The Prime Minister spoke to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand this evening.

The leaders discussed the situation in the Middle East and agreed on the need for continued engagement and dialogue to deescalate tensions.

They committed to working together to strengthen our bilateral relationship, including by agreeing an ambitious free trade deal after the UK leaves the EU.

Finally the leaders underlined the importance of our ongoing cooperation to tackle climate change, ahead of COP26 in Glasgow later this year.

Published 14 January 2020

• Aims to bring first-in-class cholesterol lowering drug to the UK and made available in a world-first innovative model for a large at-risk NHS patient population

• Unique collaboration to explore large-scale primary prevention trial leveraging NHS infrastructure and digital capabilities, making it faster and more accessible for patients

• UK positioned as a world-leading destination to develop similar, cutting-edge treatments for the rest of the world

The UK Government has announced its intent to pursue an innovative new collaboration with pharmaceutical company Novartis aimed at tackling the major world health challenge of cardiovascular disease, as well as bringing meaningful investment to the UK’s world-class life sciences sector. The current Memorandums of Understanding (MOU), which form the basis of the proposal, were negotiated and signed by The Medicines Company prior to its acquisition by Novartis.

Cardiovascular disease is the world’s biggest killer, as well as the second biggest cause of death in the UK with over three million people suffering from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

The investigational drug inclisiran is currently in Phase III development for secondary prevention patients with expected European Medicines Agency (EMA) regulatory filing in Q1 2020. Upon approval and NICE assessment, the intent is to provide inclisiran through a population-level agreement. Providing inclisiran to this high-risk population could make a significant contribution towards meeting the NHS long-term commitment to preventing 150,000 cardiovascular deaths over 10 years.

In primary prevention patients, the proposal is for inclisiran to be given in a large-scale NHS clinical trial that will be the first in the world to treat such a patient population, evaluating a game-changing approach to reducing the risk of heart disease at population-level numbers of patients.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said:

This deal is a strong vote of confidence in our world-leading life sciences sector that enables all high-risk ASCVD NHS patients to benefit from this potentially gamechanging treatment.

I am committed to helping the NHS reach its full potential, and innovative collaborations such as this puts patients at the forefront of the most promising medical breakthroughs.

Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said:

Novartis has a unique opportunity with inclisiran to open up a new chapter in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, the world’s leading cause of mortality and disability.

We’re confident that innovative approaches like this will enable us to accelerate access timelines, deliver on our broader commitment to generating leading scientific evidence, and ensure continuous improvement in manufacturing efficiency and optimization.

The collaboration proposal also includes the creation of an industry and academic consortium to improve the efficiency in which the UK can manufacture for this type of innovative medicine.

Lord Prior, chair of NHS England, said:

This innovative and ground breaking collaboration could transform the health outlook of tens of thousands of people suffering from heart disease, by bringing together in a unique combination our ability to organise large scale clinical trials, to address highly complex manufacturing issues, and to reach a large population of patients.

It is a great illustration of how the UK Life Sciences Strategy can help both NHS patients and the wider economy, and shows that the UK can be the centre of a dynamic life sciences eco system whilst delivering great care.

The unique population health model used by the UK will enable the collaboration to address the needs of patients and health systems that have previously not been able to be met on a large scale. The new cost-effective process will lead the way for innovative approaches to help meet large-scale, population health concerns.

This highlights the UK as a prime destination to get new medicines to patients faster and more cost-effectively. Its appetite for innovation, unrivalled infrastructure and world-leading joined-up healthcare system enables the opportunity for similar deals to be done for other drug development projects of this scale.

The UK plans to remain at the forefront of the global life sciences industry, giving our NHS and patients faster access to innovative medicines while supporting the growth of the sector.

Notes to Editor

About ASCVD

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is a leading cause of death worldwide. ASCVD results from a thickening and loss of elasticity in the arterial wall. It is a severe disorder and the leading cause of morbidity (sickness) and mortality (death) in most developed countries. High levels of LDL cholesterol build up on the walls of blood vessels.

This buildup is called “plaque.” As blood vessels build up plaque over time, the insides of the vessels narrow. This narrowing blocks blood flow to and from the heart and other organs and eventually causes heart disease or stroke.

About inclisiran

Inclisiran, potentially the first and only cholesterol-lowering therapy in the siRNA (smallinterfering RNA) class, is an investigational twice-yearly therapy in Phase III clinical development. As a siRNA, inclisiran harnesses the body’s natural process of RNA interference to specifically prevent production of the PCSK9 protein in the liver, which enhances the liver’s ability to remove LDL-C from the bloodstream, thereby lowering LDL-C levels. Inclisiran is not yet approved by the FDA or any other regulatory authority.

• Standing for Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections will be made fairer for disabled candidates
• For the first time, disability-related campaign expenses will be excluded from candidates’ spending limits
• Changes form part of the Government’s wider work to make democracy more accessible

Disabled candidates standing in Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections will benefit from fairer spending rules, it has been announced today.

For the first time, disability-related campaign expenses will be excluded from PCC candidates’ spending limits. The changes will help to remove potential barriers that might prevent a disabled person from running for elected office.

Minister for the Constitution, Chloe Smith, said:

Police and Crime Commissioners provide a vital public service, elected as voices for their local communities. That is why we are levelling the playing field and supporting disabled candidates to run for public office.

This is part of a series of improvements to make sure our democracy reflects our diverse society.

