As part of scheduled maintenance overseas, G-POWN underwent a biocide shock treatment on its fuel system, using Kathon biocide, to treat microbial contamination. Once the maintenance was complete, the aircraft returned to the UK on 24 February 2020.

In the 24 hours preceding this serious incident, there were abnormalities with the operation of both engines across four flights. On the flight before the incident flight, the crew reported momentary indications of a No 2 (right) engine stall. After the aircraft landed, this was investigated using an inappropriate procedure obtained from an aircraft troubleshooting manual not applicable to G-POWN, but no fault was found.

On the incident flight the aircraft took off from London Gatwick Airport Runway 26L at 0009 hrs on 26 February 2020 but, at around 500 ft above ground level, the No 1 (left) engine began to surge. The commander declared a MAYDAY and turned right downwind for an immediate return to the airport but, shortly afterwards, the crew received indications that the No 2 engine had stalled. The crew established that the engines were more stable at low thrust settings and the thrust available at those settings was sufficient to maintain a safe flightpath. They continued the approach and the aircraft landed at 0020 hrs.

The investigation identified that:

• G-POWN’s fuel tanks were treated with approximately 38 times the recommended concentration of Kathon.

• The excessive Kathon level in the aircraft’s fuel system caused contamination of the engine Hydro Mechanical Units (HMU) resulting in a loss of correct HMU regulation of the aircraft’s engines.

• A troubleshooting procedure was used for the engine No 2 stall that applied to a different engine than the one fitted on G-POWN. The correct procedure required additional steps that would have precluded G-POWN’s departure on the incident flight.

A Special Bulletin about this incident was published by the AAIB in April 2020.

Following this serious incident, Safety Action was taken by regulators, the International Air Transport Association, the manufacturers of the aircraft, engines and biocide, the maintenance organisations involved, and the operator.

Five safety recommendations are made in this report to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Crispin Orr, Chief Inspector of Air Accidents said:

“This was a very serious incident that in different circumstances could have had a catastrophic outcome. The safety of commercial air transport aircraft depends in part on redundancy of safety critical systems such as engines. However, fuel contamination can affect all engines simultaneously and so it is essential that maintenance regimes are resilient to errors that could lead to fuel system contamination.

“Five Safety Recommendations have been made in this report to regulators to promote the classification of biocide treatment of aircraft fuel systems as a critical maintenance task. This would ensure that an error-capturing method is included as part of the task.”

Read the report.

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Director General, it is very good to be here. I congratulate you on your first TNC HoDs [Trade Negotiations Committee, Heads of Delegation] – it is mine too, and I look forward to meeting more of my colleagues in person in the days, and weeks, and months ahead.

DG, before I came to Geneva I spent quite a bit of time talking to, and listening to, British businesses, big and small, from across sectors, about what the WTO means for them. I found that many of them were a bit gloomy about the fact that the WTO hadn’t done very much of late, for them. But equally, they were very keen to engage with the WTO, and hopeful that MC12 [12th Ministerial Conference] would actually show that the WTO was back in business, and backing business, and that we were rebuilding confidence in this institution. And while we work on the small print in these virtual rooms, business is of course innovating, and is in many ways getting ahead of us: if that means in services, in digital trade, or in data.

I think one of the big challenges for us all as an organisation, is to try and catch up. Look at the extraordinary innovation that has happened in digital through this pandemic – not just in the developed world, but also in the developing. That is why we want to see an outcome not just on the domestic regulation JSI [Joint Statement Initiative], but we also want to lock in significant progress on the e-commerce JSI by MC12, with a clear plan for completion after that. As others have said, we also have to tackle this digital divide by levelling up, not just domestically, but internationally too. It will come as no surprise DG, to say that we also support open, market-oriented trade, and our businesses want us to strengthen the rules in that space to ensure fair competition.

Many of my colleagues this morning, and you yourself DG, have rightly highlighted the issues of health and the environment. I think it is inconceivable that MC12, in the middle of a pandemic and standing at the precipice of a climate disaster, should not tackle the environment and health in a really significant and substantive manner. We really welcome the work that you have undertaken, and I am interested to hear and to engage with the pharma industry, to scale up production and supply. As others have said, none of us is safe until we are all safe. We have signed up to the Trade and Health Initiative and we need an ambitious health outcome at MC12. It is no surprise, too, as host of COP26 in Glasgow, that we believe that we have a real responsibility to future generations: to make sure that trade works to address this climate emergency, that it works for the environment, and most importantly of all, that the WTO enables this extraordinary green revolution, and all the opportunities that it brings for so many countries across the world. That is why we support the exploratory work on environmental services in the CTS-SS [Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services], as well as discussions in the TESSD [Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions]. We would like to see a ministerial declaration on the environment at MC12.

