Tag Archives: HM Government
Press release: Sentences for animal cruelty to increase tenfold to five years
Animal abusers who commit the most heinous crimes could face up to five years in prison under new plans set to be unveiled by Environment Secretary Michael Gove.
Currently the maximum sentence is six months but the government will announce plans to bring forward new legislation that will increase that tenfold, sending a clear signal to any potential offenders that there is no place for animal cruelty in England.
There have been a number of recent shocking cases where courts have said they would have handed down longer sentences had they been available, including a case in April last year when a man bought a number of puppies just to brutally and systematically beat, choke and stab them to death. The new legislation will also enable courts to deal more effectively with ruthless gangs involved in organised dog fights.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove said:
We are a nation of animal lovers and so we must ensure that those who commit the most shocking cruelty towards animals face suitably tough punishments.
These plans will give courts the tools they have requested to deal with the most abhorrent acts.
This is one part of our plan to deliver world-leading standards of animal welfare in the years ahead.
Cases of extreme cruelty are rare – while on average about 1,150 people per year are convicted for animal cruelty, fewer than five of them receive the current maximum sentence. The change in law will ensure that offenders are properly punished in those rare but shocking cases.
Under the government’s plans, courts will retain the ability to hand out an unlimited fine and ban an offender from owning animals in the future, but crucially they will also have the ability to sentence the worst cases appropriately. The move will bring maximum sentences for animal cruelty in England into line with other countries such as Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Some of the recent shocking cases in which courts commented they would have handed down longer prison sentences had the law allowed them include:
- A man who systematically abused and killed several puppies by beating, choking and stabbing them, sentenced to the maximum six months’ imprisonment and banned from owning animals.
- A man who kicked his girlfriend’s dog to death, given a custodial sentence of just over five months, fined £1,000 and banned from owning animals.
- A man who fed his dog aspirin and paracetamol to try to kill her, before beating her to death with a shovel, sentenced to four months in prison and banned from owning animals.
The move was widely welcomed by animal welfare groups and follows dedicated campaigning from Battersea Cats and Dogs Home and the RSPCA.
Claire Horton, Chief Executive of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, said:
Battersea is thrilled that the Government plans to raise the maximum sentence for the most abhorrent cases of animal cruelty in England from six months to five years.
This shows that the political will is there to make the punishment fit the crime and so many innocent animals will benefit from their actions.
This news will be very positively received by the public, the majority of whom share Battersea’s wish to see this change. Since we launched our campaign calling for five year sentences at Westminster in February, the momentum has clearly been building and the response has been tremendous, with close to 62,000 members of the public across the UK calling on their elected representatives to back this change – and 145 politicians already have.
Battersea stands ready to help in any way we can to support this move to five year sentences and make such shocking cruelty to animals a thing of the past.
RSPCA Head of Public Affairs David Bowles said:
We are thrilled that the Government has responded to calls from the RSPCA and members of the public to toughen up sentences for the worst animal abusers. We now feel that those who commit these acts will soon be receiving sentences that reflect the seriousness of their crime and hope this will act as a real deterrent against cruelty and neglect.
The RSPCA picks up the pieces of animal cruelty every day of the year. Our inspectors regularly rescue animals from horrific circumstances of mistreatment, brutality and neglect. It is only through the prosecutions that we take that many of the perpetrators are brought to justice.
The strength of feeling behind a move to toughen up these sentences is huge – but at the moment the courts are limited by the law under which the strongest sentence for animal cruelty is six months’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine – but this rarely happens.
Michael Gove’s promise to bring sentences in line with Northern Ireland – which has a maximum of five years imprisonment – should help to deter people from abusing and neglecting animals and will finally mean that the sentence fits the crime.
The government will publish draft legislation for consultation around the turn of the year.
These plans are part of an ambitious programme of reform that will cement the UK’s position as a global leader on animal welfare as we leave the EU. Last month we announced plans to make CCTV mandatory in all slaughterhouses and we have committed to taking steps to control the export of live farm animals for slaughter as we leave the EU.
read morePress release: Stop facilitating tax evasion or face criminal prosecution, HMRC tells corporations
Corporations could be prosecuted if they fail to prevent staff from criminally facilitating tax evasion under a new HMRC law that comes into effect this weekend
It is already a crime to evade tax, or deliberately help another person to do so, but on behalf of the majority of taxpayers who pay what is due, the UK government is now taking an even firmer stance on corporate fraud in a move designed to drive a change in corporate culture.
From today, the Criminal Finances Act 2017 introduces two new criminal offences – one applying to the evasion of UK taxes and one applying to the evasion of foreign taxes.
The offences hold corporations and partnerships criminally liable when they fail to prevent their employees, agents, or others who provide services on their behalf from criminally facilitating tax evasion. This is a significant change from existing law under which they can only be found liable for criminally facilitating tax evasion if the most senior members of the organisation – typically the board of directors – are aware of the facilitation.
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mel Stride MP said:
Tax evasion is a crime and takes away from the money we need to fund our vital public services.
The vast majority of businesses play by the rules but we must ensure that those that don’t are accountable for their actions.
The new offences will ensure that companies doing business in the UK take reasonable steps to prevent their staff from facilitating tax evasion.
Notes to Editors
- The new legislation comes into force on 30 September.
