are digitally linked to a traveller’s passport and ensure that more robust security checks are carried out before people begin their journey to the UK.

From January 2025, Solomon Islanders wishing to travel to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA). Everyone who do not need a visa currently to travel to the UK – except British and Irish citizens – will need an ETA to travel in advance of arrival.
- ETAs will cost SBD $100 (£10) to apply for and will be valid for two years
- those transiting through the UK will need to obtain an ETA too
- ETAs can be obtained through the new UK ETA app via the App Store and Google Play
This move is in line with the approach of other countries such as New Zealand, the USA and Australia.

ETAs are digitally linked to a traveller’s passport and ensure more robust security checks are carried out before people begin their journey to the UK.

An ETA costs SBD $100 (£10) and permits multiple journeys to the UK for stays of up to six months at a time over two years or until the holder’s passport expires – whichever is sooner.

The new system has been operating since November 2024 but from this month (January) it will become a requirement for anyone travelling to the UK who does not require a visa.

ETA can be applied for through a quick and simple process using the UK ETA app and online.

Deputy British High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, Emma Davis, said:

This digitisation enables a smooth experience for the millions of people who pass through the border every year, including Solomon Islanders whom we warmly welcome to the UK.

This change is on the back of a worldwide expansion of the Electronic Travel Authorisations which demonstrate the UK’s commitment to enhancing security through new technology and creating a modern immigration system.
January 14, 2025
PRESS RELEASE : Government puts AI to work for bakers, road workers and more [January 2025]
The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 14 January 2025.

Small businesses across the country will be helped to boost their productivity and efficiency through AI tools set to be trialled.
- 120 projects across the country will test how AI could turbocharge businesses of all kinds, from agriculture, to retail, to tackling potholes on the roads.
- Projects will receive a share of £7 million to trial AI tools across the economy, and unleash this technology’s era-defining potential to deliver growth nationwide.
- Funding builds on the new AI Opportunities Action Plan: the Government’s blueprint to make AI work for Britain and drive the Plan for Change, helping turbocharge growth and boost living standards
Small businesses across the country will be helped to boost their productivity and efficiency through AI tools set to be trialled – from tech that predicts potholes before they form, to AI models that help farmers make their dairy cows produce greater yields.

Announced today (Tuesday 14 January), the 120 projects will receive a share of £7 million in UK Government funding, enabling them to test AI tech that could give a boost to a whole range of businesses: from agriculture, to transport, to construction and more.

AI is set to be the defining technology of the 21st Century. It is already boosting businesses’ productivity and overhauling public services like healthcare and education. The government is taking action to help Britain’s businesses and job-creators embrace AI, so they can be more productive, competitive, and deliver the growth the UK needs to improve public services and put more cash in hardworking people’s pockets as part of the PM’s Plan for Change. As Europe’s number one destination for AI businesses, the UK is already well-positioned to seize this opportunity.

The support announced today is focused on how AI could help smaller companies tackle pressing challenges to their businesses, and how researchers can use this tech to take on everyday problems we all live with.

This backing is what the Government’s Plan for Change looks like in action, giving people the tools they need to harness the power of new technologies like AI, which will ultimately grow the economy and benefit everyone. Other projects include:
- Using AI to cut food waste – and thereby protect profit margins – at a bakery by accurately predicting sales and forecasting how much of each product needs to be made daily.
- Road-testing an AI tool that can predict potholes before they form, so roads can be repaired earlier and more cheaply, and before they cause expensive damage to vehicles.
- Trialling an AI model that anticipates where mould is likely to grow in buildings, so they can be remediated before they become a health and safety issue.
Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said:

Putting AI to work right across the economy can help businesses cut waste, move faster and be more productive.

The huge range of projects receiving funding today, from farmers and bakers to those tackling potholes on our roads and mould in residential properties, demonstrates the truly limitless benefits of AI that are there for the taking.

And take them we will, with our 50-point AI Opportunities Plan, published yesterday, to unleash AI across the UK, delivering a decade of national renewal and firing up our Plan for Change.

The funding forms part of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Technology Missions Fund, with the support being delivered by the Innovate UK BridgeAI programme.

This announcement builds on the AI Opportunities Action Plan published yesterday, which sets out the Government’s ambitious vision to ramp up the adoption of AI right across the economy. The Plan is a roadmap to spread AI adoption across every part of the UK, help boost living standards, create jobs and unleash economic growth. The difference AI is set to make to all walks of life is further underlined by this week’s announcement of £1 million funding to develop bespoke AI tools to support teachers and transform education – with almost half of teachers across the country already using AI to help with their work.

