• Minister Milling made her first visit to Israel, focused on deepening science and tech ties.
• In the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Minister visited communities at risk of eviction and displacement in Sheikh Jarrah and Masafer Yatta.
• The Minister also announced £95m in new aid funding to support vulnerable Jordanian households and refugee children living in the country.

On 22 June in Israel, the Minister visited the Peres Centre to learn how Israel became the Start-Up Nation and discussed how the Centre’s peace-building projects are bringing young people together. She also met participants from one of the UK’s peacebuilding projects, Search for Common Ground, who work to promote peace and help bridge divides between different communities.

The Minister covered how the UK and Israel can deepen science, technology and innovation ties with a visit to the Hebrew University’s Nanotechnology Centre to see examples of leading Research and Development. In her meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Roll, they discussed the ambitious UK-Israel Bilateral Roadmap, which will define the next decade of UK-Israeli cooperation across a range of sectors, including defence and security, trade, cyber and science and tech. They also discussed regional issues of mutual concern and the Minister encouraged efforts to promote the Two State Solution.

The Minister then travelled to the Occupied Palestinian Territories from 23 to 24 June. She held a series of meetings with the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, Foreign Minister Riyad al Malki and Secretary General of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation Hussein Al Sheikh, reiterating the UK’s support for the Palestinian people and a Two State Solution.

The Minister visited Palestinians at risk of eviction and displacement in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood and Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron Hills. The UK continues to oppose evictions and demolitions, which are illegal under international law in all but the most exceptional circumstances.

The Minister also discussed the UK’s support to the Palestinian economy with prominent business leaders, before a discussion on the pressures on civic space in the OPTs with journalists, human rights defenders and representatives of civil society organisations.

The Minister then travelled to Jordan. During her meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister HE Ayman Safadi she reiterated the importance of the UK-Jordan strategic partnership and the UK’s commitment to sustaining cooperation with Jordan across diplomatic, development, economic and security files.

She also met the Ministers of Finance and Planning and welcomed Jordan’s Vision for Economic Modernisation 2033, taking forward vital economic reforms and building on the 2019 London Initiative conference. The Minister reiterated the UK’s commitment to help Jordan’s economic development and prosperity, which are key to the country’s stability.

The Minister also visited Al Azraq refugee camp to see first-hand UK-funded humanitarian programmes in support of Syrian refugees and spoke to representatives from UN agencies and the Syrian Refugees Affairs Directorate. She also saw a World Food Programme-contracted supermarket, where refugees can exchange food vouchers to buy food.

On completing the visit, Minister Milling said:

I was delighted to make my first official visit to Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Jordan as Minister for the Middle East.

I covered a lot of ground in a short space of time in Israel where the relationship has never been stronger. From fascinating examples of Israeli tech and innovation, to the upcoming UK-Israel Bilateral Roadmap, to peacebuilding projects and efforts to promote the two-state solution.

Visiting the Occupied Palestinian Territories was a fantastic opportunity to meet a whole range of Palestinians to discuss the UK-Palestinian bilateral relationship and understand the impact of the occupation. I was particularly pleased to meet with Palestinian civil society to reassure them of the UK’s unwavering support for media freedom and human rights defenders.

Last year we celebrated 100 years of friendship between the UK and Jordan, a friendship that the UK is fully committed to sustaining and developing into its second century. I expressed my gratitude for the Kingdom’s extraordinary and generous role in supporting refugees from regional conflicts, and announced two major new UK-funded programmes totalling £95m designed to support both vulnerable Jordanians and refugees.

I look forward to visiting the region again soon.

Abdulrazag Zagroba, 54, from Manchester, appeared at Manchester Crown Court on Friday 24 June 2022 where he was sentenced to 24 months before Recorder Hudson.

This was the first successful criminal prosecution of a bounce bank loan fraudster for the Insolvency Service, which also saw Abdulrazag Zagroba disqualified from acting as a director for 7 years.

The court heard that Zagroba was sole director of Amigo Pizza (Manchester) Ltd, incorporated in January 2020. The company operated a pizza takeaway business in the Stretford area of Manchester until it was dissolved in October the same year.

Zagroba’s application to dissolve the company was originally signed on 17 June 2020 but less than two weeks later, he applied for a Bounce Back Loan of £20,000.

Zagroba did not disclose to the bank that the company was already in the process of being dissolved and he signed the loan declaration stating the company would be able to make repayments. By the time the loan was due to be repaid in June 2021, the company had already been dissolved.

The terms of the Bounce Back Loan were clear that funds could only be used for business purposes and not personal use.

However, when interviewed under caution by Insolvency Service investigators, Zagroba admitted to having no intention of using the Bounce Back Loan for the business.

Zagroba claimed that he arranged for friends to travel with around £14,000 in cash to give to his family abroad. He used the remaining £6,000 to buy a car and insurance.

He pleaded guilty to charges of fraudulently claiming Covid-19 financial support to which he was not entitled contrary to the Companies Act 2006 and the Fraud Act 2006 at Manchester City Magistrate’s Court on 9 May.

Julie Barnes, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service said:

Covid loans were designed to support viable businesses during the pandemic. Abdulrazag Zagroba, however, cynically sought to exploit the covid loan scheme and by dissolving his company, he intended to frustrate any attempt by the lender from taking action to recover the outstanding loan.

