Tag: Downing Street

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 15 May 2023.

Prime Minister sets out new support for farmers to strengthen food security and grow the economy.

Farmers will benefit from a commitment to protect their interests in future trade deals, support to boost domestic fruit and veg production and new investment in technologies, thanks to a package of support set out by the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of a summit hosted at Downing Street today (16 May).

Representatives from the whole food supply chain will come together at No10 for the UK Farm to Fork Summit, to identify ways to boost growth, drive innovation and improve sustainability, fulfilling a commitment made by the Prime Minister last Summer to host the event as part of his pledge to back British farmers.

Ahead of the Summit, government confirmed a range of measures to help strengthen the long-term resilience and sustainability of the sector and provide greater stability for farmers following a difficult period caused by global challenges, including the illegal invasion of Ukraine which has contributed to rising costs. To give further certainty to the sector, government also announced that 45,000 visas will be available again to the horticulture sector next year, enabling them to plan ahead for the picking season.

Attendees at the Summit will include senior representatives in the UK’s farming, horticulture and agri-food sectors. The event will look at how government and industry can work together to increase investment, innovation and sustainability and support the long-term resilience at every stage of the food system, from farming to manufacturing, distribution and retail, and feature discussions on a set of key themes alongside a showcase of great British food and drink businesses and innovators.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

“I will always back British farmers, and I pay tribute to their hard work and dedication all year round which keeps shelves stocked and food on our tables.

“Supporting our farmers and food producers must, and always will be, at the heart of our plans to grow the economy and build a more prosperous country.

“That’s why I’m proud to host this summit, and working together, I’m determined to build resilience, strengthen our food security and champion the best of British at home and overseas.”

Secretary of State for Food and Farming Thérèse Coffey said:

“Food production is the primary purpose of farming, and our world-leading farmers and food producers work tirelessly day-in-day-out to keep the nation fed, despite global challenges including the illegal invasion of Ukraine.

“I am delighted that today we have embarked on our next step to back British farmers and ensure a thriving food and drink sector which will see more British produce on supermarket shelves and plates both in the UK and across the globe. I look forward to working together, right across the food supply chain, to boost growth, innovation and sustainability.”

The package of measures announced ahead of the summit aims to boost every element of the food supply chain, from farm to fork, and promote the UK’s world-renowned produce around the world to help boost British businesses and grow the economy.

NFU President Minette Batters said:

“I am absolutely delighted that the Prime Minister has honoured the commitments he made when he addressed our hustings event back in the summer to hold this food summit at Number 10, and we welcome the announcements made today.

“They show a recognition and an understanding of the strategic importance of British food and farming to the nation.

“These actions recognise the importance of coordinated action across government to support confidence, investment and growth in British food. We look forward to working with the Prime Minister, the Defra Secretary and the rest of the cabinet to Back British farming and bolster our domestic food security.”

UKHospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls said:

“It’s fantastic that the Prime Minister is convening the breadth of the food supply chain, from farm to fork, at his summit today and showcasing our superb hospitality offering here in the UK to highlight iconic produce and brands.

“Hospitality in the UK is recognised as one of the finest in the world and is frequently the launchpad to propel British products and brands to markets abroad. Further investment into the GREAT campaign is welcome news and, in addition to boosting exports, will help to promote the UK as a tourist destination and boost our hospitality venues.

“Hospitality plays a huge role in keeping the nation fed, whether it be through our restaurants and pubs or public sector catering in schools, hospitals and the armed forces, and I’m looking forward to discussing how we can all work together to overcome current challenges and grasp future opportunities.”

To boost trade and export opportunities to get more British food on plates across the world, building on the £24 billion a year generated by our food and drink exports, the government has confirmed that:

• Farmers’ interests will be put at the heart of trade policy through a new framework for trade negotiations, committing to protect the UK’s high food and welfare standards and prioritise new export opportunities. The Prime Minister has written an open letter to farmers today setting out how these new principles will help the industry benefit from the trade opportunities available to us outside the EU.
• We will invest £2m to boost our programme of global trade shows and missions, as well as providing £1.6m for the GREAT food and drink campaign.
• We will build on our existing overseas network with five additional agri-food and drink attaches who will spearhead the removal of restrictive market barriers
• We will extend funding to promote seafood exports around the world with an extra £1 million between 2025 and 2028, and create a new bespoke £1m programme to help dairy businesses, particularly SMEs, to seize export opportunities, particularly in the Asia pacific region.

The government will unlock the benefits of innovative technologies to strengthen our food security, cementing the UK’s leadership in this field through:

• Up to £30 million of investment to drive forward the use of precision breeding technologies, building on the £8 million already invested over the last five years and the passing of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act earlier this year
• The creation of a new working group – bringing together plant breeders, food manufacturers and retailers – to get produce from farms to the shelves.