Like you, we are behind the Blue Revolution as well as the green revolution, and we want to see the negotiations on fisheries subsidies brought to a conclusion as soon as possible – in the interests of our people, our fish, and our planet. We have to remember the stakes with which we are playing.

You have asked us what we are going to do to help. We are going to do all we can within the G7: at the Foreign and Development Ministers meeting today, at the Trade Ministers meeting at the end of the month, and then at the summit in Cornwall in June, to support your efforts to revitalise the WTO and have a successful conclusion to MC12.

As you have said to us all today, we need to change our working culture, to read out a few less pre-prepared statements – this is not my pre-prepared statement I should add – and I think we need to do more than that. We need to do more listening, so that you can do more gavelling.

Director General, all power to you, and I wish you the very best of luck with your efforts.

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• around 700,000 people struggling with problem debt to benefit from Breathing Space this year
• scheme will give those facing financial difficulties 60 days to get finances back on track – without debts piling up, worrying letters or enforcement action
• people will also have access to professional debt advice, with stronger protections for people in mental health crisis treatment

Breathing Space will give those facing financial difficulties space to receive debt advice, or mental health crisis treatment, without pressure from creditors or mounting debts.

Under the scheme, people will be given legal protections from their creditors for 60 days, with most interest and penalty charges frozen, and enforcement action halted. They will also receive professional debt advice to design a plan which helps to get their finances back on track.

And recognising the link between problem debt and mental health issues, these protections will be available for people in mental health crisis treatment – for the full duration of their crisis treatment plus another 30 days.

People across England and Wales who are struggling to repay their debts could be eligible, and the Government expects 700,000 people to benefit in the first year of the scheme.

John Glen, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said:

We’re determined to tackle problem debt, but it is incredibly hard to get your finances back on track when your debts are piling up and you’ve got creditors at the door.

This scheme will give people a breathing space from charges, distressing letters and bailiff visits, so they can tackle their problem debt with support from a professional debt advisor.

And to help people going through a mental health crisis, which is too often linked to financial problems, we’re bringing in stronger protections lasting beyond the end of their crisis treatment.

The standard Breathing Space can be accessed by contacting a professional debt advisor. Given this may not be possible for someone in mental health crisis treatment, an approved mental health professional can certify they are receiving treatment and then a debt advice provider can consider whether they are eligible for the scheme.

The announcement builds on other recent government work to alleviate problem debt – and the associated mental health problems – including introducing new rules to make debt letters less threatening, funding a no-interest loan pilot, maintaining record levels of debt advice funding for the Money and Pensions Service in 2021-22 and looking at raising the financial threshold criteria for individuals to enter a Debt Relief Order.

The scheme is also expected to benefit creditors, with over £400 million in extra debt repayments expected in the first year of the scheme, as people are supported to get their payments back on track.

Joanna Elson CBE, chief executive of the Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs National Debtline and Business Debtline, said:

We are pleased to be supporting the launch of the Breathing Space scheme, which is a major milestone in improving the help available to people struggling with debt. Breathing Space will provide a powerful incentive for people in debt to seek free debt advice – with vital protections from interest, charges and creditor action to give people the time and space they need to begin to deal with their financial difficulty.

Free debt advice has never been more important than in helping households to recover from the impact of Covid-19 – and Breathing Space will strengthen our ability to help people at this crucial time. We look forward to playing our role in making the scheme a success.

Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com and the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, said:

Debt is far more than just a financial issue. It’s a major cause of relationship breakdown, can hugely diminish people’s well-being, and sadly leaves 100,000s at risk of taking their own lives. That’s why Breathing Space is so important. It’s a win-win-win; for individuals who get their finances back on track, creditors who’ll recoup more cash in the long run, and the economy as there will be less financial catastrophe.

