As founding shareholders of the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), France, Germany and the United Kingdom warmly welcome the decision taken by the governments of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, to join INSTEX as shareholders.

This step further strengthens INSTEX and demonstrates European efforts to facilitate legitimate trade between Europe and Iran and is a clear expression of our continuing commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA).

Full and effective implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is of the utmost importance. Iran must return to full compliance with its commitments under the JCPoA without delay.

We reaffirm our readiness to consider all mechanisms in the JCPoA, including the dispute resolution mechanism, to resolve the issues related to Iran’s implementation of its JCPoA commitments.

We remain fully committed to pursuing our efforts towards a diplomatic resolution within the framework of the JCPoA.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has activated the Bellwin scheme to reimburse eligible local authorities for the qualifying immediate costs they incurred as part of their response to the recent flooding in Herefordshire.

Under the scheme, local authorities which dealt with the flooding can apply to have 100% of the eligible costs they incurred, above a threshold, reimbursed by the government. This could be for items including rest centres, temporary accommodation and staff overtime. A number of support measures are available to support the recovery of communities affected by recent flooding. You can find out more here: www.gov.uk/government/news/government-support-for-recovery-from-flooding

Flags on UK government buildings will fly at half-mast on Saturday 30th November 2019, as a mark of respect to those who lost their lives and all others that were affected by the attack on London Bridge on Friday.

Other organisations and local authorities may follow suit.

We have every sympathy with those affected by the dreadful events that happened in London Bridge yesterday.

Given the seriousness of this attack, it is understandable that there is speculation about the attacker’s release from prison.

The Parole Board can confirm it had no involvement with the release of the individual identified as the attacker, who appears to have been released automatically on licence (as required by law), without ever being referred to the Board.

NATO Allies have increased defence investment to ensure that the Alliance will continue to adapt to 21st-century challenges.

Ahead of the NATO Leaders’ Meeting in London next week, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said:

I welcome today’s announcement that European NATO Allies and Canada will have increased their defence investment by $400bn by 2024. This is progress towards our joint pledge to invest 2% of GDP on defence. But we need to keep up the momentum and see all of our allies meet their commitments in full.

The UK looks forward to hosting NATO next week, so we can reinforce our vital transatlantic alliance, and tackle the common challenges we face.