Thank you Mr President and may I congratulate you on your Presidency and the US on theirs.

Let me start by thanking all of the committees for their work and for the Chairs for updating us on the implementation of these important resolutions. And in particular, I want to welcome the collaboration and joint working between the committees, as evidenced here today.

Firstly, let me address the work of Committees 1267 / 1989 / 2235 and 1373.

Mr President, no country is immune from the threat of terrorism, no region exempted from the threat which flows from the poisonous ideology which underpins it. Only through collaboration between countries within and between regions will we defeat the threat. We need a network of willing and capable countries to tackle the terrorist threat.

Now much is done bilaterally, the UN has a major role. Willingness to tackle the threat should of course be a matter of self-interest, but it also flows from binding Security Council resolutions and GA resolutions. And capability flows from the committees – from the Counter-Terrorism Committee, but also from C-TED, from UN-OCT, and for UN-CCT. And I welcome very much the joint working evidenced under the leadership of Under-Secretary-General Voronkov and Assistant Secretary-General Connix.

As identified in the Secretary-General’s report, the UK agrees that Da’esh has evolved from a territorial entity into a diffused and covert network which operates in a number of countries. Al-Qaida and its affiliates remain a persistent threat and challenge, and we are also facing threats to international peace and security from terrorist groups which have been inspired by Da’esh and Al-Qaida, in addition to others such as extreme right wing groups. Terrorist groups constantly change their methods and approaches, and we must be flexible and adaptable in our response.

As the Ambassador of Peru has said, it has been a feature of the threat in recent times to see the outflow of foreign terrorist fighters from many countries around this table. But as well as focussing on that, we must now focus on returnees to our countries, and re-locators to other theatres. We must not forget the foreign terrorist fighters currently in prison and others convicted of terrorism-related offenses, who may pose a threat both at home and abroad.

The UK wants to stress the important role that the private sector, academic researchers and civil societies can play in supporting Member States and UN bodies in countering terrorism and violent extremism. During the UK’s Presidency of the Security Council in August, we were pleased to invite a civil society briefer, Dr. Joana Cook, of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization in London, to share with the Council findings from their recent report on Da’esh women and minors, which enriched our understanding and discussion.

Mr President, I would like to stress that sanctions remain a key tool in combatting terrorism. We welcome the continued engagement and cooperation of all Council members in our international efforts to combat this threat. And I welcome the appointment of Mr Daniel Kipfer Fasciati as Ombudsperson.

The UK welcomes the ongoing efforts of the Counter Terrorism Committee and Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate to address a broad spectrum of issues raised by recent resolutions – in particular, 2396. As others have said, a global Passenger Name Record standard is needed and we welcome the UN-OCT ICAL project to promote its responsible use and recognize the generous support of the government of the Netherlands.

Furthermore, we continue to encourage states to move towards the implementation of the Global Aviation Security Plan.

In line with Security Council Resolution 2395, it is important that CTED assessment and analytical tools are updated and made fit for purpose, and that these inform the capacity-building activities of the UN – including UN-OCT – and its partners.

We are pleased to invite CTED to conduct a visit to the United Kingdom in 2019 and look forward to working with the Committee to share good practices and technical assistance needs. And I encourage other states also to work with C-TED to facilitate similar visits to their own country. We can all learn.

Mr President, moving on to the 1540 Committee, I would like to acknowledge the Committee’s achievements, particularly with the completion of initial reports and engagement with Committee working groups. We support the Chair and the Committee’s focus on practical steps to support implementation of the resolution, such as voluntary National Action Plans. We welcome the example set by Chile and Colombia in conducting a peer review of Resolution 1540 implementation and suggest the Committee encourages other countries to do likewise.

We acknowledge that the Committee has played a crucial role to enable the meaningful exchange of information between States, improving the matchmaking processes to better meet assistance needs and build long-term capacity.

Now it is time for the Committee to become more active and strategically consider new and emerging threats. In particular, we encourage the Committee to consider responses to topical counter-proliferation issues affecting 1540/2325 implementation, such as emerging technologies and proliferation finance, and consider the role of international organisations and multilateral fora in raising awareness of these issues and we hope the Committee will meet more often going forward.

We encourage the ongoing work to raise awareness and profile of UNSCR 1540.

Mr President, the effective implementation of these resolutions is important to protect hard fought global norms and the rules based international system.

Let us step up our efforts.

Thank you Cindy. It’s wonderful to be able to be here tonight.

I want to start by remembering the late Senator John McCain – a man whose whole life embodied the calling of service over self…

…who profoundly believed we have so much more in common with each other than in disagreement…

…and whose faith in our common humanity led him to speak out against the barbaric inhumanity of modern slavery.

Senator McCain was a true statesman – and I am proud to say, a great friend of our United Kingdom.

And I am deeply honoured to receive this award in his name this evening.

I also want to pay tribute to Cindy for your own long-standing work helping victims of modern slavery and helping to raise the profile of this terrible, abhorrent crime around the world.