I’m especially thrilled that our Money and Mental Health Policy Institute suggestion for Recovery Space is coming into fruition as part of this. That means from now on, everyone receiving NHS crisis care for their mental health can recover without being hassled for escalating debt, fees and charges. Finally, people returning home after being hospitalised for their mental health, can do it safe in the knowledge there’s no threat or reality of bailiffs knocking.

Phil Andrew, CEO of StepChange Debt Charity, said:

We are delighted to see Breathing Space going live. Giving people the statutory protection of a time period to help them begin to deal with their debts is a huge step up from the previous voluntary, patchy approach. StepChange has been at the forefront of campaigning for Breathing Space since 2014, and we are pleased the Government has taken our evidence and client experience on board when putting the scheme into practice.

This is the latest piece in the jigsaw of safeguards for people experiencing problem debt, with more to come. Statutory Debt Repayment Plans, when they come into being, are set to give further, much needed protections. We look forward to working closely with the Treasury to ensure they are successfully implemented.

Further information:

• Most debts will qualify for a breathing space, including credit and store cards; personal and payday loans; overdrafts; utility bills, rent and mortgages arrears; and government debts like tax and benefits.
• Universal Credit overpayments will be included in the Breathing Space scheme from day one and Universal Credit advances and third-party deductions will be included on a phased basis as early as possible after the policy starts.
• Although interest and fees are frozen, a Breathing Space is not a payment holiday. People entering a Breathing Space will need to keep paying for any debts and ongoing liabilities they have – like their mortgage, rent and bills – whilst they work with a debt advisor to find a sustainable debt solution. If someone in a standard Breathing Space fails to comply with these obligations, then a debt adviser has the discretion to cancel their Breathing Space.
• The Insolvency Service is HMT’s delivery partner for Breathing Space – it has developed and will maintain an electronic service used by debt advisers for starting, updating and ending a Breathing Space. The Insolvency Service will send notifications to creditors and their agents about a Breathing Space. It is also responsible for maintaining a private register of individuals in a Breathing Space or whose Breathing Space ended or was cancelled in the past 15 months.

More than 6,500 new jobs will be created around the UK thanks to £1bn of new UK-India trade and investment announced by the Prime Minister today (Tuesday 4 May 2021).

The package contains over £533m of new Indian investment into the UK, which is expected to create more than 6,000 jobs in vital and growing sectors such as health and technology. £200m of these deals will support low carbon growth.

This includes a £240 million investment by the Serum Institute of India in the UK into their vaccine business and a new sales office which will create a large number of jobs. The sales office is expected to generate new business worth over $1 billion, £200 million of which will be invested into the UK. Serum’s investment will support clinical trials, research & development and possibly manufacturing of vaccines. This will help the UK and the world to defeat the coronavirus pandemic and other deadly diseases. Serum have already started phase one trials in the UK of a one-dose nasal vaccine for coronavirus, in partnership with Codagenix INC.

British businesses have also secured new export deals with India worth more than £446 million, which will drive UK growth and create more than 400 British jobs. This includes CMR Surgical exporting its next-generation ‘Versius’ surgical robotic system which helps surgeons perform minimal access surgery being rolled out to hospitals in India. This export deal is worth £200 million and will result in the creation of 100 new jobs in the UK.

This afternoon the Prime Minister will hold a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Modi to agree a deeper relationship between the UK and India across trade, health, climate and defence.

This includes agreeing an Enhanced Trade Partnership. The partnership will unlock new opportunities for British businesses exporting to India and Indian businesses investing in the UK.

Trade between the UK and India is already worth around £23bn a year, supporting more than half a million jobs. Last week the Prime Minister spoke to Indian business leaders from companies Infosys and HCL to discuss the growing importance of the economic relationship between the UK and India.

The UK-India business community has demonstrated its strength over the last week in response to India’s coronavirus surge. The British Asian Trust has raised over £1.6 million in the last week through their emergency appeal and UK business leaders have mobilised in response to the Indian High Commission’s request for vital equipment.

The Partnership agreed today will set the ambition to double the value of UK-India trade again by 2030 and declares our shared intent to begin work towards a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. With almost 1.4 billion people, India’s population is bigger than the EU and US combined and by far the largest market the UK has committed to negotiating a trade deal with to date.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

Like every aspect of the UK-India relationship, the economic links between our countries make our people stronger and safer. Each and every one of the more than 6,500 jobs we have announced today will help families and communities build back from coronavirus and boost the British and Indian economies.

