Tag: Downing Street

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 6 April 2025.

The Prime Minister spoke to the Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney this evening.

They discussed their commitment to working together to maintain global economic stability in the wake of the announcement from the United States this week. An all-out trade war is in no-one’s interest, they agreed.

Both agreed on the importance of free and open trade between like-minded nations, and the Prime Minister stated that trading blocs such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership will be important in this new global era.

Prime Minister Carney thanked the Prime Minister for his leadership on Ukraine and reaffirmed his commitment to Canada playing a role in the Coalition of the Willing.

Looking ahead, the Prime Minister said he was looking forward to travelling to Canada for the G7 Summit in June.

They agreed to stay in close contact.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 6 April 2025.

The Prime Minister spoke with international leaders including the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and leader of the German Christian Democratic Union party Friedrich Merz.

The Prime Minister has today continued to speak with international leaders including the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and leader of the German Christian Democratic Union party Friedrich Merz.

Discussing the announcement of additional tariffs by the United States, they all agreed that – as with defence and security – this is a new era for the global economy. Europe must rise to meet the moment and ensure the impact on hard-working people is minimised, while working closely with other countries to help maintain wider economic stability.

The Prime Minister reiterated that he was disappointed by the new tariffs and stressed he will continue to act in the UK’s national interest — remaining calm while preparing for all eventualities.

He updated on his plans to go further and faster to strengthen the UK’s economy and ensure it is as resilient as possible and can withstand these kinds of global shocks. He added that it would be important for the UK to strengthen its trading relationships with others across the globe at the same time.

The Prime Minister agreed to keep in close contact.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 5 April 2025.

The Prime Minister spoke with President Macron following this week’s announcement that the US will impose additional tariffs.

They agreed that a trade war was in nobody’s interests, but nothing should be off the table and that it was important to keep business updated on developments.

The Prime Minister and President also shared their concerns about the global economic and security impact, particularly in South East Asia.

Following discussions between military planners in Ukraine this week, they discussed the good progress that has been made on the Coalition of the Willing.

The Prime Minister and President agreed to stay in close contact over the coming weeks.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 4 April 2025.

The Prime Minister welcomed Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados to Downing Street this morning.

The leaders reflected on the strength of the relationship between the UK and Barbados, and the shared challenges faced by the two countries, including growth, climate change and global instability.

The Prime Minister also thanked Prime Minister Mottley for the action taken by Barbados against the Russian shadow fleet.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 3 April 2025.

Oli de Botton has been appointed as the Prime Minister’s Expert Adviser on Education and Skills. The Prime Minister’s Expert Adviser will advise ministers and drive forward the Government’s vision for education and skills.

Oli brings with him extensive experience working in education and skills as a teacher, adviser, headteacher and national CEO.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 31 March 2025.

The Prime Minister welcomed the President of Finland Alexander Stubb to Downing Street this afternoon.

They discussed the successful Coalition of the Willing meeting in Paris last week, noting the strong momentum from European leaders to keep Ukraine in the fight and increase the pressure on Putin to agree a peace deal.

The Prime Minister then updated the President on his ongoing work to strengthen the UK’s relationship with the European Union across a number of areas including defence and security, trade and economic growth. The President warmly welcomed the progress made so far.

As fellow NATO and JEF members, they agreed that the UK and Finland share a close and unique partnership which they will continue working to strengthen in the coming months.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 31 March 2025.

The Prime Minister met with Adolescence creators, charities and young people to discuss the issues raised in the series during a meeting focused on rethinking adolescent safety today.

Today the Prime Minister met with Adolescence creators, charities and young people to discuss the issues raised in the series during a meeting focused on rethinking adolescent safety.

Joined by Adolescence co-writer Jack Thorne and producer Jo Johnson, the group met to discuss the challenges facing children and parents today. It also looked at how the Government can work in collaboration to ensure young people have the right tools, support and environment to learn about healthy relationships.

The meeting comes as Netflix makes the drama free to all secondary schools across the country through the Into Film+ schools streaming service and backed by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons. The series will help students better understand the impact of misogyny, dangers of online radicalisation and the importance of healthy relationships.

