• At Security Council briefing on the Central African Republic, UK welcomes citizens’ “determination in exercising their right to vote” on 27 December but condemns intimidation and violence

• UK calls on those responsible for attacks on MINUSCA peacekeepers to be brought to justice

• UK reiterates importance of maintaining UN arms embargo to prevent arms falling into wrong hands

Thank you, Mr President, and thank you to SRSG Ndiaye for today’s briefing. I also want very much to welcome Foreign Minister Baipo-Temon. I look forward to hearing her perspective and vision for how the country can be unified.

Mr President, let me start by saying that the United Kingdom commends the Central African people for their determination in exercising their right to vote in the elections on 27 December, despite facing intimidation and violence. We firmly condemn this increase in armed group violence over recent weeks, and stress the need to ensure protection of civilians and humanitarian workers. We urge all parties to renew their commitment to the 2019 Peace Agreement and to cease violations of that agreement immediately.

The United Kingdom also wants to thank the women and men of MINUSCA for their perseverance in such adversity. We again express our deepest condolences to the families and governments of the seven peacekeepers whose lives have been lost since December. Any attack on UN peacekeepers sent by this Council to serve in communities that need them most, any such attack, is reprehensible. We call for those responsible to be brought to justice. Our support for the work of the mission remains unwavering and we stand ready to discuss strengthening of the mission to meet its operational needs.

Mr President, following the confirmation of presidential election results by the Constitutional Court, it is now incumbent upon all parties to respect the Court’s ruling. We urge all parties to exercise restraint and to abstain from declarations that may destabilise the situation.

It is imperative that all political actors, from both the government and opposition, engage in peaceful and constructive dialogue on the way forward for the country, with the support of the SRSG and the Peace Agreement guarantors. The needs of the Central African people, including the many thousands displaced as a result of this latest wave of violence, must come first.

In closing, Mr President, I would like to address the issue of the arms embargo. We have taken note of the points raised today. As others have highlighted, the arms embargo exists to prevent weapons from falling into the wrong hands and from fuelling armed group violence. It is not intended to prevent the government from obtaining the equipment necessary for defence and security sector reform; a number of standing exemptions exist for this very purpose. We believe it is important to maintain these measures, pending further progress on the key benchmarks set out by the Council in April 2019, in particular regarding weapons management.

I welcomed earlier the Foreign Minister of the Central African Republic, who I know is next on the speakers list. And I’d just like to address a question to her:

Madam Minister, given the standing exemptions which exist for the security forces of the Central African Republic and the other procedures for requesting new exemptions when required, and the fact that, to my knowledge, no requests from your government for exemptions on weaponry have been rejected, it would be extremely helpful if you were able to set out clearly whether, and if so, how, the arms embargo is preventing the government or its security partners from acting.

Thank you, Mr President.

Good afternoon.

I am joined today by Dr Vin Diwakar, NHS England Regional Medical Director for London, and Martin Hewitt, Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

The rollout of our fantastic vaccination programme continues to make good progress.

The brilliant NHS is vaccinating people at the rate of 200 jabs per minute.

And as of today, four million, nine hundred and seventy-three thousand, two hundred and forty-eight people have been vaccinated across the United Kingdom.

The NHS are working as quickly, efficiently and as fairly as possible to get the vaccine to priority groups.

And I want to take this moment and opportunity to counter some of the disinformation about the vaccine – especially any messages targeted towards those from an ethnic minority background.

This vaccine is safe for us all.

It will protect you and your family.

It is our best chance of beating this virus.

So I urge everyone across our wonderfully diverse country to get the vaccine when their turn comes to keep us all safe.

But we are sadly not out of the woods yet, this virus remains severe and it is a deadly threat.

Our NHS is under immense pressure and large numbers of people are still falling ill and, sadly, dying.

So it is absolutely crucial that you stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives.

Since yesterday, thirty-seven thousand eight hundred and ninety-two people have tested positive for coronavirus.

As of 19 January, thirty-eight thousand, six hundred and seventy-six people were in hospital with coronavirus. That is up 4.8 per cent from the week before.

Of those who have tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, sadly ninety-four thousand, five-hundred and eighty people have died. That’s one thousand, two-hundred and ninety fatalities since yesterday.

Every death is a tragedy and these numbers demonstrate, that this country remains in the grip of a pandemic.

My thoughts go to all of those who have lost loved ones.

The sacrifices that millions of you are making day in, day out are starting to make a difference.

By staying at home, you are helping to keep those you care about safe, and contributing to this national effort.

But there is still a small minority who refuse to do the right thing.

To them, my message is clear: if you do not follow these rules, then the police will enforce them.

Police officers are now moving more quickly to handing out fines when they encounter breaches. And they have my absolute backing in doing so.

As we have done throughout this pandemic, we are constantly reviewing our approach to ensure that we can crack down on the most serious cases of rule-breaking.

And today I can announce that next week we will be introducing a new £800 fine for those attending house parties, which will double for each repeat offence to a maximum level of £6,400.

These fines will apply to those who attend illegal gatherings of more than 15 people in homes.

The science is clear: such irresponsible behaviour poses a significant threat to public – not only to those in attendance, but also to the wonderful police officers who attend to shut down these events.

From the outset, we have given the police the necessary powers to enforce the rules, which are in place to stop the spread of the virus.

As this latest measure demonstrates, we will not stand by while a small number of individuals put others at risk.

I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to our police forces and our fire services for their extraordinary contribution throughout the pandemic.

They are out there each and every day, supporting our communities, risking their own health to keep the rest of us safe.

And we have seen in their own commitment during this whole response to the flooding caused by Storm Christoph.

During such a difficult time for this country, the commitment and courage shown by our emergency services has been truly inspiring.

Everyone has a role to play in our fight against this virus.

So please: stay at home so we can protect the NHS and save lives.

I will now hand over to Martin Hewitt, Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council.