Tag Archives: HM Government

David Davis has met leading Polish politicians and been briefed by British military personnel on the UK’s role in NATO’s deployment on Poland’s Eastern border as part of a visit to the country today.

Reaffirming the UK’s commitment to strengthening its relationships across Europe after exit, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union met with Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski and Europe Minister Konrad Szymanski to discuss progress in the negotiations.

They spoke about an agreement on citizens’ rights being within touching distance, and the importance of providing certainty to people from the EU living in the UK and British nationals living in Europe. David Davis also stressed the importance of maintaining the momentum that the Prime Minister’s speech in Florence injected into the negotiations.

While in Warsaw, the Secretary of State was also briefed by service personnel on the British deployment in Poland.

NATO has deployed an Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) in the eastern part of the Alliance, with four multinational battalions in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, on a persistent, rotational basis. The EFP initiative is part of the biggest reinforcement of NATO collective defence in a generation.

David Davis also took part in an act of Remembrance, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw to commemorate the sacrifice of the Polish people during the Second World War and the UK’s lasting ties of friendship with Poland.

Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis said:

We have a historic and deep relationship with Poland, which will endure long after we have left the European Union.

The Prime Minister’s Florence speech gave new momentum to the negotiations and we are now within touching distance of an agreement on key issues such as citizens’ rights.

We welcome the EU’s move to start their own preparatory work on how they see the future relationship working; that will allow us to accelerate talks once they are ready to participate in this conversation.

We are approaching the discussions in a spirit of goodwill and at the December European Council we hope to rely on the support of our friends in Poland in progressing discussions to the next stage.

The visit to Warsaw confirms the UK’s commitment to deepening its bilateral relationships with countries across Europe after its departure from the EU.

A 41-year-old man was today (Wednesday Nov 8) arrested for questioning in relation to a fire which burned for over two weeks on a farm near Walesby in north Nottinghamshire last September.

He was arrested in a joint operation involving officers from the Environment Agency and Nottinghamshire Police.

He is being questioned in connection to a fire at Oakfield Farm, in Forest Lane, Walesby, which contained dumped illegal waste.

No permit existed for waste to be stored on the farm.

The man from the Sneinton area of Nottingham was also answering questions about two other enquiries following the discovery of illegal waste at a site on Hathernware Industrial Estate in Loughborough and a farm in Leicestershire.

When officers entered the property in Sneinton they discovered around 40 suspected cannabis plants. The man is also being questioned over this matter.

Peter Haslock, Area Enforcement Team Leader for the East Midlands, said:

The arrest was made as part of a joint investigation involving enforcement officers from the Environment Agency and colleagues from Nottinghamshire Police.

We know the Walesby site did not have a permit for waste activity and we believe the waste was involved in the fire.

These are extremely serious cases and the Environment Agency is determined to bring the culprits to justice.

We are working closely with partners to share intelligence on illegal waste activity. And we’re encouraging property and land owners to be vigilant. Anyone who sees waste crime taking place is advised not to approach as these people can be dangerous.

Report it by calling our incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Advice to land and property owners:

• Check any empty land and property regularly and make sure it is secure.
• Carry out rigorous checks on prospective and new tenants. Land and property owners have a responsibility to ensure anyone leasing their land/property complies with regulations. They may be committing an offence by allowing waste to be stored on land or property without the relevant permissions and could leave them liable to prosecution
• Be vigilant and report any unusual behaviour.

With an ambition to set a common safety standard for more than 50 thousand workers across its whole supply chain, Highways England has today (8 November 2017) announced a new Health and Safety Passport scheme. Safety is at the centre of this new scheme. The passport strives to simplify the method of gaining access to construction sites with a personalised smart card, assuring competency, qualification and fitness to work across Highways England’s construction workforce.

Operations Regional Director at Highways England, Simon Jones said:

Safety is at the heart of everything we do at Highways England.

Our Health and Safety Passport scheme sets a common safety standard for colleagues across our supply chain. It will make it simpler for staff to transfer between sites and for companies to verify that the people who work for them have the training, qualifications and competencies to work on any site.

We hope that within 12 months all the suppliers we work with will be using the system.

The card is checkable using smartphone technology to help build a picture of the workforce and help colleagues to transfer between sites and suppliers with ease.