The government will protect the interests of farmers by making sure they get a fair price for their produce:

• We are already using new powers under the Agriculture Act to improve transparency and contracts in the pork and dairy markets;
• We are now announcing additional reviews into fairness in the horticulture and egg supply chains, in light of the impact of global challenges on these sectors in particular.
• Recognising the unique role and needs of the sector, and listening to the calls from the NFU, FDF and others, the Groceries Code Adjudicator will not be merged with the Competition and Markets Authority, in recognition of its importance in ensuring our food supply chains function as they should.

The horticulture sector is worth £5 billion across the UK and the government will support the industry to boost production and extend the growing season by:

• Confirming we will improve future support for horticulture by replacing the retained EU Fruit and Vegetable Producer Organisation Scheme when it closes in 2026 with an expanded offer as part of our new farming payment schemes.
• This will be tailored to the needs of our domestic growers and will be more inclusive than the EU scheme, ensuring it is a good offer for glasshouses as well as other growers.
• Helping the controlled horticulture sector overcome barriers to accessing government schemes, including by looking at how the sector is classified
• Making it easier to build new glasshouses through changes to national planning policy

Further announcements to increase the resilience of the sector and support its growth include:

• Plans to cut the red tape currently holding farmers back from delivering projects on their land to diversify their incomes, such as repurposing farm buildings to use as shops, with a call for evidence later this year.
• Increasing water security by accelerating work on water supply infrastructure, so that farmers can count on steady access to water, including in periods of intense dry weather.

The event will also build on progress made since the launch of the government’s Food Strategy last year, which committed to broadly maintain levels of domestic food production. This includes sustainably boosting production in sectors such as horticulture and seafood, where there are opportunities to grow outside the EU.

It also set out a range of measures to back our farmers by helping to support domestic production, spread jobs and grow the economy, alongside the work of the UK Agriculture Partnership which brings together key stakeholders from across the UK to identify how to address shared issues facing the agricultural sector.

Also today, 22 innovative and ground-breaking projects have been awarded a share of £6.2 million of funding through the Seafood Innovation Fund, as part of the government’s UK Seafood Fund. The winning projects will enhance the UK seafood sector’s productivity and sustainability, ranging from an on-land cultivation system for seaweed, to cutting-edge packaging developments that improve the shelf life of seafood.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 15 May 2023.

The Prime Minister welcomed Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to Chequers today.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 15 May 2023.

President Zelenskyy has arrived in the UK this morning for discussions with the Prime Minister on Ukraine’s ongoing military resistance to Putin’s brutal invasion.

• Prime Minister will welcome President Zelenskyy to Chequers today for discussions following the Ukrainian President’s tour of European capitals
• Visit comes ahead of this week’s Council of Europe and G7 Summits where the PM will call for sustained global support for Ukraine’s fight to reclaim their sovereign territory
• PM will announce more military aid to support this effort, following last week’s confirmation that the UK has donated long-range precision missiles

President Zelenskyy has arrived in the UK this morning for discussions with the Prime Minister on Ukraine’s ongoing military resistance to Putin’s brutal invasion.

The President will update the Prime Minister on his meetings with European leaders over the weekend as Ukraine prepares for an intensified period of military activity.

This visit also comes ahead of the Council of Europe Summit in Iceland, which the Prime Minister will attend and President Zelenskyy will attend virtually, and the G7 Summit in Japan. The Prime Minister will use these gatherings to push for sustained international support for Ukraine, both in terms of military aid and long-term security assurances.

Last week the UK confirmed that we have provided Storm Shadow precision missiles to Ukraine. This is the first long-range cruise missile in Ukraine’s arsenal and will be critical in helping the country defend  against the relentless bombardment of their critical national infrastructure.

Today the Prime Minister will confirm the further UK provision of hundreds of air defence missiles and further unmanned aerial systems including hundreds of new long-range attack drones with a range of over 200km. These will all be delivered over the coming months as Ukraine prepares to intensify its resistance to the ongoing Russian invasion.

This equipment will support Ukraine over the coming months in their anticipated military surge to counter Russian forces. During their meeting today the Prime Minister will discuss with President Zelenskyy what support Ukraine needs from the international community, both in terms of immediate military equipment and long-term defences.

The Prime Minister is working with partners in the G7, NATO and beyond to provide Ukraine with the kind of assurances and capabilities it needs to strengthen and guard its long-term security beyond the end of the war – putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position to seek a fair and lasting peace.

The Prime Minister said:

“This is a crucial moment in Ukraine’s resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke. They need the sustained support of the international community to defend against the barrage of unrelenting and indiscriminate attacks that have been their daily reality for over a year.

“We must not let them down. The frontlines of Putin’s war of aggression may be in Ukraine but the fault lines stretch all over the world. It is in all our interest to ensure Ukraine succeeds and Putin’s barbarism is not rewarded.

