There are around 170,000 mid-sized businesses registered in the UK. Businesses with either a turnover of more than £10 million or more than 20 employees, and undergoing significant growth, can now seek expert help from HMRC growth support specialists.

Known as the Growth Support Service, HMRC tax experts will offer dedicated support, tailored to the customer’s needs. It has been created to help growing, mid-sized businesses access the information and services they need.

This could include:

• helping with tax queries about their growing business
• supplying accurate information and co-ordinating technical expertise from across HMRC
• supporting them to get their tax right first time and access relevant incentives or reliefs

The Financial Secretary to the Treasury Mel Stride said:

Mid-sized businesses make vital contribution to the UK economy and I want to see them grow, succeed and prosper.

The Growth Support Service will help these expanding businesses access tailored tax assistance so that tax administration doesn’t stand in the way of their growth and ensures businesses can focus on finding new opportunities.

Businesses who meet the eligibility requirements can apply online; they will then be contacted by their dedicated growth support specialist at HMRC, to discuss their requirements. The bespoke service will generally last between three to six months.

The top five industries and sectors that could benefit from the Growth Support Service are:

1. Manufacturing (for example building, printing or maintenance firms)
2. Information and communication (for example IT or software companies, film makers or publishers)
3. Administrative and support services (for example vehicle hire companies, recruitment agencies or call centres)
4. Professional, scientific and technical services (for example law and accountancy firms or quantity surveyors)
5. Wholesale and retail (for example high street shops, food and drink outlets or car showrooms)

The introduction of the service demonstrates HMRC’s continued commitment to support UK businesses get their tax right. In addition to the existing customer relations service for large businesses; last month, the department launched the Small Business Online Forum for small businesses and the self-employed.

1. Follow HMRC’s Press Office on Twitter
2. HMRC’s Flickr channel can be found here.
3. Further guidance on the Growth Support Service eligibility criteria and online application.
4. The Growth Support Service is free to eligible mid-sized businesses.

The Foreign Secretary urges China to keep up pressure on North Korea during a meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister in New York.

Theresa May will today urge internet firms to go ‘further and faster’ to stop the spread of terrorist material – including the development of new technology to stop it from ever appearing on the web in the first place.

The Prime Minister will co-host a meeting on preventing terrorist use of the internet today (Wed 19 September) at the UN General Assembly in New York, with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

She will welcome the progress made by the biggest internet companies towards stopping the spread of terrorist content.

But the Prime Minister will say that the internet firms can still do more to stop the spread of evil material by groups such as Daesh which promotes terrorism or provides information on how to make bombs or attack pedestrians with vehicles.

In particular, she wants them to ‘develop new technological solutions to prevent such content being uploaded in the first place.’

Britain, France and Italy will also say that, where terrorist content does appear, they want a target of one to two hours for taking it down. This is the period during which most of the material is disseminated.

The PM-hosted event will be attended by a string of the world’s biggest tech companies.

They include Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter, who in June agreed to the establishment of a new Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism. Google will also play a key role.

The Prime Minister will tell the event that Daesh material is still available on the internet for ‘too long’ after being posted.

She will also warn firms that, as they remove content more quickly, terrorist groups will adapt – and the tech firms must do the same.

She will say:

Terrorist groups are aware that links to their propaganda are being removed more quickly, and are placing a greater emphasis on disseminating content at speed in order to stay ahead.

Industry needs to go further and faster in automating the detection and removal of terrorist content online, and developing technological solutions which prevent it being uploaded in the first place.

Internet companies are already making progress towards the automatic identification of terrorist content.

Google and YouTube have announced they are increasing their use of technology to help automatically identify videos.

Twitter suspended 299,649 accounts between Jan 1 and June 30 this year. Some 75 per cent of accounts were suspended before their first Tweet.

Facebook have also stated publicly that they are looking at developing artificial intelligence to automate the identification of terrorist material.

The Prime Minister will also urge other world leaders to join the battle against online extremism.

Speaking ahead of the event, she said:

We need a fundamental shift in the scale and nature of our response – both from industry and governments – if we are to match the evolving nature of terrorists’ use of the internet.

I call on others to join the UK, France, and Italy in pledging their support for this approach.

This is a global problem that transcends national interests. Governments must work with and support the efforts of industry and civil society if we are to achieve real and continuing progress and prevent the spread of extremism and terrorist use of cyberspace.

In order to succeed, we must be united in our determination to fight terrorist exploitation of the internet.’

Today’s meeting follows pressure from the Prime Minister for action at the G7 summit in Italy earlier this year.

In the wake of the cowardly attacks on London, Manchester and other global cities, the internet firms agreed to the establishment of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism in June.

The governments of the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have announced a new Military and Security Cooperation Agreement, signed today in Jeddah by the Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon and the Saudi Crown Prince HRH Mohammed bin Salman.

Defence Secretary, Sir Michael Fallon said:

The security of the GCC, of all Gulf Countries, is critical to UK security. I am delighted to have signed today with HRH the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia a new Military and Security Cooperation Agreement between our two countries; this Agreement further cements the UK’s long standing relationship with our key Gulf partner.

The agreement will promote cooperation between our two countries across the Defence and Security sectors, helping Saudi Arabia better protect her national security, including counter-terrorism, intelligence, training and education, medical services and logistics.

The agreement was signed during a wider visit to the Middle East, in which the Defence Secretary met British personnel serving in Iraq. He also visited the Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, where the UK is working closely with US as the two largest contributors to the Coalition’s military campaign.

During his time in Iraq, Sir Michael met with personnel from the Mercian Regiment, Engineer Regiment, Intelligence Corps, and Medical Regiments at Erbil and Taji where they have been involved in training Iraqi Security Forces, Kurdish Forces and Ninewah police.

The Prime Minister will co-host a reception for Commonwealth leaders tonight in the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York where she will set out the need for a wholesale revitalisation of the Commonwealth if it is to thrive and serve its 2.4 billion citizens into the 21st century.

She will also launch the theme for the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting – Towards a Common Future – and set out the four main goals for the summit, due to be held in the UK next spring:

• prosperity:

  boosting intra-Commonwealth trade and investment

• security:

  increasing cooperation across security challenges including global terrorism, organised crime and cyber attacks

• fairness:

  promoting democracy, fundamental freedoms and good governance across the Commonwealth

• sustainability:

  building the resilience of small and vulnerable states to deal with the effects of climate change and other global crises

The biggest meeting of Heads of Government the UK has ever hosted, the summit will take place in iconic venues in London and Windsor including Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace and Windsor Castle from 16-20 April 2018. It will bring together up to 52 Commonwealth leaders, up to 52 Foreign Ministers and thousands of people from across business and civil society, representing the Commonwealth’s vibrant and diverse global network.

Also speaking at the reception will be co-host Prime Minister Muscat of Malta as the current Commonwealth chair, the Commonwealth Secretariat Secretary-General, and youth representatives drawn from across the Commonwealth who will help to deliver the Commonwealth Youth Forum at next year’s summit.

In her speech, the Prime Minister will outline the need for the Commonwealth to have a clearer purpose, and be better able to address the global challenges we face. With 60% of its population under 30, she will also talk about the need for the Commonwealth to respond to the concerns and priorities of its young people.

Speaking ahead of the reception, the Prime Minister said:

As the world changes, so must the Commonwealth if it is to rise to the new challenges that the 21st century presents. It is the responsibility of all members to ensure we are working together towards a common future that will meet the needs of all our peoples, particularly our youth. I look forward to this unique organisation coming together at next year’s Heads of Government Meeting to pursue an ambitious agenda for a more prosperous, secure, fair and sustainable future for everyone.