Working together with over twenty different suppliers and partners from across the industry, the common introduction course delivered by Lantra covers all major projects and construction and renewal sites. Alongside the common induction training, a passport smartcard will be issued to the individual who will be able to carry around their training record, qualifications and competency details in their pocket wherever they work.

To gain register for training and your passport card, please contact either the helpdesk on 0330 726 0225 or email he.validate@mitie.com

The new Health and Safety Passport scheme was launched today (8 November 2017) at the national Highways UK conference, in Birmingham.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

During National Pro Bono Week 2017 (6 to 10 November) London teenagers spent time learning about the legal implications of what they say and do online. The session was hosted by lawyers from the Government Legal Department as part of the Citizenship Foundation’s Lawyers in Schools programme.

The workshop focused on the law on social media, and helped 30 students from the Ark Academy schools and the London Nautical School to understand the balance between freedom of expression and when the law has been broken.

National Pro Bono Week highlights the legal community’s work of providing free legal support and advice.

The Lawyers in Schools programme is made up of a series of legal workshops facilitated by legal professionals. It is aimed at increasing young people’s awareness and understanding of the law, developing listening and communication skills and raising aspirations and confidence.

Speaking after the event, Stephen Braviner Roman, GLD’s Director General who sponsors pro bono activities, said:

The Citizenship Foundation’s Lawyers in Schools programme gives students practical support so they are more aware of their rights and responsibilities. Today’s session helped these young people navigate the complexities of what they can and can’t say online.

I’m really pleased that GLD lawyers can be involved in projects like this. It gives them the opportunity to give back to their local communities and help teach young people about their rights and responsibilities.

Tom Franklin, Chief Executive of the Citizenship Foundation, said:

It’s fantastic that GLD is volunteering to help young people understand a crucial element of the law that affects them.

Like many thousands of legal professionals who volunteer on our programmes, they are helping young people become active, informed young citizens.

GLD also launched its Pro Bono Strategy this week. As a founding signatory to the Law Society’s pro bono charter, GLD committed to developing a pro bono strategy to support and encourage pro bono activity across the organisation. The new strategy demonstrates GLD’s ongoing commitment to the pro bono work carried out by its lawyers and aims to increase awareness of the opportunities and benefits of getting involved in pro bono work and develop a strong pro bono culture across the department.

On October 26, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), a body established by unanimous decision of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), concluded that the Assad regime is responsible for the use of sarin in Khan Shaykhun on 4 April 2017. We have full trust in the JIM’s findings, its professionalism and independence. The Syrian regime violated international law, including the Chemical Weapons Convention. We condemn this heinous act and demand that the Syrian regime immediately cease any and all use of chemical weapons and finally declare to the OPCW all chemical weapons that it possesses.

The JIM also found that ISIS/Daesh was responsible for a sulphur mustard attack on the town of Um Housh in September 2016 on two consecutive days. We also condemn this despicable act, and we are united in our determination to defeat this abhorrent terrorist movement once and for all. We condemn the use of chemical weapons by anyone, anywhere.

We agree that it is vital for the international community to continue to investigate cases where chemical weapons have been used in Syria. We therefore urge the United Nations Security Council to maintain the JIM’s investigative capacity. We also call on the OPCW Executive Council to take action in response to the JIM report to send an unequivocal signal that those responsible for the use of chemical weapons will be held accountable.

Sadly, this is not the first report identifying those responsible for the use of chemical weapons in Syria. In 2016, the JIM came to the conclusion that the Syrian regime was responsible for the use of chlorine as a chemical weapon in at least three attacks in 2014 and 2015, and ISIS/Daesh used sulphur mustard once in 2015.

And there is more work for the JIM to do. The OPCW has now reported that a sarin attack “more than likely” took place in Al Lataminah in Syria, just a week before and 15 kilometers from the sarin attack on Khan Sheikhoun. The attack it describes bears the hallmarks of the Syrian Regime.

A robust international response is now essential to hold those responsible to account, seek justice for the victims of these abhorrent attacks and to prevent such attacks from happening again. After such a report, the Security Council and all its members have a common responsibility to protect the international non-proliferation regime and live up to their previous commitments.

Ends

Attack at Khan Shaykhun: What Happened

Attack at Khan Shaykhun: What Happened

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