“That is why the UK is sustaining our support to Ukraine – from tanks to training, ammunition to armoured vehicles. And this message of solidarity will ring loud in all my meetings with fellow world leaders in the days ahead.”

President Zelenskyy will hold talks with the Prime Minister at Chequers, becoming the first world leader the Prime Minister has hosted at the residence. This visit follows President Zelenskyy’s visit to the UK in February, which was only the second time the leader had left Ukraine since Putin’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

In their talks, the Prime Minister will reiterate the importance the UK places on providing a total package of support to Ukraine to put them in the strongest possible position to secure a lasting peace for their country.

This means the military equipment we provide must be bolstered by training, by economic support, by biting sanctions against Putin’s regime and by long-term security assurances to ensure Ukraine’s sovereignty can never be breached in this way again.

To that end, in the last year the UK has trained 15,000 Ukrainian troops to battlefield readiness. In February the Prime Minister announced the UK would develop a new training programme for Ukrainian pilots to support their efforts to build a new Ukrainian air force with NATO-standard, F16 jets.

This summer we will commence an elementary flying phase for cohorts of Ukrainian pilots to learn basic training. This will adapt the programme used by UK pilots to provide Ukrainians with piloting skills they can apply a different kind of aircraft. This training goes hand in hand with UK efforts to work with other countries on providing F16 jets – Ukraine’s fighter jets of choice.

Next month the UK will host a Ukraine Recovery Conference to galvanise international investment to support Ukraine’s reconstruction, promoting those emerging sectors where the country was thriving before Putin’s full-scale invasion such as clean energy and tech.

The UK provided £2.3 billion worth of military support to Ukraine in 2022 – more than any country other than the US – and the Prime Minister has committed to sustain that level of support this year.

So far in 2023 the UK has provided equipment including a squadron of Challenger 2 main battle tanks, self-propelled guns, hundreds of armoured vehicles and sophisticated missiles including Starstreak and Storm Shadow. Today’s announcements are further to these previous donations.

Since the outbreak of full-scale war the UK has also trained 15,000 Ukrainian troops in the UK, on top of the 22,000 troops trained in Ukraine between 2014 and 2022 under Operation Orbital.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 13 May 2023.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will undertake a packed tour of international engagements this week.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 10 May 2023.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 9 May 2023.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plan to improve access to primary care.

“Being able to get a GP appointment when you need one is vitally important to families and communities across the country, so we must modernise the way primary care works to keep up with patient demand and help to cut NHS waiting lists.

Today, we’re launching a radical plan to improve access to primary care.

This is how the measures will affect you.

We’re getting rid of the 8am rush for GP appointments

I know how frustrating it is to be stuck on hold to your GP practice when you need an appointment for a common illness.

We will end the 8am rush by making sure patients are either given an appointment immediately when they call, or signposted to a more appropriate service such as NHS 111 or their local pharmacy.

You will no longer be told to call back later.

You can get prescription medication directly from a pharmacy, without a GP appointment

For the first time ever, patients who need prescription medication will be able to get it directly from a pharmacy, without a GP appointment, for things like earache, sore throat, or urinary tract infections.

This also extends to contraception. Now women will no longer have to speak to a nurse or GP to get the oral contraceptive pill – it will be available direct from their local pharmacy.

There will be more GP appointments available to you

By expanding the role of pharmacies, fewer people will need to see their GP in the first place.

Today’s plans are expected to free up around 15 million GP appointments over the next two years for patients who need them most.

Which means the next time you want to see your GP, you should be able to do so quicker.

You’ll be able to access your medical records on the NHS app

The new plan will give you better access to your own medical records.

Within the next year 90% of people will be able to access their GP records, including test results, on the NHS app within the next year.

This plan is personal to me, I grew up in an NHS family and I’m passionate about making sure you get access to the best medical attention, when you need it.

This bold and innovative package of measures will significantly change how the NHS works for the better not least for GPs and pharmacies, but above all you – whose day-to-day experience of healthcare will be significantly enhanced by this new service.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 7 May 2023.

Community heroes, Ukrainian families and youth groups will gather in Downing Street today for a special Coronation lunch hosted by the Prime Minister and Mrs Murty.

Community heroes, Ukrainian families and youth groups will gather in Downing Street today for a special Coronation lunch hosted by the Prime Minister and Mrs Murty.

The event is taking place as part of The Big Lunch, a nationwide initiative to bring neighbours and communities together to celebrate the Coronation.

Over 50,000 Big Lunch street parities are expected to take place in the UK and in countries across the globe.

Downing Street will be adorned with bunting featuring the official Coronation emblem and the Union Flag. Crockery will be donated by Emma Bridgewater – the award-winning ceramics company based in Stroke-on-Trent – including a limited edition King Charles III teapot.

