Author Archives: HM Government

The Commission for Countering Extremism, confirmed in the Queen’s Speech, will have a clear remit to identify extremism and advise the government on new policies, laws and other actions that may be required to tackle it. It will also support communities and the public sector to confront extremism wherever it exists and promote British values.

The commission will also help to train schools and colleges to spot the warning signs and stamp out extremism – as they have with racism. And because there is a strong correlation between extremism and the poor treatment of women and girls, the Commission will have a specific responsibility to ensure women’s rights are upheld.

The successful candidate for lead commissioner will advise the Home Secretary on the commission’s future role and shape and agree with the Home Secretary its priorities.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said:

This government is committed to tackling extremism in all its forms – as the Prime Minister said after the London Bridge attack earlier this year, enough is enough.

The new Commission for Countering Extremism will have a key role to play in this fight. It will identify and challenge tolerance of extremism, tackle extremist ideology and promote British values, learning the lessons from the struggle against racism in the twentieth century.

The Lead Commissioner will head up this vital work and I look forward to working with the successful candidate.

Notes to editors

This government is already making progress in tackling extremism. We have:

• Improved our understanding of extremism through the work of the Extremism Analysis Unit (EAU) – which has also helped disrupt extremist activity.
• Awarded funding and support for 90 civil society groups to tackle extremism via our £63 million ‘Building a Stronger Britain Together’ programme.
• Grown our network of community coordinators to develop our knowledge of extremism locally and identify and support groups challenging extremism. 28 are in post, with 42 roles expected to be filled. And we have produced, with local government partners, guidance for local authorities on the tools available to tackle extremism.
• Published – via a Written Ministerial Statement laid before Parliament – the main findings from the review into Islamist extremist funding and what government is doing in response to those findings.
• Published a new Hate Crime Action Plan (in July 2016). We are funding protective security measures for places of worship and innovative community-led projects to tackle hate crime. We have also taken steps to increase reporting of hate crime, and ensured the police are now recording hate crimes by the religion of the victim.
• Continued to act to prevent extremism from gaining a foothold in our schools, including through strengthening regulations to safeguard children missing from education (introduced in September 2016).
• Concluded independent reviews of integration and of Islamist extremism in prisons. In direct response to the latter’s recommendations, we have introduced prison separation units in to manage a small number of the highest risk prisoners away from the general prison population. HM Government will respond to the integration review in the coming months.
• Launched an independent review into the application of Sharia law. The Chair will submit her final report later this year.
• Introduced new powers – via the Digital Economy Act 2017 – which enable Ofcom to act quickly against community radio stations and Internet Protocol TV channels when they breach Ofcom’s content standards. We’ve also revised the UK’s Broadcasting Code to make clear that hate speech and derogatory content is not permitted.

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An extra £24 million is to be pumped into counter-terrorism policing in the wake of this year’s terror attacks, Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced today.

The move comes as the investigation into Friday’s incident in Parsons Green continues.

The entirely new funding, which is in addition to £707 million already announced to support counter terrorism policing in 2017/18, will be used to bolster protective security measures in crowded places. This will include helping to protect the public from the specific threat of vehicles being used as weapons.

The extra funding will go to counter-terrorism police including the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police to assist with their response to the threat of terrorism and help meet costs relating to the recent terrorist attacks.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said:

We have seen several devastating terrorist attacks in quick succession this year, most recently in Parsons Green, and the police have responded to this challenge outstandingly.

The threat we face from terrorism is becoming more complex and diverse.

That is why we are reviewing our counter-terrorism strategy to ensure the authorities have the powers they need to halt terrorist activity and why, today, I have announced £24 million of additional support for counter-terrorism policing this year.

I am grateful to the police, and security services, for all they are doing to keep us safe.

The new funding comes in addition to the government’s commitment to increase spending on counter-terrorism by 30%, from £11.7 billion to £15.1 billion. The government has also provided £144 million over the spending review period for a national uplift in armed policing capability and funding for an additional 1,900 officers at the security and intelligence agencies.

Official figures released by the Home Office last week show the highest number of arrests for terrorism related offences in a year since data collection began in 2001.

Notes to editors:

This government is providing £707 million to support counter-terrorism policing in 2017/18. This includes £633 million resource funding and £42 million capital funding in 2017-18.

In addition a further £32 million will be provided for armed policing from the police transformation fund in 2017-18 to support police as they transform how they work to meet the challenges of the future.

The £24 million announced today is in addition to this and is entirely new.

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A trade delegation of nine UK rail companies lead by Rushanara Ali MP, UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy for Bangladesh, has today begun a week-long tour to Bangladesh to showcase UK expertise in the rail sector and to underscore the importance the UK attaches to its trade and investment partnership with Bangladesh.

