Introduction

With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement about international travel.

I’ll start by apologising, because I do share your frustration. It is, in fact, the case that the meeting that decides this policy did not take place until Friday, and I put in immediately to make an oral statement off the back of that. I appreciate how frustrating it is to read speculation in the newspapers, much of which turns out to be incorrect, and I bring new information and the correct statement I’ll be making this afternoon.

The past 18 months have been hugely frustrating for anyone wishing to travel abroad and, of course, for the travel industry itself. In 2020, the only weapon we had to fight the spread of COVID was to simply keep people apart, preventing them from making all but the most urgent journeys.

However, this year has seen very significant progress.

In February, the Prime Minister asked me to reconvene the Global Travel Taskforce to develop a plan for safe and sustainable travel – the return of international aviation. A framework that allows us to coexist with endemic COVID-19 and live with the virus on our travels whilst still protecting us from the most dangerous variants.

Through the work of the Taskforce over recent months, we have instigated a gradual reopening of international travel, to allow families and friends to reunite and businesses to get moving again.

Over the summer we implemented a number of improvements:

• taking advantage of the progress of the vaccine rollout here and abroad, we started a pilot to allow passengers who have been fully vaccinated in the UK, in Europe and the US to travel to the UK from amber list countries without the need to self-isolate or take a day 8 test
• we increased the number of countries and territories on the green list to 43 in September 2021
• we allowed the full restart of international cruises in line with the traffic light system

Now, Mr Speaker, at this final checkpoint, I am pleased to be able to ease restrictions further, whilst still safeguarding public health and providing confidence to travellers.

As one of the world’s most vaccinated countries, with more than 8 out of 10 fully jabbed, we must use that advantage to restore the freedoms that were, by necessity, lost over the past 18 months.

Expansion of the inbound vaccination policy

The House will recall that in August, we launched a pilot to exempt from quarantine those who have been fully vaccinated in the US and Europe.

This pilot has been successful and I am delighted that it has provided a much-needed boost to international travel during the summer.

Throughout this crisis, I’ve remained in regular contact with my opposite, the US Secretary for Transportation Pete Buttigieg, and I’m delighted that as the Prime Minister has arrived in the United States, they have agreed – and I can announce to the House today (20 September 2021) – that vaccinated Brits will be allowed into the US from early November, reciprocating the policy we introduced this summer. And this is a testament to the hard work and progress made by the Expert Working Group, set up after the G7 to restart transatlantic travel, the flagship route of international aviation.

We will now expand the policy to an array of other countries, including Canada and Japan, from 4 October, for those who can demonstrate their fully vaccinated status and that will bring the number of countries and territories into scope to 50.

Mr Speaker, the UK will now set out standards it expects other countries to meet in terms of certification so their citizens can benefit from this change. We will happily work with anyone who applies and can meet those standards to onboard them as well. And, I can tell the House today, that we are in the final stages of doing this with our friends in the UAE.

Because recovery is the best way to support the aviation sector, and as one of the world’s most vaccinated countries, we can now use our advantage to further liberalise travel whilst protecting public health.

Future travel

I would also like to update the House on the next phase of reopening international travel more broadly.

Without a substantially vaccinated population, our focus was necessary to consider countries and territories based on risk – hence the traffic light system. However, vaccines mean that the emphasis can now shift to an individual’s status instead.

So, I’m pleased to announce we will introduce a new longer-term framework for testing and health measures at the border, which will remain in place until the new year at the earliest:

• so, from 4 October, we will replace the traffic light system with a single red list of countries and simplified travel measures for arrivals from the rest of the world, depending on vaccination status
• second, we will remove the requirement for fully vaccinated passengers to take a pre-departure test, if not travelling from a red list country
• third, by later in October, we will have moved away from 2-day PCR testing to a new system of lateral flow tests for fully vaccinated passengers arriving from non-red list countries. If passengers test positive, they will then be required to take a confirmatory PCR test which will be genomically sequenced to identify and mitigate the risk of variants entering the UK. That PCR test will be at no further cost to the traveller

These changes will reduce the cost to passengers, simplify the process of international travel and remove a significant source of frustration.