This sentence should serve as a warning to others who engaged in this behaviour, and they should come clean and repay the money before it is too late.

Notes to editors

Abdulrazag Zagroba of Manchester and his date of birth is January 1968.

Amigo Pizza (Manchester) Ltd – CRO 12406923).

The sentence result was announced at Manchester Crown court by Miss Recorder Hudson:

• Section 2 Fraud Act 2006 (Fraud by false representation) – 24 months’ imprisonment (immediate)
• s1007 Companies Act 2006 – aggravated striking off offence – 20 months’ imprisonment (to run concurrently).

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct.

Contact Press Office

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

Good morning/afternoon.

Thank you, [MC], for the introduction.

I am delighted to be here today.

Over the past two and a half years, I have spoken at numerous conferences and summits around the world.

Virtually and, of course, physically, I have delivered many, many hundreds of speeches.

In doing so, I’ve shared stages with representatives from government, from business, and from civil society.

You’ve just heard from FIFA. I think someone was lucky enough to get a ball too.

You will soon hear from Google, the Norwegian-African Business Association.

And each organisation is working to shape a future in which we can deliver prosperity, but without sacrificing the planet.

For me, it is truly encouraging to see such broad agreement on the need for climate action.

And I do believe that we have hit that inflection point where governments, business and civil society are broadly united in wanting to tackle climate change,

And deliver both an environmental and economic dividend.

And I am pleased therefore that Rwanda and its role as Commonwealth Chair in office is using this session to consider how we deliver economic prosperity without sacrificing the planet.

And it is a key question that our family of Commonwealth nations needs to address, and address urgently,

How we can achieve collective prosperity, economic sustainability and societal resilience, all at the same time.

That, my friends, is the ball that I am kicking to you.

And if we are to achieve these goals, working through the international system, it’s going to be absolutely critical

I mean, just look at COP26. Some of you who are with us today were also with us in November

Back then, under the UK’s stewardship, almost 200 countries forged the historic Glasgow Climate Pact.

Despite challenging global geopolitics even then we were able to bring nations together.

Because each of us recognised that it was in our collective self-interest to act on climate.

The Glasgow Climate Pact forges a path to a clean global future.

It keeps alive the possibility of limiting the rise in global temperature to 1.5 degrees.

And it told a watching world that leaders – including many of the leaders who are here at this conference – it told the world that leaders could and would rise above their differences, and unite against that common challenge.

The Pact calls on countries to phase-down unabated coal power and phase-out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.

It contains big commitments on climate mitigation, on adaptation and on finance.

And it also sets out a way forward on the crucial issue of loss and damage.

It was for me an extraordinary privilege to play my part as Shepherd-in-Chief at that event.

Of course, we have to acknowledge that the world has changed since then.

We meet today against the backdrop of multiple global crises.

Indeed, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, has described our situation as “the most universally complex policy environment of our lifetime”.

Therefore, climate is understandably no longer on the front pages.

But the current crises should increase, not diminish, our determination to deliver on what the world agreed in Glasgow.

Even as we deal with the immediate challenges facing us, all the evidence, including the latest findings from various UN reports, makes clear that the chronic threat of climate change is getting worse.

My friends I have to say this to you, climate change does not recognise borders – look in your own countries and see what’s happening – and the Commonwealth is no exception to facing the harsh impacts of global warming.

Last year we saw wildfires rage in Australia.

This year, India and Pakistan have experienced unbearable temperatures.

A billion people exposed to extreme heat in some of the hottest months since records began.

And in South Africa where I have just come from, floods have swept the province of KwaZulu-Natal, destroying buildings and claiming lives.

At the same time, Vladimir Putin’s illegal, brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine has amplified that climate and environmental security are interlinked with energy and national security.

And that is why the UK is so focused on using the remaining months of our COP26 presidency to turn commitments into action.

What it needs, friends, is for us to focus on implementation.

Every country must respond to the Glasgow Climate Pact’s call to revisit and strengthen their 2030 emissions reduction targets this year.

And we need countries to submit those emissions reduction targets by the UNFCCC’s deadline, on September 23rd including their long term strategies.

We are continuing to push for practical progress on mitigation, on finance, on adaptation, and on loss and damage.

We continue to press for further progress in critical sectors and on clean technologies.

And I remain especially focused on the most climate vulnerable countries and communities, many of whom are represented here.

Because, for these nations in particular, the situation is devastatingly clear.

As Prime Minister Mia Motley of Barbados told us in Glasgow,  for her country, “a two degrees rise is a death sentence”.

For many, tackling climate change is literally that, it’s the difference between life, and death.

So to deliver on effective climate action we are going to continue to push forward for more funding through Just Energy Transition Partnerships.

We’re going to be working on increasing finance for adaptation, including ensuring the private sector is mobilising finance as well.

And it means listening to the consistent calls from climate vulnerable countries to improve access to finance as well.

If I just say to you that in Africa, Africa is responsible for less than 3% of global emissions and yet on this continent there are very many countries that are on the front line of climate change.

And therefore we know that change is necessary.

We know that change is in our collective self-interest.

And we know that change will not happen unless we act, and unless we act now.

And so it is time for world leaders, the leaders here at this conference to demonstrate that they are delivering on the commitments they have made.

Together, we can, and we must, make this a year of delivery, to keep 1.5 degrees alive, and to deliver prosperity, without sacrificing the planet.

Thank you.