The companies accompanying the Trade Envoy on her second visit to Bangladesh in less than a year are specialists in the full spectrum of the rail supply chain from consultancy, systems design, rolling stock, and operations. Rail is an important sector for Bangladesh and the group is eager to look into areas where British expertise can help assist with existing transport initiatives that are key to the onward growth and productivity of the country.

Ms Ali also announced that UK export finance support available for UK trade with Bangladesh has increased from £ 150 million to £625 million, an increase of over 400%. This means an additional nearly £500 million capacity to help UK exporters, and their buyers in Bangladesh get access to the best quality British goods and services.

On arrival in Dhaka, Rushanara Ali said: ‘Britain is keen to expand trade with Bangladesh, offering world class expertise and technology that will help the country move closer to its middle income aspiration. I’m delighted to be back in Bangladesh and I’m very much looking forward to working to strengthen and deepen our trading relationships.”

Among her engagements in Dhaka, Ms Ali will visit the Dhaka Metro rail site and attend a special British-Bangladesh rail collaboration seminar. She will also meet the Bangladesh Ministers of Commerce, Communication, Railways and Finance and State Minister for Foreign Affairs to discuss future trade possibilities.

Rushanara Ali will also travel to Sylhet, the district her family comes from, to visit actual and potential areas of British investment. She will also see first-hand some of the UKAID supported programmes to help Bangladesh’s development.

Expressing optimism about the second visit of the UK Trade Envoy, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Alison Blake, said:

“I am delighted that Rushanara Ali is leading a delegation of UK rail specialists. The mission is a demonstration of UK companies’ willingness to learn more about the opportunities in Bangladesh and seek partnerships for the benefit of both our countries. Given the strong friendship and close ties between the UK and Bangladesh, I am confident that Rushanara Ali’s visit will open up new avenues for trade.“

Ms Ali will conclude her official visit to Bangladesh on September 21.

Note to Editors

The cross-party Trade Envoy programme was established in 2012 to build bilateral trade relationships and help drive economic growth in countries identified as key markets for the UK. They are unpaid positions. There are currently 24 Members of Parliament and Peers from across the political spectrum working as Trade Envoys covering over 50 different markets. All Trade Envoys are personally selected by the Prime Minister for their experience, skills and knowledge of particular sectors and countries. This is part of a new whole-of-government approach to boosting trade with priority markets and sectors.

• Rushanara Ali is the Labour Party MP for the constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow. She was first elected in 2010. She is currently a member of the Parliamentary Treasury Select Committee.

• In her Parliamentary career, she has served as Shadow Minister for Education, Shadow Minister for International Development, a member of the Parliamentary Treasury Select Committee, Parliamentary Select Committee for Energy and Climate Change, Parliamentary Select Committee on Communities and Local Government.

• The UK has strong business interests in Bangladesh and remains the largest foreign investor. Over 240 British companies are operating in sectors including retail, banking, energy, infrastructure, consultancy and education with main centres of operation in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. The UK is also the third single largest destination for exports from Bangladesh.

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International Trade Secretary, Dr Liam Fox , announced increases in financial trade support for UK businesses to trade with South Africa as he flew out to South Africa and Mozambique to discuss strengthening trade relations (Sunday 17 September).

The visit will help to further develop the good bilateral trade relationships with the South African and Mozambique governments, promoting mutually beneficial support for British investment in Africa. In 2015 trade with Africa totalled £30.8 billion and the International Trade Secretary’s visit will build on the strong opportunities for trade between the UK and Africa.

Investment ties between the UK and Africa are growing with African investment into the UK increasing by 500% between 2005 and 2014, and British investment more than doubling over the same period, clearly indicating the rich range of opportunities available.

As part of the visit Dr Fox announced that UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency, will double support for trade with South Africa to up to £3.5 billion, meaning an additional £1.75 billion will be available for UK companies exporting to South Africa and for South African buyers of UK goods and services.

The International Trade Secretary also announced that UKEF are offering UK businesses wider access to government-backed overseas investment insurance (OII) which will protect UK businesses investing abroad. The enhanced support comes as the Department for International Trade looks to encourage more UK companies to invest overseas, realising the opportunities presented by fast-growing developing economies around the world.

International Trade Secretary, Dr Liam Fox said:

As we leave the EU, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a more open and outward looking Britain and forge independent trading arrangements with growing economies around the world.

That is why as an international economic department, we are making billions of pounds of additional financial support available to UK exporters and buyers of UK goods and services in South Africa and opening up further export opportunities for British businesses across Africa through overseas investment insurance.

As part of the visit to South Africa, Dr Fox will meet Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry as both seek to reaffirm the importance of the UK/SA trade and investment relationship.

