The measures include a new offence of possession of a corrosive substance in public without a good or lawful reason.

It would place the onus on the individual caught in possession to explain why they are carrying it, rather than on the police to prove that it was intended to cause injury.

Those convicted of this offence for a second time would face a mandatory minimum sentence in line with existing knife possession laws.

The proposals are part of the ‘Consultation on new legislation on offensive and dangerous weapons’, which sets out legislative measures to reduce violent crime; respond to recent rises in police-recorded knife and firearm offences; and the emergence of attacks using acids and corrosive substances.

Home Secretary, Amber Rudd said:

All forms of violent crime are totally unacceptable, which is why we are taking action to restrict access to offensive weapons and crack down on those who carry acids with the intent to do harm.

Acid attacks can devastate lives and leave victims with both emotional and physical scars.

By banning the sale of the most harmful corrosive substances to under 18s and introducing minimum custodial sentences to those who repeatedly carry corrosive substances to cause harm, we are sending a message that the cowards who use these as weapons will not escape the full force of the law.

Other measures on which the government will consult are new offences on the sale of acids and the most harmful corrosive substances to people aged under 18, possession of a corrosive substance in public and restricting online sales of knives so they cannot be delivered to a private residential address and must instead be collected at a place where age ID can be checked.

Other measures included in the consultation include:

• amendments to threatening with a knife or offensive weapon offence to lower the evidential requirement for prosecutors
• allowing police to seize offensive weapons which are already banned in public places from private properties
• prohibiting knives (currently banned on school premises) from other educational institutions such as colleges
• updating the current legislation on the definition of flick knives (to reflect new designs)
• moving two firearms (.50 calibre and certain rapid firing rifles) from the general licensing arrangements to the stricter provisions of section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968

Members of the public are encouraged to submit their opinions on the consultation which will be open until 9 December.

The Home Office will also review the Poisons Act and include sulphuric acid, meaning it would only be available to purchase with a licence above a certain concentration.

Sarah Newton, the Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability, also today announced the launch of the £500,000 Community Fund for local projects aimed at tackling knife crime and more than £280,000 of successful bids for community work aimed at ending gang violence and exploitation.

Sarah Newton said:

We know these crimes cannot be ended with legislation alone. We need wide-ranging action, including supporting communities to take action. Which is why I’m pleased to announce that we are awarding just over £280,000 funding to projects across the country to help people avoid and escape a life of gangs and violence.

We are also inviting bids for a new £500,000 Community Fund to help grassroots organisations tackle the scourge of knife crime.

Joint statement from Prime Minister Theresa May, Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron following President Trump’s statement on the US’ Iran Strategy.

The Foreign Secretary will visit Moscow towards the end of the year following an invitation from Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, as the UK continues its robust engagement with Russia.

Boris Johnson and Sergei Lavrov last met at the UN General Assembly in September, and now is an important time for both countries to be talking about international security. As permanent members of the UN Security Council, shared concerns include reducing the risk from North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.

The visit will be an important opportunity to cover the Iran nuclear deal and other issues of shared interest, including regional stability in the Middle East, and containing threats to international peace. It will also enable us to discuss security co-operation ahead of next summer’s World Cup, on which the UK and Russia are constructively working together.

The UK has deep differences with Russia, in particular over Syria and Ukraine, including the Russian Government’s illegal annexation of Crimea. That’s why we cannot return to ‘business as usual’ but it is vital to continue dialogue on matters of UK national interest.

The visit comes as part of the UK’s sustained, robust engagement with the Russian government. The Prime Minister also made it clear to President Putin at the G20 that it is in both sides’ interests to continue these channels of communication.

The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

Russia is a fellow permanent member of the UN Security Council and there are global security issues we need to discuss from Iran to North Korea. Of course we will continue to challenge Russia’s approach where we disagree, whether that is Russia’s actions in Syria or its aggression towards Ukraine. My visit will provide an opportunity to talk about these issues and more, face-to-face.

Our relationship with Russia is not straightforward. That is all the more reason to be talking to Russia – to manage our differences and co-operate where possible for the security of both our nations and the international community.

I am looking forward to visiting Moscow, to engaging with the Russian government and a wider range of Russian people including civil society and the all important next generation.

A former dentist who was struck off for dishonesty and poor clinical care and who was also bankrupt, together with a bankrupt GP from Harrow, have been disqualified from acting as directors after making false representations to a financial institution in their application for funding totalling £1.3 million.

The pair alleged they intended to use the funding for the purchase of shares in Weymouth Medical Ltd, a dental training company, with Jagdev Wasu acting as company director despite his bankruptcy order barring him from doing so legally. Following the collapse of Weymouth Medical Ltd, the bank was left with a shortfall of over £650,000.

Jagdev Wasu acted as a director of Weymouth whilst prohibited from doing so, having been declared bankrupt on 18 October 2013.

Commenting on the disqualification, Robert Clarke, Investigations Group Leader at the Insolvency Service said:

Company directors should be under no illusion that it is a serious offence for a person to act as company director whilst undischarged from bankruptcy.

In this case, the breach was exacerbated by providing false information to secure funding for the company, the failure to disclose the true position, causing substantial monetary loss.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted undertakings from Jagdev Wasu and Paramit Wasu that they would each not act as directors for 11 years on 16 August 2017. The disqualifications came into effect on 6 September 2017.

Notes to editors

Weymouth (CRN 09092402) was placed into Administration on 17 September 2015 with a deficiency as regards creditors of £497,036.

The company, which was incorporated on 19 June 2014, traded as a holding company for a medical centre and dental training company. Weymouth’s registered office was 97 Windsor Road, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, SL9 7NW.

Jagdev Wasu’s date of birth is November 1975. Paramit Wasu’s date of birth is March 1948.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings. Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

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Ministers have revealed the Scottish Government will receive more than £3.6 billion over five years from 2019/20 – an increase of £600 million on the previous period.

Alongside this, the Scottish Government is also being given greater control over how its rail is funded. So it can choose how best to use this money to improve the reliability of services for passengers, fund upgrades and invest in faster and more comfortable trains.

This new funding settlement is on top of the significant additional Barnett funding the Scottish Government now receives to spend on its priorities, including transport. The Scottish Government has been allocated £1.2 billion since Autumn Statement 2016 and will also get Barnett Formula funding following the UK’s investment in HS2. The Scottish Government will decide how much of this Barnett funding should be spent on the Scottish railway network.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Elizabeth Truss said:

This multi-billion pound UK government funding is a prime example of how Scotland benefits from the UK’s broad shoulders.

Our record investment for railways across the UK means a settlement for Scotland that could improve the entire network.

We are backing Scotland for its future success and it’s now up to the Scottish Government to ensure maximum benefit for the public.

As a result of UK government decisions in other areas, Scotland has benefited from an additional £2 billion funding since the 2015 Spending Review.

Through the Scotland Act, the Scottish Parliament now has the ability to set devolved taxes in Scotland, making it one of the most powerful devolved Parliaments in the world.

Scotland also benefits from the strength of the UK economy, which was the second fastest growing major advanced economy last year.

Other recent UK government commitments for Scotland:

• the UK government has invested almost £1 billion in Scottish City Deals and we’re planning further deals for Stirling, the Borderlands and the Tay Cities
• Scotland will benefit from the UK government’s investment in areas that are key to boosting productivity, such as research and development, science and innovation
• the National Productivity Investment Fund will invest an extra £23 billion across the UK between 2016/17 and 2021/22