In the decade ahead, with the help of the new Partnership signed today and a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, we will double the value of our trading partnership with India and take the relationship between our two countries to new highs.

The Enhanced Trade Partnership agreed today creates immediate opportunities for British businesses in India across industries including food and drink, life sciences and the service sector. Non-tariff barriers on fruit and medical devices will be lowered – allowing British businesses to export more of their products to India and boosting UK growth and jobs.

It also commits both sides to addressing immediate market access barriers as well as continuing to seek further opportunities as we negotiate an FTA, benefitting businesses and consumers in both countries.

A future UK-India trade deal will support hundreds of thousands of jobs and boost the economies of both the UK and India by potentially lowering or removing current tariffs such as those of up to 150% on whisky and up to 125% on automotives as well as on other British products. It would also create huge benefits for British services – 4 out of 5 of India’s fastest-growing imports are for services like IP and telecommunications.

Further information

New Indian investment deals announced today are:

• Infosys – creating 1000 UK jobs
• HCL Technologies – creating 1000 UK jobs
• MPhasis – £35m, creating 1000 UK jobs
• Q-Rich Creations – £54m, creating 667 UK jobs
• Wipro – £16m, creating 500 UK jobs
• I2 Agro – £30m, creating 465 UK jobs
• Mastek – creating 357 UK jobs
• Sterlite Technologies – £15m, creating 150 UK jobs
• Global Gene Corp – £59m, creating 110 UK jobs
• SNVA Ventures – £10m, creating 200 UK jobs
• Serum Institute – £240m
• Skillmine – £11m, creating 100 UK jobs
• CtrlS Data Centers – £10m, creating 100 UK jobs
• Que Processing Services – £10m, creating 100 UK jobs
• Cron Systems – £20m, creating 100 UK jobs
• TVS Motors-Norton – creating 89 UK jobs
• Prime Focus Technologies – creating 70 UK jobs
• Route Mobile – £20m, creating 50 UK jobs
• Goila Butter Chicken – £3m, creating 40 UK jobs

New UK export deals announced today are:

• Morningside Pharmaceuticals researching, developing and licencing new pharma products
• Polymateria’s biotransformation technology, which enables plastics to become fully bio-degradable, in a deal worth £75m in UK exports over the next five years
• CMR surgical – deal worth £200m creating 100 new UK jobs
• Kloudpad – critical hardware and software bespoke data centres, deal worth £15m
• Vidrona drone surveying equipment and AI technology
• KIGG systems – smart meter test benches for electricity distribution companies
• CyanConnode – deal worth £18m creating 30 new UK jobs
• GoZero Mobility – deal worth £3.2m for e-bicycles
• Agvesto – deal worth £3m
• Revolut expansion into India, creating 60 UK jobs
• CDE Asia – deal worth £500,000
• Bio Products Laboratory – biopharmaceutical finished products for rare bleeding disorders, deal worth £62m
• Kwalee British video game producer expansion in India creating 25 new UK jobs
• Shorts TV digital entertainment platform – forecasting exports worth £8m
• Clancy Global – a One Evolve Ecosystem – deal worth £2.5m
• Astropol – colour and additive solutions for the vinyl, non-vinyl and associated additive industries, deal worth £12m
• Surgease – deal worth £14.9m, creating 100 new UK jobs
• Oxvent – deal worth £20m
• Eagle Genomics – deal worth £12m, creating 165 UK jobs
• BP – partnership with Infosys to decarbonise Infosys’ 11 campuses across India

Trade barriers addressed by the Enhanced Trade Partnership include:

• Lifting restrictions to enable fruit producers across the UK to export British apples, pears and quince to India for the first time
• Secured improved access for medical devices through the acceptance of UK Certificates of Free Sale in India, removing the requirement for additional accreditation of UK medical devices when exporting to the Indian market before they can be sold.
• Commitment to deepening co-operation in educational services and concluding work on the recognition of UK higher education qualifications, which will encourage an increase in student flows, skills transfer and knowledge sharing between the UK and India.
• Commitment to work to remove barriers in the Indian legal services sector preventing UK lawyers from practising international and foreign law in India, a step that could significantly increase UK legal services exports and UK legal services imports from India.

This figure of over 6,500 additional UK jobs and £1bn of new trade is based on company commitments and estimates from UK-India exports and investments following extensive engagement from DIT Officials.