Tag Archives: HM Government

Thank you Mr President, and thank you Stephen for your powerful briefing and for all that you do on this crucial issue.

We’re meeting today exactly five months since a ceasefire was declared in Syria. Sadly, as Stephen has set out, it’s a ceasefire that exists in name only. The past five months have seen continued fighting, continued atrocities, continued destruction. Throughout, civilians have been maimed and killed, starved and besieged. And in towns like Khan Sheikhoun, they’ve been exposed to the very worst of humanity.

Like many others here in this Chamber, we cautiously welcomed the ceasefire and the Astana agreement on de-escalation zones. After six years of fighting, we’re all ready to support a genuine effort to bring an overdue end to the bloodshed. But the fact is, Mr President, the Astana plans have done little to help the people of Syria. Instead, so far, they have done a great deal to help the regime and its allies. The guns have fallen silent only where it has suited them. The guns have been deafening elsewhere.

So in some places, yes, there has been an overdue reduction in the violence. But only where it suits the regime. We need only ask the people of Daraa province, one of the four so-called de-escalation zones, what the ceasefire feels like on the ground. Last week barrel bomb after barrel bomb, airstrike after airstrike rained down on opposition-held areas there. Is that what the regime means by ceasefire? Is that what they mean by de-escalation?

And just as the attacks have continued, so have the sieges. At the end of April, the UN estimated over 620,000 people were living under siege in Syria, the overwhelming majority in towns and villages besieged by the regime and its allies. How can anyone claim there is a ceasefire in place when the equivalent population of Las Vegas is being besieged? Quite simply, you can’t.

Going hand in hand with continued attacks and continued besiegement is the continued failure to improve humanitarian access. As Stephen said, in the last two months, just only one aid delivery to an area besieged by the regime. That delivery was too little, too late, providing supplies for the bare minimum of the population.

And yet it doesn’t have to be this way. The United Nations is standing by, ready to deliver aid and medicine to those in critical need. They know the route they’ll take. They have the assurances they need from the opposition. And they have the mandate to act; all of us around this table have agreed, in countless resolutions, that access must be granted.

But instead, the UN teams are forced to wait. Not for aid, not for supplies, but, instead, for the regime’s letters of approval; letters that never arrive. So the children continue to go hungry and the sick and wounded continue to die in pain. This isn’t about bureaucracy or about paperwork; these are the cold, calculating actions of a regime that chooses to starve its fellow Syrians into surrender. You can see why the UN judges that this kind of behaviour constitutes war crimes.

In light of these continuing atrocities, it’s clear that the guarantors of the Astana process need to do more, so much more, to make the ceasefire and de-escalation zones a reality.

This must mean a genuine end to the violence – a ceasefire in deed and not just in thought. It must mean effective and impartial monitoring mechanisms, ideally reporting to this UN Security Council, so that those who violate the ceasefire are named and held to account.

And it means sustained humanitarian access for the UN and its partners, with the UN being allowed to assess what each de-escalation zone needs. Those with influence over the regime, must ensure that this access is given; it is long overdue.

Above all, Mr President, if there is to be long-term peace in Syria, there has to full implementation of Resolution 2254, as our Egyptian colleague has just said, and there has to be justice. There has to be justice for the people of Khan Sheikhoun, for the people of Aleppo, for the people of so many places across Syria who have endured for so many years.

Without these steps, there simply isn’t a credible plan; there is just the fiction that we have today. It is a fiction where ceasefires exist and yet bombs still fall. It is a fiction that has endured for too long.

Thank you.

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Responding to Montenegro’s accession to NATO, the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:‪

NATO is the bedrock of our collective security and I welcome Montenegro as the 29th member. The UK has long been a firm supporter of Montenegro’s accession, as well as its commitment to reform and progress. I congratulate them on a historic step forward.

Montenegro now takes on both the benefits and responsibilities of NATO membership and collective defence. We look forward to building on our close relationship for the defence and security of our citizens.

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How to apply for compensation if you were a victim of the terrorist attacks in London on 3 June 2017

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Following the attack in London Bridge, it is important that businesses remind their staff to stay alert and vigilant. The tragic events this year remind us that attacks can occur at any time or place without warning.
Businesses are encouraged to review their security plans to ensure that the measures they should already have in place, are current and have been recently tested to ensure staff are prepared and confident.

The London Bridge attack saw the use of a vehicle as a weapon and bladed weapons, however you should ensure that your planning and responses consider the full range or potential terrorist attack methodologies including IEDs (person borne, placed or vehicle) following the Manchester attack.