Giving children the best start in life, making our communities safer and preventing young people falling into crime are central to this government’s Plan for Change.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

As a father, watching this show with my teenage son and daughter, I can tell you – it hit home hard.

It’s an important initiative to encourage as many pupils as possible to watch the show. As I see from my own children, openly talking about changes in how they communicate, the content they’re seeing, and exploring the conversations they’re having with their peers is vital if we are to properly support them in navigating contemporary challenges, and deal with malign influences.

This isn’t a challenge politicians can simply legislate for. Believe me, if I could pull a lever to solve it, I would. Only by listening and learning from the experiences of young people and charities can we tackle the issues this groundbreaking show raises.

At the meeting, the Prime Minister set out how this issue is personal to him. After years spent working as the Director of Public Prosecutions, he has seen the devastation that misogyny and violence leaves behind, and how it tears through families and communities.

Charities invited to Downing Street include the NSPCC, Movember, Beyond Quality, Children’s Society as well as a young person who shared their own experience of becoming immersed in similar online content.

The Prime Minister was also joined by Netflix and Tender charity who have provided resources and guides for parents, carers and teachers on the issues explored in Adolescence, as well as Into Film, the charity enabling the free viewing in schools via its Into Film+ schools streaming service.

Jack Thorne, Adolescence Co-Writer, said:

We made this show to provoke a conversation. We wanted to pose the question – how do we help stop this growing crisis. So to have the opportunity to take this into schools is beyond our expectations. We hope it’ll lead to teachers talking to the students, but what we really hope is it’ll lead to students talking amongst themselves.

Anne Mensah, Netflix VP UK Content, said:

Adolescence has captured the national mood, sparking important conversations and helping articulate the pressures young people and parents face in today’s society.

We’re incredibly proud of the impact the show has made, and are delighted to be able to offer it to all schools across the UK through Into Film+. As part of this, healthy relationships charity Tender will create resources for teachers and parents to help them navigate the important topics the show explores.

The Government has taken action to ensure it is protecting children from the issues raised in the series.

The Online Safety Act’s illegal content duties have come into force targeting the most harmful material including extreme pornography.

From the summer, platforms will also have to ensure children have an age-appropriate experience online preventing them from seeing dangerous content which includes abusive and hateful misogyny and violence.

The Online Safety Act is not the end of the conversation but the foundation. As the Prime Minister has done so today, the Government is committed to listening and will not hesitate to strengthen the law further where necessary.

The Government is also reviewing the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance, following a consultation that closed last summer. It is closely looking at the consultation responses, engaging with stakeholders and considering the relevant evidence before setting out next steps to take the guidance forward.

Maria Neophytou, NSPCC Director of Strategy & Knowledge said:

The debates around the Netflix series Adolescence, and the themes within it, are both disturbing and important. Today’s meeting with the Prime Minister was a critical milestone for young people and for the NSPCC; a chance to come together and discuss what we can do to ensure young people are growing up in healthy, happy and safe environments.

The online world is being polluted by harmful and misogynistic content which is having a direct impact on the development of young people’s thinking and behaviours. This cannot be allowed to continue.

It is vital young people have access to high-quality, age-appropriate lessons in school about healthy relationships and understand why misogyny is so harmful and has no place in our society. And that parents have guidance and support around how to keep their children safe online. But we can’t expect teachers and parents to do all the heavy lifting.

Tech companies must now put the wellbeing of children first, as demanded by the Online Safety Act. They have a responsibility to ensure their platforms and sites are safe by design for young users: that age limits are enforced, that children’s privacy is respected, that algorithms are not targeting and bombarding them with harmful content, and that there are clear and simple ways for young users to complain about what they are experiencing online and seek support.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 31 March 2025.

The Prime Minister today (Monday 31 March) announced the government has returned more than 24,000 individuals with no right to be in the UK since the General Election – the highest returns rate for eight years.

The Prime Minister today (Monday 31 March) announced the government has returned more than 24,000 individuals with no right to be in the UK since the General Election – the highest returns rate for eight years.

