The Home Secretary held meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood, Minister of State for the Interior Shehryar Afridi, Minister of Law and Justice Mohammad Farogh Naseem and Special Assistant for Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar.

During his visit, the Home Secretary announced a new Justice and Accountability Partnership to help Pakistan tackle the scourge of corruption. This partnership includes an initial £750,000 to support Pakistan pursue those involved in money laundering and the appointment of a new Envoy on Justice and Accountability, Donald Toon, who is the Director of Prosperity (Economic Crime and Cyber Crime) at the UK National Crime Agency.

The Home Secretary also announced that the UK and Pakistan had agreed to restart the bilateral Prisoner Transfer Agreement, which will help prisoners from both countries service their sentences closer to their families

Speaking during his visit, the Home Secretary said:

The UK and Pakistan have an important partnership. Our shared history and the 2% of the British population who, like me, trace their roots back to Pakistan, mean that we have uniquely strong ties to this country. We firmly believe that the UK is Pakistan’s most committed and enduring partner.

That is why today I am delighted to announce a new Justice and Accountability Partnership. Corruption reduces tax and is a barrier to investment. The UK has done more than any country to tackle corruption and we are absolutely committed to supporting Pakistan to tackle this problem. Our announcement today demonstrates this commitment.

The Home Secretary also hosted: a joint education event with the British Council, the UK’s Department for International Development and the Minister for Education; a round table on forced marriage with the High Commission’s forced marriage team and operational partners; and a round table with British businesses. The British High Commission held a reception for Mr Javid with senior media representatives, religious leaders and senior politicians.

Further information

Donald Toon – Biography

Donald is the Director, Prosperity (economy crime and cyber crime) in the National Crime Agency, responsible for leading and coordinating the UK’s enforcement response to a range of criminality, including money laundering, international corruption, fraud and cyber crime.

Donald joined HM Customs & Excise in 1991, where he held a number of policy, strategy and leadership roles in anti-smuggling, project management, counter-drugs enforcement and criminal finances. In early 2011, Donald was appointed as HMRC’s Director of Criminal Investigation, where he led the delivery of a five-fold increase in prosecutions for tax fraud. In 2014, he was appointed as the Director, Economic Crime Command in the NCA.

Before joining the Civil Service, Donald spent the first ten years of his career as an officer in the Royal Navy. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Imperial College, London and a Bachelor’s degree in Systems Science and Management from The City University, London.

More Information

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A range of companies have received multiple RoSPA Health and Safety Awards, some of the world’s most prestigious safety prizes.

Sellafield Ltd won nine awards, with contracting companies also sweeping the board for their contribution to the site’s clean-up mission.

Two special medals honoured the work of those in the Pile Fuel Storage Pond and projects department, for five years of consecutive gold awards.

Mark Neate, environment, safety and security director for Sellafield Ltd said:

These awards reflect the hard work of our employees and contractors.

While we are keen to celebrate this safe working, we also recognise that we must continually improve.

We remain focused on keeping safe and secure, looking after each other and protecting our environment.

I am proud of our employees and our supply chain’s continuing efforts towards improving safety.

The awards recognise safety performance in 2017/18.

Teams working directly for Sellafield Ltd won seven gold and two silver awards;

Gold

• Generation Magnox Storage Pond
• Pile Fuel Cladding Silo
• Spent Fuel Management
• Environment, Health, Safety and Quality
• Remediation
• Pile Fuel Storage Pond
• Projects Delivery Directorate.

Silver

• Magnox Swarf Storage Silo
• Warrington offices

Among the many contractors to have won are Balfour Beatty Kilpatrick, Hertel UK Ltd, National Nuclear Laboratory, PPS Electrical, Shepley Engineers, OneFM and Jacobs Field Services.

Madame President,

On behalf of the UK, I congratulate you on your election as President of the 62nd General Conference. May I say at the outset that we fully align ourselves with the statement, which has just been made on behalf of the European Union.

This year, of all years, my Government wanted to send a strong signal of support for the Agency. That is why, as the responsible Minister at the Foreign Office, I have the honour to represent the United Kingdom today.

We live in an increasingly uncertain and dangerous world. We have seen the destabilising consequences when States pursue nuclear weapons. And we have worked together to prevent terrorists acquiring nuclear material.

This Agency plays a vital role in addressing such threats. It also helps States reap the enormous benefits of civil nuclear technologies.