Mr Speaker, I’d like to take this opportunity to confirm that the policy on children remains as now – they are quite simply treated the same as vaccinated adults, regardless of their own vaccination status, if they are resident in the UK or from one of the 50 countries and territories whose vaccinations we recognise.

Unvaccinated passengers, passengers with vaccines not authorised or certificates not yet recognised in the UK arriving from non-red list countries will still be required to take a pre-departure test, day 2 and day 8 PCR tests and to self-isolate.

Transit

I can also tell the House today of another significant easing of the rules for those who change flights or international trains as part of their journey here. This change will ensure that passengers who remain airside in airports, and in railway stations, will only be required to follow the measures associated to their country of departure, rather than any countries they have transited through as part of their journey.

This will make a very substantial difference to travel by unlocking transit routes around the world.

Red list changes

In advance of transitioning to our new international travel framework, I can also confirm that Kenya, Oman, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Egypt will be removed from the red list at 4am on Wednesday 22 September.

Conclusion

So, Mr Speaker, the changes we are making mean a simpler, more straightforward system. One with less testing and lower costs, allowing more people to travel, see loved ones or conduct business around the world.

Our judgement is these changes are the right ones for this moment, making travel significantly easier for people whilst retaining crucial protections against variants of concern, which remain the largest threat. They will provide a much-needed boost for the travel industry.

However, it is certainly not the end of the story. We will further review these measures early in the new year when we hope to be in a different context that will allow us to go that step further, ahead of the booking windows for the spring and summer holidays of 2022.

And, above all, the changes I’ve announced today demonstrate that – through vaccination – there is a path back to normality after a torrid 18 months in which many of the things we take for granted have been put on hold. Now is the time for us to get our country moving once again. And I commend this statement to this House.

With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on the UK Gas Market.

As Honourable and Right Honourable members will be aware, over the weekend I held meetings with Ofgem and energy companies, and this morning I held a further roundtable discussion.

Today I will set out the government’s approach to manage the impact of high global gas prices affecting the UK – and countries across Europe.

To begin, I want to make two points extremely clear.

Firstly, Mr Speaker, I must stress that protecting consumers is our no.1, our primary focus – and will shape our entire approach to this important issue.

Secondly, I also want to reassure the House that while the UK – like other countries in Europe – has been affected by global prices, Britain benefits from having a diverse range of gas supply sources.

We have sufficient capacity and more than sufficient capacity to meet demand, and we do not expect supply emergencies to occur this winter.

There is absolutely no question, Mr. Speaker, of the lights going out, or people being unable to heat their homes.

There’ll be no three-day working weeks, or a throw-back to the 1970s. Such thinking is alarmist, unhelpful and completely misguided.

To begin I’d like to set out some context for the global situation we are now witnessing.

As the world comes out of COVID-19 and economies begin to reopen, we are seeing a dramatic uptake in global gas demand, much faster than many people had anticipated.

High demand in Asia for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), transported globally by freight, means that far less LNG has reached Europe. Weather events in the US have also affected LNG exports to Europe.

So therefore, increased demand, coupled with reduced variety of supply globally, has put upward pressure on the price of gas traded globally.

High wholesale gas prices have subsequently driven an increase in wholesale power prices, with a number of short-term markets trading at, or near, record levels.

While we are not complacent, we do not expect supply emergencies this winter. This is a very important point. This is not a question of security of supply.

The GB, the Great British, UK gas system has delivered securely to date and is expected to continue to function effectively, with a diverse range of supply sources and sufficient delivery capacity to more than meet demand.

The National Grid Electricity System Operator has the tools within itself to operate the electricity system reliably, to balance that system and we remain confident that electricity security can be maintained under a very wide range of scenarios.

We aren’t reliant on any one particular source for our gas, like many of our friends in Europe.