Speaking at the Organised Immigration Crime Summit, where over 40 countries and organisations have come together to agree new action to smash people-smuggling gangs, the Prime Minister outlined how the government is finally restoring order to the immigration system after years of failure.

The continued rise in removals includes a 21% increase in enforced returns and a 16% increase in foreign national offenders being removed from the UK since July 5th, including the 4 biggest returns charter flights in the UK’s history, with a total of more than 850 people on board.

The massive surge in removals followed the government’s immediate action to redeploy staff across the Home Office to work on policies that deliver results.

At the Summit the Prime Minister set out the approach this government is taking to finally take on organised immigration crime – one that moves beyond gimmicks and instead delivers hard graft, international leadership, and delivers on working people’s priorities for secure borders.

He set out how this is based on giving law enforcement tougher powers than ever to smash the smuggling gangs, ramping up removals to record levels, surging illegal working raids to end the false promise of jobs used by gangs to sell spaces on boats and leading a renewed international law enforcement effort.

Since taking office the government has reset its approach to global cooperation, striking new bilateral agreements with key international partners including France, Germany, Italy, and Balkan states to disrupt smuggling networks and accelerate removals.

This is backed by the work of Border Security Commander Martin Hewitt who has been negotiating new agreements to bring together international policing, intelligence, and border enforcement to dismantle organised immigration crime networks at home and abroad.

This work has already seen arrests of major people smuggling kingpins through joint investigations with the National Crime Agency.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

Immigration crime funds the vile people-smuggling gangs that trade in human misery, breach our borders and threaten Britain’s economic security. This government is taking back control, doing the hard graft needed to deliver results, working with our international allies to smash these gangs and secure our borders.

We’ve already removed more than 24,000 people with no right to be here and we’re finally shutting down exploitative illegal working, dismantling criminal networks, while forcing people-smuggling gangs out of business.

For too long, the UK was a soft touch. That ends now. No more gimmicks, no empty promises, just serious action for British security.

With over 40 international partners joining the UK’s call to treat people-smuggling like terrorism, today’s summit marks the beginning of a new global coalition to take the fight to the criminal gangs at every stage of the smuggling chain.

This is backed by landmark legislation through the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, giving new powers to seize migrants’ phones to identify smugglers, criminalise those who endanger lives at sea, and ensure every business carries out right-to-work checks – ending the exploitation of illegal labour for good.

Additional information:

Between 5 July and 22 March 2025 there were 24,103 returns, the highest 9 month period compared to any 9-month period since 2017. Prior to this from Jan – Sept 2017, returns were 25,225.

Of total returns since 5 July 2024:

• there were 6,339 enforced returns of people with no legal right to remain in the UK
• 3,594 were of foreign national offenders (FNOs)
• 6,781 were asylum related returns

From 5 July 2024 to 22 March 2025 there have been 46 charter flights for returns to countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America

The full stats can be seen here.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 30 March 2025.

The Prime Minister spoke to President Trump this evening.

The President opened by wishing His Majesty the King best wishes and good health.

They discussed the productive negotiations between their respective teams on a UK-US economic prosperity deal, agreeing that these will continue at pace this week.

Discussing Ukraine, the Prime Minister updated the President on the productive discussions at the meeting of the Coalition of Willing in Paris this week. The leaders agreed on the need to keep up the collective pressure on Putin.

They agreed to stay in touch in the coming days.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 28 March 2025.

The Prime Minister has announced more funding to deliver the largest rail investment in the North in decades.

People across the North will no longer be held back by a broken transport system and empty promises, the Prime Minister has said as he announces more funding to deliver the largest rail investment in the North in decades.

For far too long, working people have been hamstrung by a transport system that no longer works for them. Doctors’ appointments are missed, children late to school, work meetings missed thanks to delays or cancellations. These are the real-world impacts which lead to an insecurity and instability for working people. The Prime Minister will make clear today that his government will not stand by and watch while this blight continues to disrupt the lives of working people.

After years of false promises and under delivery, the government is rolling up its sleeves and delivering change working families will feel. The Prime Minister will today set out plans to make the Liverpool-Hull corridor an economic superpower – rivalling the Oxford-Cambridge arc – kickstarted with £1.7 billion this year.