As the projects today’s funding will support show – from tech to help strawberry farmers protect their yields, to tools to help town planners predict their area’s future transport needs – AI could make a positive impact in every field of work in the UK, and will be critical to kickstarting the growth the country needs. On top of the monetary support, the BridgeAI programme supports businesses by allowing them to tap into training and scientific expertise, as well as offering wider expert advice and guidance to develop their AI innovations.

Dr Kedar Pandya, UKRI Technology Missions Fund Senior Responsible Owner and Executive Director of Cross-Council programme at UKRI’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, said:

Today’s investment, funded through UKRI’s Technology Missions Fund, is a major boost to the BridgeAI’s target sectors where the adoption of AI technologies could help to improve productivity and efficiency.

UKRI is in a unique position to bring together businesses and research organisations across a wide range of sectors to discover where AI can make the most difference to people’s lives and the UK economy.

Esra Kasapoglu, Director of AI & Data Economy at UKRI-Innovate UK said:

The adoption of AI in UK industry is fundamental to supporting the country’s economic growth. Today’s investment will enable us, through BridgeAI, to help more companies to unlock the potential of AI in their business.

It will also allow further development of projects already demonstrating impact to continue their AI journey.
January 14, 2025
PRESS RELEASE : UK and Iraq boost cooperation on trade, growth and illegal migration [January 2025]
The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 13 January 2025.

The UK will benefit from boosts to trade and further cooperation on tackling illegal migration as Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani visits Downing Street.
- The Prime Minister will host Iraqi Prime Minister in Downing Street to mark a revamped relationship between the UK and Iraq, working more closely to deliver economic growth for both countries
- The leaders will announce an up to £12.3 billion export package to boost opportunities for British business and drive forward economic growth as part of the Plan for Change
- They will also start talks on a specific returns agreement, expected to support crack down on illegal migration and strengthen UK borders
The UK will benefit from boosts to trade and further cooperation on tackling illegal migration as Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani visits Downing Street today (Tuesday 14 January) for talks with the Prime Minister.

As part of the closer economic relationship being forged today, the Prime Minister and his counterpart will announce an up to £12.3 billion export package, worth around ten times last year’s trade between the UK and Iraq. This package is underpinned by a series of export agreements which will boost the growing trading relationship between the UK and Iraq, representing significant opportunities for UK businesses and contributing to the government’s mission to deliver economic growth.

The leaders will also discuss a new specific migrant returns agreement between the UK and Iraq. Once in place, the deal will ensure those who have no right to be in the UK can be returned swiftly.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

Today marks a new era in UK-Iraq cooperation, which will deliver mutual benefits from trade to defence, as we continue to work together towards stability in the wider region.

It’s clear that Iraq shares our priority of delivering economic growth and the £12.3 billion export package being unveiled today offers huge opportunities for British businesses, representing a step-change in the trade and investment relationship between our two countries.

Secure borders are a vital foundation of our Plan for Change, so I am also very pleased get started on talks for a bespoke returns agreement between our countries. The deal will help dismantle the people smugglers’ business model by sending the clear message that if you come here illegally, you cannot expect to stay.

The leaders will sign a milestone Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, leveraging UK private sector expertise on water, energy, telecoms, and defence infrastructure to secure future investment projects and major opportunities for British business.

Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds said:

This yet another vote of confidence in Britain. As an open, proud trading nation our trade strategy will build upon deals like this to strengthen our economy. This announcement reflects our evolving bilateral relationship and represents a step forward in our growing trade partnership.

This agreement – a significant £12 billion export package, helped by our UK Export Finance – will give UK and Iraqi business more certainty and help lead to growth and genuine shared benefits for both our economies.

In a further demonstration of how our cooperation with international partners delivers for the UK, the leaders will also mark the export of £66.5 million worth of equipment from the UK to strengthen Iraq’s borders and disrupt smuggling gangs, delivering on the government’s Plan for Change by securing our border and delivering economic growth.