Domestic production, and member and right honourable members should know, is still our largest single gas supply source, and accounted for about 50% of total supply last year.

However, the UK also benefits from an excellent relationship with Norway, one of our most important and reliable energy partners, and that delivers nearly 30% of our total gas supply. Just in the past half hour, I was privileged enough to speak to the Norwegian Energy Minister to welcome the announcement from Equanoir today that gas production will significantly increase from 1 October to support the UK and European demand.

Our remaining supply, Mr Speaker, is sourced from global markets via two interconnectors to the Continent, and also through our LNG infrastructures, which is as many of you know, the largest in Europe.

Obviously, the global gas situation has had an impact on some energy suppliers. We have already seen four suppliers exit the market in recent weeks, and we may well expect to see further companies exiting the market over the coming weeks.

I have to say, Mr. Speaker, at this point that having been energy minister for nearly 2 years before I became Secretary of State, we saw in those two years, at around this time, companies exiting the market. It may well be more this year, but this is something that, as this time of year, and ahead of the renewable obligation, is often seen in the market.

I want to make clear today, however, that it is not unusual for smaller energy suppliers to exit the market – particularly, I may add, when wholesale global prices are rising.

The sector has seen regular entry and exit over the last five to 10 years, that is the feature of a highly competitive market.

The current global situation may see more suppliers than usual exiting the market, but this is not something that should be cause for alarm or panic.

We have clear, processes in place to make sure all customers are supplied with energy. When an energy supplier typically fails, Ofgem appoints another supplier to take on serving the customers and there is no interruption to supply. I reiterate, our first and primary concern is for the customer.

I’d like to stress three further principles, which are guiding my and the government’s approach in this matter.

Firstly, the government will not be bailing out failed companies. There will be no rewards for failure or mismanagement. The taxpayer should not be expected to prop-up companies who have poor business models and are not resilient to fluctuations in price.

Secondly, customers, especially and most particularly vulnerable customers, must be protected from price spikes.

And thirdly, Mr. Speaker, we must ensure that the energy market does not pay the price for the poor practices of a minority of companies, and that the market still maintains the competition that is a feature of today’s current system. We must not see a return to, I quote, the “cosy oligopoly” of years past, where a few large suppliers simply dictated to customers conditions and pricing.

I’d like to reassure all members, and honourable members and their constituents that the Energy Price Cap – which still saves 15 million households up to £100 a year is staying – isn’t going anywhere.

As I said earlier, our priority in this situation has to be the consumer, the Great British public, and the cap has done that effectively. It protects, and has protected, millions of customers from sudden increases in global gas prices this winter. We are committed to the Price Cap and it will remain in place.

Meanwhile, our Warm Home Discount, Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments will continue supporting millions of vulnerable and low-income households with their energy bills.

It is absolutely vital that the energy supply sector remains a liberalised competitive market in order to deliver value and good service to consumers.

As a result of high global gas prices, members and right honourable members will have read, two fertiliser plants shut down in Teesside and Cheshire last week. They suspended the production of CO2 and anomia. A decision which has affected in the short-term our domestic supply of CO2, which is used in the food and drink, as well as the nuclear and health sectors.

Yesterday, I met Tony Will, the global chief executive of CF Industries. We discussed the pressures the business is facing and explored, quite thoroughly, possible ways to secure vital supplies.

Work is ongoing across departments in Whitehall, across government to ensure that those sectors impacted and affected by this announcement have appropriate contingency plans in place to ensure that there is indeed minimal disruption. To maintain our domestic supplies of CO2, we are in constant contact with relevant companies who produce and supply CO2 and we are monitoring the situation minute by minute.

Over the past few days, as has been widely reported, I have held several discussions with chief executives of the UK’s largest energy suppliers and operators, and also with Ofgem to discuss this vital issue.

Just this morning, I chaired a roundtable with UK energy companies & the representatives of consumer groups, in which I reiterated as I have on the floor of this house, the need for us all of us in government and industry to prioritise customers, in short to protect the consumer.