The police and our partners continue to do everything we can to protect the security of our citizens, public institutions, critical national infrastructure, places and businesses. The public can expect to see additional police – both armed and unarmed officers – across London. In response to the ongoing threat the public will see an increased policing and security presence across the country at key sites, such as train stations and other crowded places to help protect communities.

Protective Security Advice

Stay Safe – Run Hide, Tell:

Advice for the public on the steps they can take to keep themselves safe in the rare event of a firearms or weapons attack.

Recognising the terrorist threat:

Advice for businesses on planning for a terrorist incident and what action to take in the event of an attack.

Advice for security managers to improve your security stance:

Advice for security managers of crowded places to improve their security stance.

Personnel security, good guarding practice

Depending upon their responsibilities an effective security guard must be able to demonstrate they can respond effectively to a number of scenarios including:

• Initial actions at a terrorist incident, see ETHANE
• hostile reconnaissance, how to patrol effectively to disrupt activity, identify and respond to suspicious behaviour
• ensure you maintain your search and patrol regime for the lifecycle of the event including prior to the commencement, during and post event
• suspect items, the ‘four Cs’ protocols and the HOT principles
• a firearms and weapons attacks and the Run, Hide, Tell principles
• how to respond appropriately to a bomb threat, includes advice on evacuation, invacuation, safe areas, and checking your venue for suspicious items – search considerations.
• how and when to report incidents either to the internal security team, calling police using 999, 101 or call the Anti-Terrorist Hotline 0800 789 321. Staff should understand the reason why they use either 999 or Anti-Terrorist Hotline

Preparedness

Are your first aid kits and crisis incident kits (grab bags) checked regularly, complete and accessible? Link to citizenAid

Search Planning

Do you have plans to search your site to deal effectively with either bomb threats or for secreted threat items, and are your staff familiar with those plans?

Do you have a person and vehicle, search and screening policy and plan that you can implement should there be a threat increase?

Business as usual search and screen (looking for prohibited items) should, when done well, provide a very good capability to detect larger terrorist items concealed about the person

• ensure the search and screening regime in place at the venue is done well
• consider provisional search and screening on the approach or outside the venue, for example a visual check inside jackets and bags
• ensure you maintain your search and patrol regime for the lifecycle of the event including prior to the commencement, during and post event
• provide effective public address messaging of people as they approach, asking people to prepare for additional search and screening. This should reduce unacceptable delay
• prior notification (at point of sale or media) of these extra security measures and encouraging people to arrive early, will smooth peaks and allow safe and effective searching

Response

Have you reviewed your evacuation, invacuation and lockdown plans in response to terrorist attack?

Physical Security

Have you checked CCTV systems? Are they all working correctly? Are the date/time stamps accurate? http://www.cpni.gov.uk/advice/Physical-security/CCTV/

Security Culture

Are all staff identifiable and wearing identification? Do you encourage staff to challenge anyone in their building not displaying ID? http://www.cpni.gov.uk/advice/Personnel-security1/Workplace-behaviour-campaign/

Reporting suspicious transactions

If you are suspicious of a transaction or attempted transaction, or discover a theft or disappearance that cannot easily be explained, report it to the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789321 or email Chemical.Reporting@Met.Police.UK.

Home Office guidance on selling chemical products responsibly

Storage and sale of explosive precursors

Guidance for the public, businesses and laboratories on using, storing and selling explosives precursors and poisons.

Blast

Remember to stay away from glass and out of line of sight for any devices. See the minimum cordon distances. Once the security services arrive cordons may be deployed, the following are minimum distances.

News updates

NaCTSO will continue to update our advice as needed, in the meantime please continue to use our current advice. Please check back regularly to these pages for updated information or register for updates here.

You can follow @metpoliceuk and @Terrorism Police UK for Twitter updates on the incident.

Useful information that may assist when deploying the tactical options:

Find out more about the Action Counters Terrorism campaign.

If you see anything that causes you concern or raises your suspicions do not hesitate to call the Police confidentially on 0800 789 321 or in an emergency 999. If you get caught up in the rare event of a weapons attack we urge you to follow the Run, Hide, Tell advice.

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The UK will observe a minute’s silence on Tuesday 6 June 2017 at 11am in remembrance of those who lost their lives and all others affected by the attacks in London on Saturday night.

The silence will be marked at all government buildings and other organisations may follow suit.

Flags will remain at half-mast on Whitehall government buildings until Tuesday evening.

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