This comes as the government fulfils its pledge deliver the highest rate of removals since 2018 with a surge in returns activity leading to 16,400 people with no right to be in the UK removed. The talks also build on the Home Secretary’s visit to Iraq in November, where she signed agreements including the largest-ever operational package between the UK and Iraq on border security and law enforcement, in order to enhance Iraq’s capability to tackle people smuggling. Today’s talks will strengthen the implementation of this pact.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said:

When I signed the landmark deal with Iraq in November, it was a clear signal of our commitment to dismantle the criminal smuggling gangs together.

Our world-first security agreement with Iraq is already showing its impact. By strengthening border security with our Border Security Command, enhancing intelligence-sharing, and providing additional funding to support Iraq’s law enforcement capabilities, we’re targeting people smuggling gangs where it hurts.

Today is the next step in ensuring this important partnership with Iraq goes from strength to strength. As a result, we are making it harder for criminals to exploit vulnerable people, and ultimately we are bringing them to justice.

Last week, the UK also launched the world’s first standalone sanctions regime targeting people smugglers. Expected to come into force within the year, the regime will clamp down on illicit financing rings who make huge profits exploiting vulnerable people by facilitating illegal migration.

The meeting with Prime Minister Al-Sudani follows the Prime Minister’s visit to the Gulf in December to support stability in the Middle East and deliver a foundation of security at home.

The Prime Minister will further bolster the UK’s defence relationship with the region today with the signing of a joint statement which will deepen the UK’s cooperation with Iraq a decade on from the establishment of the Global Coalition’s mission in Iraq and Operation Inherent Resolve leading to the territorial defeat of Daesh.
January 14, 2025
PRESS RELEASE : Joint Statement by Group of Five Defence Ministers [January 2025]

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 13 January 2025.

Minister for the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard, joined Defence Ministers in Helenów, Poland, from the Group of Five nations: France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the UK.

Support Ukraine as long as it takes by fostering defence industrial cooperation

We reiterate our unwavering support to Ukraine in its right of self-defence in order to counter Russia’s aggression and in achieving a just and lasting peace, in line with the international law, for as long as it takes.

The Ukraine Defence Contact Group and Associated National Armaments Directors (NADs) group will continue to be an important forum for us to announce and deliver military equipment for Ukraine. Through the International Capability Coalitions working with the newly installed NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) in close coordination with EU Military Assistance Mission Ukraine (EUMAM), we can focus on the delivery of capabilities to Ukraine that not only meets their current needs, but also enhances interoperability.

Similarly, as far as supporting Ukraine is concerned, we pledge to a growing coordination between dedicated NATO (NSATU, Joint Analysis Training and Education Centre), EU (EUMAM) and UDCG structures (capability coalitions), in order to create a fruitful synergy in terms of delivery, training and doctrine.

We underline that a strong European defence industry and supply chains will form a crucial component of deterrence. We encourage our domestic industrial sector to cooperate, engage and collaborate with the Ukrainian defence industry in order to create synergies and to improve the standards and production, which are instrumental to enable their self-defence and contribute to peace and stability in Europe. We envisage measures such as industrial information exchanges and joint ventures aimed to enhance the Ukrainian defence industry, to foster standardisation, interoperability and to avoid duplication. This process will be inclusive and open for partners to join with their own defence industries or with financial support. We will seek deeper defence cooperation in order to draw lessons learned from Ukraine’s fight for self-defence against Russia.

Strengthening our capabilities to deter and defend against Russia

We reiterate the utmost importance of the transatlantic bond. Given the deteriorated security environment, we consider it to be of paramount importance to focus on our collective efforts to keep the Alliance and Member States safe. We will achieve this through a stronger collective defence, in line with the NATO Concept for Deterrence and Defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area (DDA), while maintaining NATO’s commitment to a 360° approach.

We see the upcoming 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague as an opportunity to strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defence posture, including through the full implementation of decisions from the Madrid, Vilnius and Washington Summits, a new NATO strategic approach to Russia and counter-hybrid measures.

We welcome the apportionment of NATO capability targets to be endorsed at the NATO Defence Ministerial Meeting in June 2025. We are committed to enhancing our military capabilities to strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defence posture in line with NATO requirements and fair burden sharing, in support of SACEUR’s regional plans, recognising that it requires increased defence spending and having in mind that leveraging defence effort is a prerequisite for it.

We recognise the importance of multinational initiatives, taking into account possible synergies between capability development and European defence industrial programmes (including European Defence Industry Programme – EDIP – the Ukraine Support instruments and NATO’s Defence Production Plan). We also underline the importance of activating mechanisms for European enhanced defence efforts including making use of financial incentives and instruments that will be financially bold.