One of the most important moments of diplomatic success was the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. It stands to achieve lasting advances for international security. The crucial work of monitoring and verifying the deal is a clear example of the Agency’s role. The United Kingdom remains committed to the Iran deal. We welcome and applaud the Director-General’s report confirming Iran’s compliance with its nuclear commitments.

It is important that all remaining parties continue to implement the agreement in full, and that Iran continues to cooperate fully with the Agency.

With regard to North Korea, the United Kingdom welcomes progress made at the Singapore Summit, but we are clear that existing sanctions should remain until North Korea takes concrete steps towards the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and the removal of its ballistic missile capability.

Meanwhile Syria has failed to meet its safeguards obligations since 2011. We call on both Syria and North Korea to resume full compliance and cooperation with the Agency.

The UK supports the Agency’s efforts to strengthen and develop its safeguards work including with the help of UK expertise and resource. Especially in monitoring and auditing a country’s stocks and use of nuclear materials. This underpins the objectives of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

We call on all States to ratify an Additional Protocol, which is the gold standard of safeguards.

Madame President,

The United Kingdom is grateful to the Agency team and the Board of Governors for their support in our preparations for leaving the EU and Euratom. In June, the UK signed an agreement, the Voluntary Offer Agreement and an Additional Protocol with the Agency, which will maintain a cooperative framework within which we will meet our obligations as a responsible nuclear state when we are no longer a member of the EU.

We would like to build on the IAEA’s valuable work to support the civil nuclear sector. This is the aim of the UK’s Nuclear Sector Deal launched this summer, to make the construction and decommissioning of nuclear power stations more straightforward and less expensive.

The construction of Hinkley Point C will be the first of our next generation of nuclear power plants. Construction is underway and we continue to engage with sponsors of other new projects.

Madame President,

Safety, security and non-proliferation go hand in hand with the peaceful use of nuclear technology. We cannot responsibly promote access to nuclear technologies without ensuring that they are safe, secure, and used for the right purpose.

Because this matters so much we are proud to remain one of the biggest contributors of financial and technical support, to the Agency across all of its programmes.

This week, it is my pleasure to pledge the UK’s contribution of €3.7 million to the Technical Cooperation Fund for 2019. We will continue to pay on time and in full. We call on all Member States to do the same.

The UK has already contributed £4.1 million this year to the Nuclear Security Fund. I urge you all to support the Agency’s work to help Member States implement robust nuclear security regimes. We will also continue our financial and technical support to nuclear safety and safeguards activities.

If something goes wrong, we have a duty to protect the public, and our neighbours. Effective emergency response must remain a global priority. We urge all Member States to use the information sharing channels between countries and the Agency on a regular basis, as well as in the event of an incident.

To conclude, Madame President,

The United Kingdom is a committed supporter of the IAEA. We want it to continue to meet its growing challenges, and the growing demands on its resources. We also want it to properly reflect the world it serves. For that to happen, we urge the Secretariat to ensure that the Agency is managed effectively and efficiently within existing resources and as always, we stand ready to help with this.

I thank the Director General for his leadership, and the Agency for its impartial work, which undoubtedly makes the world above all more safe and more secure.

The second UK-India Energy for Growth Dialogue took place in London on 13 September 2018, hosted by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy. The Dialogue was part of a wider visit made by Indian Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Raj Kumar Singh.

The Energy for Growth Dialogue focused on the shared commitments of both Prime Ministers to clean and green supplies of energy. Both countries are also committed to reducing the cost of developing and deploying clean energy projects.

Minister Singh and Secretary of State Clark celebrated progress on collaboration between both countries since the first Dialogue in 2017, particularly on power sector reform and the development of renewable energy.

The ministers endorsed a forward action plan for collaboration, and agreed to develop a proposal for a joint programme on Clean Energy for Growth to support the rapid and sustainable growth of India’s energy sector. In addition to key actions to accelerate energy efficiency, this programme may include elements on renewable energy, power sector reform and elements of green finance.

They discussed the recent launch of the joint UK-India Centre for Energy Regulation, as well as India’s leadership of the International Solar Alliance.

Minister Singh’s visit was set against successful international summits held this week in India on Future Mobility and in the UK on Zero Emission Vehicles, demonstrating continued global leadership by both countries to make transport cleaner and greener. The Minister engaged with industry in business roundtables and visited an offshore wind farm, to see first-hand the steps that the UK has taken to install the largest operational offshore wind capacity in the world.