Meetings continue across government today and throughout the course of this week.

In terms of further actions and statements, this afternoon, shortly after the statement presented here, I will be making a joint statement with Ofgem setting out the government’s next steps following healthy and illuminating discussions with them and suppliers.

Mr Speaker, our security of gas supply is robust. But it is the case that the UK is still too reliant on fossil fuels. Our exposure to volatile global gas prices underscores the importance of our plan to build a strong, home-grown renewable energy sector to strengthen our energy security into the future.

Thanks to the steps that we have made as a government, renewable energy has quadrupled in terms of gigawatts capacity since 2010, far more than quadrupled in fact – but there is clearly a lot more we can do in this area.

That is why we committed to approve at least one large-scale new nuclear project in the next few years, and are backing the next generation of advanced nuclear technology with £385 million, helping to attract billions of pounds in private capital and create tens of thousands of jobs.

Consumers come first. We must protect our constituents.

This week, world leaders are gathering at the United Nations in New York. As Britain’s new Foreign Secretary, I will be there making the case for building deeper economic, diplomatic and security partnerships in order to help us seize the opportunities – and tackle the challenges – of the modern age.

We are proud of the United Kingdom and our role in the world. We are delivering vaccines in record time as a strong science and tech superpower. We are a global leader in development, delivering support for those in need, and raising huge sums to support girls’ education. We are a fierce champion of freedom and free enterprise, promoting democracy and equality around the world, including empowering women and advancing LGBT rights.

But freedoms need to be defended, so we are also building strong security ties around the world. That is why last week the Prime Minister announced, alongside our friends President Biden and Prime Minister Morrison, the creation of a new security partnership called AUKUS.

We will be working closer together to use a wide range of cutting-edge technologies, from nuclear-powered submarines at first and then looking at artificial intelligence and quantum computing. It shows our readiness to be hard-headed in defending our interests and challenging unfair practices and malign acts. It also shows our commitment to security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. The Prime Minister highlighted the vital strategic importance of that region when he set out his vision for Global Britain in the Integrated Review of foreign, security and development policy earlier this year.

This is about more than foreign policy in the abstract, but delivering for people across the UK and beyond by partnering with like-minded countries to build coalitions based on shared values and shared interests. For example, our new security pact will not just make us safer at home, it could also create hundreds of new and high-skilled jobs, from the shipyards of Govan to the factories of Tyneside.

That is why we are deepening our connections with the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies, including in the Indo-Pacific. We are already the first country to launch negotiations to join the £9 trillion Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) since it was established in 2018, and others have indicated that they could follow us. We are also working with the US, as our closest ally, to finance developing countries to build new, clean infrastructure to boost their economies.

Britain has always been at its best as an outward-looking, positive nation, confident in its ability to innovate, compete and lead. That is why we are working to open ourselves to the opportunities of the future with radical regulatory reform in areas from financial services to digital and data – and championing the cause of reform and openness on the world stage.

I will ensure that our embassies and high commissions are banging the drum for Britain as a global force for good on vital issues such as tackling climate change and beating COVID-19, while also helping to secure the investment we need to stimulate enterprise and level-up the country.

My visit to the UN is the start of an autumn where Global Britain plants its flag on the world stage. In the coming weeks, we will be hosting the first Global Investment Summit, including a reception with Her Majesty the Queen. We will also be hosting the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, and a meeting of G7 Foreign and Development Ministers in Liverpool – that great historic port city which shows the prosperity and thriving cultural life that comes with being an international hub.

This is Global Britain in action: going out into the world in a positive and confident spirit to tackle the major challenges of our age alongside our friends and allies. I want us to project this vision to the world and ensure that everyone in Britain knows that our best days lie ahead.

By positioning the UK at the heart of a network of economic, diplomatic and security partnerships, and helping other countries grow through enterprise and trade, we are making our country safer and more competitive, standing up for our values, and confirming our status as the best place to live, work and do business. This is how, as Foreign Secretary, I will ensure our foreign policy delivers for people across our great country.