Europe urgently needs strong capabilities to ensure its Security and Defence in the spirit of fair transatlantic burden sharing. To this end we aim to maximise EU-NATO cooperation to allow for a close and synergetic cooperation, including the crucial area of information exchange. It is vital to further align both the NATO Defence Planning Process and the EU’s Headline Goal Process. The basis for the development of capabilities should be NATO capability targets in keeping with NATO’s military specifications and standards. This will maximize our interoperability and overall warfighting capacity.

To this end, we have decided that our next meeting in Paris will focus on scoping options for streamlining procurement standards and procedures and will invite the Secretary General of NATO, the High Representative of the EU, and the EU Commissioner for Defence and Space.

January 14, 2025
PRESS RELEASE : Russia has a responsibility to treat prisoners of war and civilian detainees humanely – UK statement at the UN [January 2025]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 13 January 2025.

Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, at the UK-hosted UN Arria meeting on violations of international humanitarian law against Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees.

As we approach the grim three-year milestone of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the UK, and I know many others here, are deeply concerned by reports of systematic ill-treatment of detainees, some of whom we will hear from today, as well as experts including Pablo de Grieff from the Independent Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.

Among the most disturbing reports are those of torture.

Reporting by the UN Human Rights Office, the Independent Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, and the Moscow Mechanism have consistently detailed the ill-treatment and torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) by Russian authorities. In recent months, those assessments have only worsened.

The Commission of Inquiry has concluded that Russia’s use of torture against POWs and civilian detainees amounts to crimes against humanity, and their reports are chilling.

They include reports that detainees have been subject to beatings, psychological pressure, prolonged stress positions, and mock executions.

The reports find that interrogations are often accompanied by the worst kinds of torture including burns, and rounds of electric shocks amplified by water.

Sexual violence is the norm for detainees, both men and women, with POWs enduring rape, attacks on genital organs, and threats of sexual mutilation and castration.

The Commission of Inquiry has concluded that Russian authorities have violated both international humanitarian law and human rights law, and have committed torture as a crime against humanity.

Additionally, the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General’s Office reports that 147 Ukrainian POWs have been executed by Russian forces since the start of the full-scale invasion. This is yet another violation of international humanitarian law.

Russia has a responsibility to ensure prisoners of war and civilian detainees must be treated humanely, under the third and fourth Geneva Conventions.

Colleagues, these are not isolated incidents by rogue officers.

Testimonies gathered by the Commission of Inquiry reveal that Russian State services coordinated and enforced these violent practices.

Evidence points towards a coordinated state policy, which allows Russian officials to humiliate and punish Ukrainian civilians and POWs with impunity.

Meanwhile, the reports highlight that the families of those detained are kept in the dark about the whereabouts of their loved ones, who are enduring this violence.

Those who are released must confront the grave psychological impact and a long and difficult road to reintegration.

The Commission of Inquiry recognises the support given to those released by Ukraine to survivors, and encourages continued medical and psychosocial support to all victims.

The UK calls on Russia to uphold its international obligations towards all those individuals it has in detention, as we expect of every country currently engaged in conflict.

In particular, we ask Russia to confirm the full names of all detainees under its control, where they are being held and on what grounds.

We ask that the Russian Federation ensures the humane treatment of all those in detention, and grants the ICRC unimpeded access to places of detention, in line with the Geneva Conventions.

Finally, we call on Russia to uphold its obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, and to release all arbitrarily detained civilians as well as POWs.

Today, colleagues, we will hear the invaluable perspectives of those who have survived the horrors of this reality.

I’m joined by Valerii Horishnii, Nariman Dzhelyal and Maksym Butkevych to my right. Thank you all for coming.

January 14, 2025
PRESS RELEASE : UK-Mauritius joint statement on the Chagos Archipelago [January 2025]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 13 January 2025.

Joint statement between the governments of the Republic of Mauritius and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia

Representatives from Mauritius and the UK held further productive discussions in London this week on the future of the Chagos Archipelago.

Good progress has been made and discussions are ongoing to reach an agreement that is in both sides’ interests.

Both countries reiterated their commitment to concluding a treaty providing that Mauritius is sovereign over the Chagos Archipelago; and that would ensure the long-term, secure and effective operation of the base on Diego Garcia.

January 13, 2025