This transformatory package to reboot the North’s creaking transport system means government more than double on local transport in the North compared to the South and London, delivering on its Plan for Change to boost living standards and provide security and certainty for working people across the country.

This comes on top of funding announced today:

• For the key rail line between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York, which has been plagued by disruptions and delays for years without a plan to fix it. The route will now be supported with £415 million in funding from government to restore its failing services.
• For local leaders to unleash their areas’ untapped potential with over £1 billion for the North to improve the transport services people use every day – backing regional mayors and ensuring decisions about the North sit with those who call it home. This comes alongside £270 million investment in bus services and £330 million in road maintenance across the North.

The funding, delivered working hand in hand with local leaders, will have a transformative impact on people’s lives, connecting the great towns and cities of the North that have been cut off from each other for far too long, holding back its potential.

The Prime Minister will make clear that these measures will better connect the North to support its thriving industries, unlocking growth in key sectors like Sheffield’s nuclear industry, booming fintech in Leeds, and cutting-edge life sciences in Liverpool. It will also support leading universities left hamstrung by poor connectivity while commuter towns and cities near London benefit from world-leading transport infrastructure.

On a visit to a factory in the North of England today, the Prime Minister is expected to say that today’s funding boost must see local leaders speed up delivery of key projects in their areas, which will transform the lives of working families.

This includes:

• A Mass Transit system for West Yorkshire progressing, with the next stage of the business case expected in the Autumn – bringing growth to the largest city in Europe without a metro transport system.
• A new Merseyrail station in the Baltic Triangle – better connecting the city to ‘Britain’s coolest neighbourhood’ – starting works this Autumn and complete by Spring 2028.
• The Bury Interchange redevelopment fast-tracked with £80 million to improve bus and tram connectivity across Greater Manchester.

Today’s announcement will provide stability for the North following years of uncertainty and broken promises. This administration is choosing a new way of governing, empowering local leaders who have skin in the game to make the changes that working people want to see in their area.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

The North is home to a wealth of talent and ingenuity. But for too long, it has been held to ransom by a Victorian-era transport system which has stifled its potential. I lived in Leeds for years, I get that this has real-world impacts – missed appointments, children late to school, work meetings rescheduled – all leading to insecurity and instability for working people.

My government won’t stand by and watch. We are rolling up our sleeves, and today’s downpayment for growth is a vote of confidence in the North’s world-beating industries. The film studios in Bradford, life sciences in Liverpool, the fintech industry in Leeds – it is time they had a government on their side to get the North motoring again.

After years of false promises and under delivery, this government is delivering real change for the North. We are spending double as much on local transport in the North than the South, all done hand-in-hand with our mayors and local leaders. Through our Plan for Change, we are upgrading transport in the North, we are correcting years of unfairness that has gone before, and we are better linking our historic towns and cities. That means boosting living standards, putting more money in the pockets of working people, and restoring pride to communities.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said:

The transport system outside of London and the South East has been plagued by delays and cancellations, frustrated by strikes and failing infrastructure because upgrades that were promised were never delivered.

That ends with our Plan for Change, because reliable and affordable public transport links are essential for kickstarting economic growth and putting more money in people’s pockets across the Midlands and the North.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said:

For too long, the North has been left behind and relied on a crumbling transport system that’s not fit to serve the great towns and cities it’s home to.

The Government’s Plan for Change will end that and schemes like the TransPennine Route Upgrade will bolster the region’s neglected potential and make travelling between these historic Northern towns and cities quicker, easier and greener.

Once the TransPennine Route Upgrade is completed, journey times between the major cities of Manchester and Leeds will be slashed from 50 to 42 minutes, with up to six fast services every hour, while journey times from Manchester to York will be reduced by ten minutes.

The City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements are already supporting major transport schemes in city regions across England, including the Wednesbury Brierly Hill Metro expansion in the West Midlands and the renewal of the Sheffield Supertram.

Today’s announcement builds on the government’s pro-growth agenda for the North, including more funding to fix potholes, landmark planning changes to turbocharge house building, and Government backing for major regeneration around Old Trafford.