- Where there is evasion of UK taxes, any company based anywhere in the world can be liable, regardless of whether it has a business presence in the UK.
- Where taxes other than UK taxes are evaded, any company that is (a) incorporated under the law of the UK; (b) carrying out a business or part of a business in the UK; or (c) has staff criminally facilitate evasion from within the UK, can be liable under the UK criminal law for failing to prevent their staff from criminally facilitating the evasion of foreign taxes.
- HMRC will be responsible for investigating offences in relation to UK tax. The Serious Fraud Office will be responsible for investigating offences in relation to foreign taxes. HMRC will work closely with the SFO to ensure a robust response to the facilitation of tax evasion.
- HMRC uses the full range of both criminal and civil powers to investigate tax cheats, and is successful in more than 90% of the prosecutions undertaken. However, work doesn’t stop there – HMRC always looks to recover the proceeds from any crime committed.
- In 2016-17, HMRC collected and protected more than £26 billion of tax that would otherwise have gone unpaid, from those not following the rules.
- If you know of anyone committing tax fraud, call our 24-hour hotline on 0800 59 5000 and help us stamp it out.
- The Criminal Finances Act 2017 can be found here.
- The Government has published guidance on what corporations and partnerships can do to prevent the criminal facilitation of tax evasion. This guidance can be found here.
Speech: “Trafficking is a development issue, it’s a human rights issue, and it’s a security issue. It needs a coherent UN response.”
Thank you Mr President,
It’s clear that people trafficking is a scourge that unites the membership of the United Nations. No country is immune from this awful crime, and so it is right that every country is united in our shared commitment, made in the 2030 Agenda, to end forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking.
Making sure the Global Plan of Action helps deliver on this commitment will require that we act across a number of fronts. Let me highlight four.
First, we must bring further political attention to the issue of human trafficking: the hidden nature of this crime makes it too easy to ignore. The United Kingdom launched a ‘Call to Action to End Forced Labour, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking’ as world leaders and their representatives gathered in New York last week. This statement of political intent explicitly welcomes and aligns very closely with the Global Plan. Thirty-seven countries have endorsed this Call and I urge others to do the same.
Second, every country should develop and implement a national strategy that addresses the four key elements of prosecution, protection, prevention and partnerships. The UK’s approach is underpinned by its 2014 Modern Slavery Strategy. To uncover the scale of the problem, every country could also consider producing an estimate of prevalence and statistics on trafficking. In 2013 we estimated there were up to 13,000 victims in the United Kingdom.
Third, we must ensure that trafficking is stamped out of our economies. The International Labour Organization estimates that forced labour generates $150bn of illegal profits each year. We must better regulate labour policies and work with business to eradicate trafficking from supply chains. The UK’s Modern Slavery Act requires every business with global revenues of over $48 million to report on the action it is taking. Governments, too, must address their own procurement practices.
Fourth, our law enforcement and criminal justice systems need specialist capabilities. The UNODC’s last report told us, the number of global convictions remains too low. The UK introduced a comprehensive legal framework in 2015 – and we are now seeing growing numbers of convictions for the new offences it introduced. We are also investing over $11 million in the police and training over 300 new specialist investigators.
Mr President,
Trafficking is a development issue, it’s a human rights issue, and it’s a security issue. It needs a coherent UN response. But to date we have not seen enough progress to address the scale and urgency of the problem. We need UN agencies cooperating and using ICAT effectively – not competing over resources and turf. We urge the Secretary-General to help resolve this persistent challenge.
Because whether we describe it as human trafficking, modern slavery, or forced labour, we must stand together if the exploitation of human beings is to end. We have reviewed our global plan, so let us now act.
Thank you.
read morePress release: Alistair Burt visits Bangladesh
International Development Minister Alistair Burt has led talks on the situation in Rakhine State with key individuals in Bangladesh to step up efforts to end violence against Rohingya and allow humanitarian access to those in need.
Along with Foreign Office Minister Mark Field the successful series of talks held yesterday (Thursday, 28 September) with government officials and aid agencies centred on how best to provide further lifesaving support to the large influx of refugees in Bangladesh.
Yesterday’s discussions follow talks that Minister Burt held in Thailand with the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, where he pushed for a greater regional response to the violence in Rakhine state and issues of humanitarian access.
Since the violence erupted on 25 August more than half a million Rohingya men, women and children have been forced to flee Rakhine State and have sought refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh. The UK has announced an extra £30 million to meet urgent humanitarian needs and is determined to do its very best and what is necessary to help those that are displaced.
Alistair Burt, Minister for International Development said:
read moreThe violence in Burma in the last month has forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya men, women and children to flee their homes, livelihoods and loved ones.
UK aid is already making a difference on the ground in Bangladesh, but I urge the Burmese authorities to allow aid workers immediate and full access so we can deliver vital support to those living in fear and desperation.
The UK government has so far provided food for 65,000 of the most vulnerable victims, health care for 50,000 of them, and emergency shelter for up to 26,355.
We are also helping 7,500 children, many of whom have suffered traumatic ordeals, including sexual violence.
The UK is leading the way in the humanitarian relief effort, and it is now up to the rest of the world to follow our lead in helping the Rohingyas, not just now but in the long-term.