Cindy – thank you for your inspirational leadership.

And let me also thank Vice President Biden and everyone here this evening who is supporting the work of the McCain Institute in fighting this absolutely hideous and hidden trade in humans.

As Senator McCain said – it is our duty to stop the victimization of all men, women and children.

And in honouring that duty tonight we are together taking on – what I believe is – the great human rights issue of our time.

One of the first victims of modern slavery I met, was a woman who had been taken as a child from Uganda and enslaved by a family in London.

Someone came to her village and promised her mother they could offer a better life.

The girl had never left the village before but she was put on a plane and she was brought here where she was taken into domestic servitude.

She was raped by the man of the house – and by his friends.

Then after several years, the family moved away and just left her abandoned on the streets of London.

I thought when I heard that story how can anybody treat another human being like that?

How can anybody think they can put another human being through that pain and suffering – and just use them as an object?

And how can these sorts of horrors be happening here in my country, now, in this century?

Yet today there are more than 40 million men, women and children suffering in modern slavery across the world, with between 10,000 and 13,000 in the UK alone.

That is why – first as Home Secretary and now as Prime Minister – I made tackling modern slavery a personal mission.

And it is why I want to work with you – and with partners all around the world – so that together we can say: we will not tolerate these crimes in our societies any longer.

We have made progress.

Here in the UK – a Modern Slavery Act, the first of its kind in the world, has created new powers to bring perpetrators to justice, with life sentences for the worst offenders.

Just last week we saw a drug dealer – who used three children from Birmingham to sell crack cocaine and heroin – jailed for 14 years after admitting charges of modern slavery.

We have new protections and support for victims – with more than a ten-fold increase in the number of potential victims being referred compared with a decade ago.

We have a world leading transparency requirement on business to eradicate modern slavery, including from their supply chains.

And as Prime Minister, I have established the first ever Taskforce on Modern Slavery to drive forward a coherent strategy across all departments and agencies.

But modern slavery is a global problem, it respects neither borders nor jurisdictions, and it requires a global response.

So the UK successfully advocated for eradicating modern slavery to be included in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

We have increased our international development spending on fighting modern slavery and child exploitation from £75m to over £200m.

And at the United Nations last year we launched a Global Call to Action which has now been endorsed by more than 80 countries.

But there is more to do.

The organised criminals who perpetrate these abhorrent crimes are becoming ever more sophisticated in the methods they use.

And we must adapt as rapidly as the criminals we are working to stop.

In the UK, we have an independent review of our Modern Slavery Act which will strengthen it wherever needed to respond to the threat as it evolves.

And next week we will be launching the second round of our Modern Slavery Innovation Fund – with another £5 million to build the evidence base around new approaches to tackle modern slavery internationally.

But to be successful we must continue to raise awareness of these horrific crimes so everyone can play their part in exposing them.

So I welcome the brilliant work of organisations like the McCain Institute – from helping taxi drivers and airline pilots recognise the signs of modern slavery, to your pioneering initiative to raise awareness on our university campuses.

Ultimately, nothing is more powerful in raising that awareness than the stories of survivors.

It is the courage of survivors to speak out about these crimes that has made so much of our work possible.

It is when they speak out that we can expose their captors.

It is when they speak out that others suffering in the shadows can be found.

And it is when they speak out that the conscience of the world is roused to this great injustice.

So it is to the bravery of those survivors that I dedicate this award.

And to their hope for a better future that, together, we must reaffirm our resolve to end these abhorrent crimes and rid the world of this barbaric evil once and for all.

Thank you.

The Foreign Secretary has today spoken to his Saudi counterpart, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, about the case of Jamal Khashoggi.

Mr Hunt stressed that if media reports from the weekend regarding Mr Khashoggi’s case prove correct, that would be extremely concerning and the UK will treat the incident very seriously – friendships depend on shared values.

Mr Hunt urged the Saudi Government to cooperate fully with the Turkish investigation into the case, and to provide further information as soon as possible.

The Foreign Secretary today also met the Saudi Ambassador to the UK to reiterate the need for urgent answers.

With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to update the House on the progress in negotiations to leave the EU, and the government’s planning for No Deal.

Negotiations

Since I last updated the House, our negotiations with the EU have continued and intensified.

Over the recess break, we have been engaging constructively with our EU counterparts.

Let me take the main areas of the negotiations in turn.

On the Withdrawal Agreement, while there remain some differences, we are closing in on workable solutions to all the key outstanding issues, building on the progress we made during the summer on issues such as data and information, the treatment of ongoing police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters, and ongoing Union judicial and administrative procedures after the date of exit.

We have also been discussing proposals on the linkage needed between the Withdrawal Agreement and the Future Relationship, and the EU is engaging constructively.

On the Northern Ireland Protocol, we remain committed to the undertakings we made in the Joint Report back in December, to agree a backstop in case there is a delay between the end of the Implementation Period and the entry into force of the treaty on our future relationship.

