Funding from the government’s £40 million Serious Violence Strategy will be used to create a 20-strong team of police staff and officers tasked with disrupting and removing overt and covert gang-related online content.

The social media hub will proactively flag illegal and harmful online content for social media companies to take down. Hosted by the Metropolitan Police, the new capability will also prevent violence on our streets by identifying gang-related messages generating the most risk and violence.

The move follows the Serious Violence Taskforce chaired by the Home Secretary urging social media companies to do more to take down these videos. The Home Secretary invited representatives from Facebook and Google to Monday’s meeting to explain the preventative action they are already taking against gang material hosted on their platforms.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said:

Street gangs are increasingly using social media as a platform to incite violence, taunt each other and promote crime.

This is a major concern and I want companies such as Facebook and Google to do more.

We are taking urgent action and the new social media hub will improve the police’s ability to identify and remove this dangerous content.

Duncan Ball, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service and National Policing lead for Gangs said:

Police forces across the country are committed to doing everything we can to tackle violent crime and the impact that it has on our communities. Through this funding we can develop a team that is a centre of expertise and excellence that will target violent gangs and those plotting and encouraging violence online.

By working together with social media companies we will ensure that online material that glamourises murder, lures young people into a dangerous, violent life of crime and encourages violence is quickly dealt with to cut off this outlet for gangs and criminals.

Looking to the future we aim to develop a world class capability that will tackle the type of dangerous social media activity that promotes or encourages serious violence.

The new partnership is being built by the Home Office with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, online content companies, community based charities and the police.

It is already an offence to incite, assist, or encourage violence online and the Home Office is focused towards building on the relationships made with social media providers to identify where we can take action relevant to tackling serious violence.

The Foreign Secretary lends his support to President Ghani’s announcement of an extension to the Afghan government’s ceasefire with the Taliban and calls on the Taliban to support peace.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

I welcome President Ghani’s announcement that the nationwide government ceasefire with the Taliban will be extended beyond Eid al-Fitr. This shows that the Afghan government is listening to its people, who overwhelmingly support peace.

I hope that the Taliban will respect the wishes of the Afghan people and respond in kind.

The UK strongly supports steps towards peace in Afghanistan, including President Ghani’s unprecedented offer of talks without preconditions in February.

Further information

The Foreign Secretary lends his support to President Ghani’s announcement of an extension to the Afghan government’s ceasefire with the Taliban and calls on the Taliban to support peace.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

I welcome President Ghani’s announcement that the nationwide government ceasefire with the Taliban will be extended beyond Eid al-Fitr. This shows that the Afghan government is listening to its people, who overwhelmingly support peace.

I hope that the Taliban will respect the wishes of the Afghan people and respond in kind.

The UK strongly supports steps towards peace in Afghanistan, including President Ghani’s unprecedented offer of talks without preconditions in February.

Further information

Adding the dementia element to the NHS Health Check programme will enable healthcare professionals to talk to their patients about how they can reduce their dementia risk, such as by maintaining their social life, keeping mentally and physically active and stopping smoking.

It is estimated that over 850,000 people are living with dementia in the UK with little public understanding of how it’s possible to reduce the risk. While much of the NHS Health Check focuses on reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, the advice for preventing CVD is much the same as for dementia: ‘what’s good for the heart is good for the brain’.

Data published today shows the last 5-year performance of the NHS Health Check:

• over 14 million people (91% of the 5-year eligible population) have been offered an NHS Health Check
• almost 7 million (48.7% of those offered) have had a health check

Duncan Selbie, Chief Executive of Public Health England said:

The NHS Health Check is one of the largest public health prevention programmes in the world with almost 7 million in the last 5 years having benefited from a check, and it’s reaching the people where it’s most needed with the greatest numbers in the most disadvantaged areas. This success is down to local councils delivering and they should be proud of this achievement.

It’s free and fast, and effective – just 15 minutes that could add years to your life.

Minister for Public Health Steve Brine said:

Early detection and prevention are vital to the health of our nation and our programmes in this area are among the most ambitious in the world.

Our aim is to keep everyone as healthy as possible, for as long as possible, which is why we are introducing advice on dementia prevention as part of our free health checks.

As much as 85% of CVD is preventable. The NHS Health Check helps to identify and support people who would benefit from clinical and lifestyle treatment and services for the top 7 risk factors driving the burden of non-communicable disease, such as all cancers, diabetes, heart and respiratory diseases. Being a healthy weight and eating a healthy diet, not smoking, drinking in moderation, keeping active and ensuring you know your numbers (blood pressure and cholesterol) can all help reduce the risks of CVD, dementia and many other long term conditions.