Recipients of the Points of Light Award – volunteers that have made an outstanding contribution to their community – have been invited to attend the event.

They include Zoe and Andy Clark-Coates who set up Saying Goodbye a charity that supports thousands of people who have lost a child during pregnancy, at birth or infancy – and Navjot Sawhney whose hand-cranked washing machine is benefitting over 1,000 families without access to an electric machine in underdeveloped countries or refugee camps.

Also joining is Laura Ashurst from Stokesley in North Yorkshire. A three-time breast cancer survivor, Laura has campaigned for fifteen years to improve the lives of the 35,000 women across the UK with secondary breast cancer.

Attendees will enjoy food sourced from across the UK, including Loch Duart salmon from Sutherland in North West Scotland and soda farl from Northern Ireland.

Beef will come from Gloucestershire in South West England and ice cream has been sourced from Chilly Cow, a company based in Ruthin, Wales.

Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s war on Ukraine and their UK-based sponsors will also join the event. They include Olga Breslavska who travelled to the UK as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme and is currently studying an intensive English course. Caroline Quill – a Homes for Ukraine sponsor – has been instrumental in matching 250 families across East Sussex and Kent and will also join the lunch.

Young people from organisations such as UK Youth and the National Association of Boys and Girls Clubs have also been invited to mark the occasion.

The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said:

Come rain or shine, thousands of friends and neighbours are coming together this weekend to put up the bunting, pour the tea and cut the cake at street parties and community events across the UK.

I am proud to welcome Ukrainians forced to flee their homes and some incredible community heroes to Downing Street for our very own Coronation lunch to celebrate this historic moment.

In England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland – and across our Overseas Territories and the wider Commonwealth – people are marking this momentous occasion in the spirit of unity and hope for the future

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 6 May 2023.

The Prime Minister hosted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Downing Street this evening.

The leaders remarked on how special the occasion had been and reflected on their conversations with counterparts from across the world.

Discussing the UK’s recent accession to Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Prime Minister thanked Prime Minister Trudeau for his support, and both agreed to use the momentum to further bilateral trade talks.

Looking ahead of the G7 in Hiroshima this month, both welcomed the strong alignment between G7 nations on addressing global challenges and praised Japan’s focus on economic resilience during their presidency.

The leaders also discussed how Canada and the UK could deepen collaboration on defence and security technology, including in cyber security and quantum.

Turning to Ukraine, the leaders agreed on the importance of ensuring Ukraine continues to get the support it needs for its defence and reconstruction, now and for years to come. They looked forward to an important summit for NATO at Vilnius.

The leaders looked forward to seeing one another at the G7 later this month.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 6 May 2023.

The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has issued words to mark the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on 6 May 2023.

The Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla will be a moment of extraordinary national pride.

Together with friends from across the Commonwealth and beyond, we will celebrate the enduring nature of our great monarchy: its constancy, devotion to duty, and service to others.

No other country could put on such a dazzling display – the processions, the pageantry, the ceremonies, and street parties.

But this is not just a spectacle.

It’s a proud expression of our history, culture, and traditions.

A vivid demonstration of the modern character of our country.

And a cherished ritual through which a new era is born.

In the Abbey where monarchs have been crowned for almost a thousand years, representatives of every faith will play a central role for the first time.

And in a fitting tribute to the spirit of service that will define the Carolean Age, people across our country will help their communities with thousands of acts of kindness.

So let’s celebrate this weekend with pride in who we are and what we stand for. Let’s look to the future with hope and optimism. And let’s make new memories, so we can tell our grandchildren of the day we came together to sing: God Save The King.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 5 May 2023.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomed President Lula da Silva to Downing Street today.

The leaders discussed the great potential in the relationship between the UK and Brazil, including in health, research and development and technology.

On trade, the leaders agreed on the importance of working together to address trade barriers and unlock investment between the two countries.

The Prime Minister praised President Lula’s leadership on climate change and welcomed his reflections on the concerning situation in the Amazon.

The UK would contribute £80 million to the Amazon Fund to help stop deforestation and save the rich biodiversity in the area, the Prime Minister added.

That contribution built on the launch of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership at COP27, which was another strong signal of the UK’s commitment to the protecting the Amazon, the Prime Minister said.

The leaders also discussed the situation in Ukraine and agreed that Russia’s invasion was unacceptable, as was the killing of innocent civilians.

Peace was in everyone’s interests, both leaders agreed.

The Prime Minister said that while Russia’s forces remained in Ukraine it would be impossible for the country to find peace and reiterated the need for the international community to continue to press President Putin to withdraw his troops.

The leaders agreed to stay in close touch and looked forward to seeing each other at the G7 later this month, and to Brazil hosting the G20 in 2024.