Press release: Minister Field remarks to media at the February 2018 EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting

Upon arrival at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Minster of State Mark Field said:

We are obviously very interested in playing our part today in the Venezuelan situation which is a dreadful humanitarian, political and diplomatic situation. We are obviously very keen to be supporting the Spanish who are leading on this and we need to move towards a united front to ensure there is a fully participatory, free and fair election in Venezuela.

We are going to talk about the Middle East Peace Plan… I hope that we are going to have an agreement that we need to move ahead and ensure that there is a two-state solution but also above all that America has to be part and parcel of this process.

We are also going to talk a little bit about Moldova. Many of you know obviously in Moldova there is a programme of economic and political reform being supported by all elements of the European Union.



News story: Secretary of State Appoints Charity Commission Chair

Baroness Tina Stowell has been appointed by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as the new Chair of the Charity Commission, for three years from 26 February 2018.

Baroness Stowell will take over from William Shawcross in the role.

Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said:

Tina Stowell will be a brilliant chair of the Charity Commission and I am delighted she is taking up this role. It is an important time for the Commission, and the sector, and I know that she will work tirelessly to protect and promote the great work that charities do and ensure they uphold the highest standards of integrity. I would also like to thank William Shawcross for his hard work over the past six years.

Baroness Stowell said:

I am delighted to join the Charity Commission, and look forward to leading a strong board and a committed and expert staff through the challenges ahead. I will place the public interest at the heart of everything I do as Chair to build the public’s trust in charities and the Commission as their regulator. To that end it is vital that we have a constructive, business-like relationship with all our stakeholders and I look forward to listening to a wide range of voices in the days and weeks ahead.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston was Leader of the House of Lords and the Lord Privy Seal until July 2016.

Tina Stowell was made a peer in January 2011 and joined the Government in September the same year. As a junior minister she led the landmark Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act through the House of Lords in 2013. She was promoted to Leader of the House of Lords and the Lord Privy Seal in 2014 and re-appointed to the same Cabinet post after the 2015 General Election.

Before joining the House of Lords Tina Stowell’s career over the previous 25 years crisscrossed government, politics and the media. Until September 2010, she was the BBC’s Head of Corporate Affairs.

She was a civil servant for ten years, working at the Ministry of Defence in London, the British Embassy in Washington and 10 Downing Street from 1991 to 1996. She left the Civil Service at the age of 28 and was awarded the MBE in the 1996 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

Notes to editors

  • This appointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments
  • The Chair of Charity Commission is appointed by the Secretary of State. Remuneration for this role is £62,500 for up to two and a half days per week. The term of appointment will last for three years
  • In accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election. Baroness Tina Stowell has declared that she was leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords from 2014-2016; she has spoken on behalf of the Conservative Party and candidates during elections campaigns; and has canvassed on behalf of the Conservative during election campaigns. She has resigned the Conservative Whip in the House of Lords and become an independent, unaffiliated peer.


Statement to Parliament: Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body Appointments

The Secretary of State for Defence (Rt Hon. Gavin Williamson CBE MP): I am pleased to announce that the Prime Minister has invited Mr John Steele to continue to serve as Chair of the Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body for a further two-month term of office, commencing on 1 March 2018. This allows Mr Steele to draw Pay Round 18 to a conclusion.

I would also like to take this opportunity to announce that the Prime Minister has appointed Mr Peter Maddison as the next Chair of the Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body. His appointment will commence on 1 March 2018 and run until 28 February 2021.

Both the extension and the appointment have been conducted in accordance with the guidance of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.



News story: Foreign Secretary statement following the Kabul Process meeting

Foreign Secretary statement following the Kabul Process meeting – GOV.UK

The Kabul Process is the Afghan-owned, Afghan-led conference aiming to take forward a real intra-Afghan dialogue on peace.

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Commenting on the second meeting of the Kabul Process, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

Yesterday, at the Kabul Process meeting, Afghanistan’s National Unity Government made a significant and bold offer to the Taliban, laying out their plans for talks without preconditions. I commend the vision of President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah who laid out a clear but flexible proposal on talks – and a road to peace, prosperity and stability for Afghanistan. The United Kingdom, along with the region and the international community stand united in support of this determination to bring the violence to an end.

I strongly believe that the only solution to the conflict in Afghanistan is through a political settlement, led and owned by Afghans themselves. Yesterday’s Kabul Process meeting was a landmark step on this important journey. It is now for the Taliban to take the opportunity offered and to step forward and contribute to an inclusive political process. I urge them do so. Afghanistan’s future must be decided through dialogue, not the gun.

Published 1 March 2018



Press release: PM meeting with Donald Tusk: 1 March 2018

Prime Minister Theresa May today held a positive and constructive meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk in Downing Street.

The two leaders discussed the significant progress that has been made in the Brexit negotiations so far, and looked forward to the European Council in March.

The PM said good progress had been made in reaching agreement on an implementation period and that further discussions would take place between UK and EU officials next week.

The PM was clear that the UK is fully committed to turning the Joint Report agreed in December into legal text as soon as possible. In particular the government remains steadfast in its commitment to avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

However, the PM said that the draft text put forward by the European Commission yesterday was unacceptable to the UK as it would, if implemented, undermine the UK common market and constitutional integrity of the UK. The PM reiterated that both she and the Taoiseach have said that their priority is to resolve the border question through the overall relationship between the UK and the EU.

The Prime Minister briefed the President on the speech she will deliver tomorrow on the ambitious economic partnership that she hopes to agree with the European Union. This will sit alongside the deep security partnership that she argued for in her Munich speech last month.

The PM said that she hoped that European leaders would engage with this thinking constructively.