He will also tour the newly opened Invest SA One-Stop-Shop, part of the SA government’s initiative to attract investment and improve the business environment. Whilst there Dr Fox will meet with leaders of WESGRO, the provincial Investment Promotion Agency for the Western Cape, seeing how investment opportunities for British companies are being promoted.

The Trade Secretary will also see first-hand how UK investment overseas is positively impacting on the local workforce when he meets apprentices at the Jaguar Landrover apprenticeship facility in Johannesburg.

In Mozambique Dr Fox will continue to promote the importance of a UK trade and investment relationship overseas as he meets with President Filipe Nyusi and Trade Minister Ernesto Max Elias Tonela.

South Africa

Total trade in goods and services (ie exports plus imports) between the UK and South Africa totalled £8.1 billion in 2015, a 5.2% increase since 2014 (Source: ONS Pink Book 2016).

The top 5 UK goods exported to South Africa in 2016 were:

• 84 – Machinery and mechanical appliances (18.7% of all UK goods exported to South Africa)

• 85 – Electrical machinery and equipment (12.7%)

• 87 – Motor vehicles (11.7%)

• 30 – Pharmaceuticals (6.5%)

• 22 – Beverages, spirits and vinegar (6.0%)

Source: HMRC Interactive database (Data by HS Commodity code)

Mozambique

Total trade in goods and services (ie exports plus imports) between the UK and Mozambique totalled £284 million in 2015 (Source: ONS Pink Book 2016).

The top 5 UK goods exported to Mozambique in 2016 were:

• 85 – Electrical machinery and equipment (22.9% of all UK goods exported to Mozambique)

• 84 – Machinery and mechanical appliances (19.8%)

• 87 – Vehicles other than railway or tramway stock (17.5%)

• 30 – Pharmaceutical products (6.8%)

• 90 – Optical, photographic, cinematographic and medical equipment (5.8%)

Source: HMRC Interactive database (Data by HS Commodity code)

Further information

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UK Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach has been elected as the new NATO Chairman of the Military Committee, the Alliance’s senior military officer.

Following a lengthy election campaign, last night Sir Stuart was elected by other NATO Chiefs of Defence. It is anticipated that CDS will take over the role in June 2018.

Becoming the first Briton to hold the position for 25 years, this appointment will see Sir Stuart as NATO’s senior military officer and act as the principal military advisor to the Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

CDS Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach said:

It is a huge honour to have been chosen to be the next Chairman of the Military Committee, one of the most important positions in NATO, central to European security.

I am excited to take on this next challenge at such an important time for NATO, at a time when the alliance must modernise to face new and ever adapting threats. Having spent the last year in the hugely rewarding position as Head of the UK’s Armed Forces, I know I am ready to take on this challenge.

I would like to personally thank all of those who supported me through this campaign and voted for me in the election.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

That Air Chief Marshal Peach has been elected to this position by his fellow Chiefs of Defence across NATO underlines the esteem in which he is held by his peers.

No-one understands better the challenges that NATO faces and I am sure that he will serve the Alliance with the same professionalism and rigour with which he has furthered Britain’s interests throughout his distinguished career.

While Sir Stuart’s appointment is testament to his ability and achievements, it is also a demonstration of the leading role that the UK plays in NATO and the importance of the Alliance to the UK.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said:

I would like to congratulate Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, who has deservedly been appointed as the next Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee.

Sir Stuart has been an exceptional Chief of Defence Staff, unwavering in his dedication and commitment to the UK’s Armed Forces.

NATO is vital to Britain’s security at a time of increasing threats across the globe. This appointment underlines our leadership role in NATO and I know Sir Stuart will relish these new challenges.

Outgoing Chairman of the Military Committee General Petr Pavel said:

I welcome the election of CDS Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach. I have no doubt his vast experience as Chief of Defence but also as a Military Committee member, will allow him to chair the Committee with great aptitude, ensuring the North Atlantic Council continues to receive sound and unfettered military advice from the Military Committee to guide their work. I wish him the best of luck in his future position.

Sir Stuart has been in the role of CDS since July 2016 part of his long and successful military career after joining the RAF in 1977. Highlights of his career include commanding the UK’s intervention in Libya in 2011 and becoming the first Commander of UK Joint Forces in December that same year.

The appointment of CDS will reassure NATO allies across Europe in the face of an increasingly assertive Russia. The UK has been standing by allies in the region, leading an Enhanced Forward Presence battlegroup in Estonia and contributing troops in Poland, contributing to NATO Maritime Groups, committing Typhoons to Air Policing Missions in Romania, and training thousands of Armed Forces in Ukraine.

CDS will take over from General Petr Pavel, of the Czech Republic, who has been in the role since 2015.

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