The exemption laid today has already been applied to other types of elections.

The changes are part of wider government reforms to make democracy more accessible for both candidates and voters. Further commitments include changing the law to allow for a broader range of people to assist disabled voters in polling stations, and ongoing work with civil society groups to support people with particular disabilities.

This includes work already underway with the Royal National Institute of Blind People to find more solutions to help partially-sighted voters fill in their ballot paper.

1. The statutory instrument laid today is titled: Police and Crime Commissioner Elections (Amendment) Order 2020 (“the 2020 order”).
2. The 2020 Order will also make amendments to the ballot paper (and other electoral forms) to reflect that at the May 2020 PCC elections, four areas will be electing PCCs who also have responsibility for the Fire and Rescue Authority (Essex, Staffordshire, North Yorkshire and Northamptonshire).

His Excellency The President of the Republic of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo will lead a ministerial delegation of several Cabinet Ministers and key officials at the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London on 20 January 2020.

The Summit, hosted by the UK Prime Minister, Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, is a major milestone for the UK, and for our enduring partnership with Ghana. It brings, for the first time, UK and African leaders, businesses and entrepreneurs, alongside international finance institutions, to showcase new partnerships that create jobs and boost mutual prosperity.

The Summit will strengthen the UK-Ghana partnership that is building a secure and prosperous future for all our citizens. Through economic development, trade and investment we are increasing jobs, addressing security needs and meeting global challenges.

Ghana is driving discussions at the UK-Africa Investment Summit. President Akufo-Addo will address world leaders on the importance of securing sustainable finance for Africa’s infrastructure, discuss investment opportunities, and how we can mobilise future partnerships that meet the needs of modern African nations. In the margins of the Summit, President Akufo-Addo will hold talks with the Prime Minister and meet UK Government Cabinet Ministers, including the Foreign Secretary and the Development Secretary.

Leading the Way: The UK-Ghana Partnership

The UK-Ghana partnership will be at the centre of the Summit discussions on how we are building enduring economic ties. Through our government-to-government UK-Ghana Business Council (UK-GBC), a six-monthly ministerial dialogue co-chaired by Vice President His Excellency Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, we have harnessed the UK’s clear offer to achieve long-term prosperity in Ghana. Together, our governments have agreed on six priority sectors (agri-processing; financial services; textiles/garments; pharma; digital; and extractives); and we are working side-by-side on critical areas: infrastructure development, tax and the ease of doing business.

Together, we are making a real difference. Global finance, through The City of London is crowding in more investment; and supporting innovative finance opportunities such as the first London-listed ‘Cedi Bond’. UK firms are major investors in Ghana, bringing state-of-the-art technology and supporting thousands of skilled jobs for Ghanaians.

In the margins of the UK-Africa Investment Summit 2020, President Akufo-Addo will be the keynote speaker at the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre hosting the Ghana Investment & Opportunities Summit, a Government of Ghana event focused on the theme “Accessing the African Common Market through Ghana: Technology, Digitisation & Industrialisation”.

Speaking ahead of the Summit, the British High Commissioner to Ghana His Excellency Iain Walker said:

“Ghana is at the forefront of the UK’s trading relationship with African nations. The UK-Africa Investment Summit will create new mutually beneficial partnerships that move Ghana – and Africa – beyond aid, by attracting quality investment to drive growth and create jobs. As we look beyond the European Union, my priority is to create an even closer partnership between our countries and for the UK to be the investment partner of choice for years to come.”

Information for former employees:

If you’ve been dismissed

If you’ve been dismissed, you might be entitled to redundancy and other related payments from the Insolvency Service.

The amount the Insolvency Service can pay you is subject to legal limits. Find out how much we can pay you

Who is eligible

You can apply to the Insolvency Service for redundancy and other payments if:

• you worked for these companies under an employment contract
• you live in England, Scotland or Wales

You cannot apply to the Insolvency Service if you live in Northern Ireland. Find out about your rights in Northern Ireland if your employer is insolvent.

Workers and self-employed contractors who provided services to the company are not eligible to apply. Instead, these individuals should contact the administrator to register as creditors.

How to apply

The administrator will give details about how to apply and will also give you a case reference number (eg CN12345678).

The administrator is PwC. You can contact them by:

Once you have this information from the administrator, you can apply online.

Paying your claim

We always try to pay eligible claims within 6 weeks of receiving the application.

Please do not contact us to check the status of your application until after the 6 weeks have passed. This will help us deal with everyone’s application as quickly as possible.

We’ll contact you directly if we need anything from you.

Getting help with your application for redundancy payments

If you cannot get online to complete the application and need help, you can contact the Redundancy Payments helpline on 0330 331 0020.

When calling, please have your case reference number (eg CN12345678) and National Insurance number to hand. If you do not have a case reference number, please contact the administrator.

Please include your name, your case reference number and your telephone number in your email.

If you need to email us after submitting your claim, please only use the email address you gave on your application form. Otherwise, we won’t be able to respond to you for security reasons.

More information

Factsheet: finding a new job, managing your finances and benefits available to you (PDF, 487KB, 2 pages)

Information for creditors

You’ll need to register as a creditor in the administration if:

• you haven’t been paid for goods or services you’ve supplied to Mothercare UK Limited or Mothercare Business Services Limited
• you’ve paid the companies for goods or services that you have not received

To register, email the administrator.

In your email, please include your company details and what you’re owed.