That was agreed to avoid any risk of a return to a hard border in the intervening period.

But we will not accept anything that threatens the constitutional or economic integrity of the United Kingdom.

Creating any form of customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, which is what the EU had proposed, would put that at risk and that it is unacceptable.

As my Rt Hon friend the Prime Minister has said, it is not something she, nor any British Prime Minister, could conceivably agree to.

We are engaging with the EU on our alternative proposals that preserve the integrity of the UK.

They will be in line with the commitments we made back in December, including the commitment that no new regulatory barriers should be created between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK unless the Northern Ireland Executive and the Assembly agree.

On the Future Relationship, we continue to make progress, for example, on both the internal and the external security arrangements for future cooperation, although there is still some way to go.

And as the House will know, the Prime Minister presented our proposals on the economic partnership to EU leaders, at the informal Salzburg Summit.

We understand that the EU has raised some concerns, particularly around the distinction between goods and services under the common rule book and with respect to the Facilitated Customs Arrangement.

We continue to engage constructively with the EU, we continue to press our case.

The UK’s White Paper proposals are the best way of ensuring there is continued frictionless trade in goods after Britain leaves the EU, whilst fulfilling the joint commitment to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and respecting the referendum.

These negotiations, Mr Speaker, were always bound to be tough in the final stretch.

That is all the more reason why we should hold our nerve, stay resolute and focused, and I remain confident that we will reach a deal this autumn.

Because it is still in the best interests of the UK, and the European Union.

It is the best way of protecting trade between Britain and the EU, trade which underpins millions of jobs across Europe.

It is the best way of making sure we continue to cooperate seamlessly on security matters, to tackle crime and terrorism to keep UK and EU citizens safe.

And it is the best way to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland that would adversely affect communities living there, or indeed separating Northern Ireland from Great Britain which we will not countenance.

To achieve these aims, the UK has brought forward serious and credible proposals.

We continue to engage with the EU to press our case, and to better understand the nature of some of their concerns.

Equally, it is time for the EU to match the ambition and pragmatism that we have shown.

No Deal

Mr Speaker, while we intensify negotiations to secure the deal we want,the deal that we expect, we are also expediting preparations for no deal.

In case the EU do not match the ambition and pragmatism we have demonstrated.

As the Prime Minister stated on 21 September after the Salzburg Summit.

The government has made clear we will unilaterally protect the rights of EU citizens in the UK in the event of No Deal.

To the 3 million here, we say: you are our friends, our neighbours, our colleagues, we want you to stay.

And we will be setting out all of the details as soon as is practical.

We also now urge the EU and all its member states to step up and give UK citizens on the continent the same reassurances.

Mr Speaker it is time, on both sides, to provide all our citizens with that comfort and with that confidence.

Since I last updated the House in September, we have published 52 more technical notices, in two further batches.

They inform people, businesses and other key stakeholders of the steps they need to take, if we don’t reach a deal with the EU.

They cover a wide range of sectors, building on other work that has taken place across government over the last two years.

They enable us to prepare the UK for Brexit irrespective of the outcome of the negotiations.

They acknowledge that there are risks to a no deal scenario.

But they also demonstrate the steps we will take to avoid, mitigate and manage any potential short-term risks and disruption.

Overall now we have published 77 technical notices which form part of the sensible, proportionate, measures that we are taking to prepare the country for every eventuality.

Mr Speaker our most recent batch of technical notices were published on the 24th of September they are set out in a written Ministerial statement today.

There are 24 and they range from aviation, and the advice for airlines on the impact of ‘no deal’ and the actions for them to consider to maintain services on the day we leave the EU, through to car insurance, and the arrangements to ensure Green Cards will be available free of charge from insurance companies to enable UK drivers to continue to drive on the continent.

The publication of the technical notices enables further engagement as part of our No Deal planning.

So for example, our earlier technical notice on VAT set out the VAT changes that companies will need to prepare for when importing or exporting goods from the EU, when supplying services to the EU, or interacting with EU VAT IT systems.

That one was welcomed by the British Chamber of Commerce, and we are grateful to them and to all of our stakeholders for their constructive ongoing engagement on that necessary planning.

More broadly, I met with the British Chamber of Commerce, the CBI, the IoD, EEF and the Federation of Small Businesses as part of the government’s Business Advisory Group on the 17th of September, to make sure we are explaining our negotiating proposals and No Deal planning, and listening to UK businesses of all sizes, and across all sectors.

We will keep providing people and businesses with the advice they need as we negotiate our exit from the European Union.

We also keep working with the devolved administrations on all aspects of our planning for exit.

I attended the joint ministerial committee on the 13th September.

It has now met 12 times, and our last meeting was a valuable opportunity to give the devolved administrations a full update on the negotiations, as well as discuss the necessary No Deal planning.

We continue to listen very carefully to all of their views.

Mr Speaker, that is the way, with concerted effort on all fronts, that we have put ourselves in the best possible position to make the best of Brexit.

And I commend this statement to the House.